In the blur of being

+Did you hear that?

- What?

+It was like screaming

- Come on, there is no one here except you and me, it is just raining outside!

It was a big day for us, May 4th, when we finally found a new house that met our budget. It was a dream come true! After 5 years of our marriage, it was the first time we could purchase a house. After years, luck finally smiled at us, and we bought that house in the suburbs. Everything was going well, I got promoted, and my wife found a job in a library. We even managed to buy some furniture with our savings, and it seemed like destiny was pulling us in that way.

- I'm the happiest person ever! We did it.

+ Yeah, I really like it, it's my dream house.

- We both deserved to live in this relaxing region, away from the hustle and bustle.

We tried hard to clean everything up quickly after moving in. It was an old house that we were lucky to buy from a young man who was in a rush to sell it. I think it was a win- win deal, since he needed money, I guess, and accepted the price that fit our budget.

My wife was interested in antiques, and that house was full of them. We removed some of the furniture and put our own in, but she insisted on keeping some of the rest.

There was something about the stuff in that house- I had never seen it before, but it looked familiar. I can easily remember that day when I was wiping that old candlestick, suddenly a faint, familiar, murmuring whisper spread through the room. I jumped up and looked around.

+ Sarah? Sarah?

My wife came out of the kitchen.

-What happened?

+ Did you say anything? Were you here?

-Noo! I was doing the dishes

+ I heard something; someone was whispering something vaguely. I swear it was your voice.

- You need to rest, honey! You've been overworking yourself these days.

She might be right; I was too tired those days. However, I couldn't pretend everything was normal. I'd been feeling strange since we moved into that house. Sometimes I felt heaviness in my chest and pressure on my head. Sarah tried her best to take care of me so I could feel better. To be honest, she has always been the light of my life.

It had been about a month since we moved in, and we had almost gotten used to the area. The building was detached and a little far from downtown. We drove to the city centre once a week for groceries, and I was the one who spent most of the time at home since I worked remotely.

It was another long boarding day in June when the sharp blade of sunshine split the heart of the window and poured across the living room. I was exhausted from the nonstop projects my boss had given me that afternoon. Sarah called me to say that she would arrive later since there was heavy traffic in town. I shut the laptop, stretched and got up to go to the living room. It was a hot day, which made me a little bored. I wandered around the house and headed to the window. I stood there for a moment and stared at the unkempt garden in front of the entrance, thinking about a plan to tidy it up. Suddenly, I felt like a dark shadow behind me. I quickly turned back and saw nothing. Again, I had that strange feeling on my chest. I looked back at the window, and it was not me- but it looked like me, much older, tired and troubled. I let out a short scream from fear and started blinking rapidly. Then he disappeared, and again it was me at the window, the reflection of the real me!

Sarah's voice broke that frightening moment, saying hi! I had never been that happy seeing her at home.

Our son was born four months later. It was a new chapter of parenthood, full of responsibilities, but I couldn't forget that shadow on the window. It was a gloomy day in mid-October, Sarah was putting the baby to sleep, and a strange feeling told me to go to the basement. I didn't know why, but I headed downstairs. It was like a nightmare or a piece of a bad memory- I can't quite explain it, but I remembered blurred scenes.

The basement was damp and dark. We hadn't had time to clean it up completely yet, so we had just piled up all the old household stuff there. I was looking at the items that I saw the old chest behind the big wardrobe. I made my way through a ton of items and got to that. I was not aware of what was happening, but something told me to open the chest.

I heard the baby crying upstairs, but I tried to focus on that chest. It was my first time seeing those things; they seemed strangely familiar, something like a lived experience! Then I opened it and found some very old photos. The photos were worn that the faces weren't recognizable. It was a family- a couple and a boy. Again, I heard my son crying. Some photos were taken in the house with some familiar items. Oh... that was the same house, the same candlestick. I felt the same heaviness in my head. And then that face! In one of the photos, it was difficult to see, but it was that face. My face! The same face on the window. He was there, he was me! A happy family of three in the same house. Wait! Sarah, our son and I? What did it mean? They were us, or we were them? Did we live in that house before?

+What are you doing down there?

Sarah's voice brought me back to the moment. Was that a resemblance in their faces, and was my mind making stories up? Or was it real?

I quickly put them back in the chest and, flustered, shut it and left the basement. And that was just the beginning!