Chapter 3: Cold Reminder

 

Night had quickly swept over her as Eva walked down the cracked and jaded road to her unknown destination. The woods looked dark, solid and ageless, but as she began to see buildings, she realized something was amiss.

The tall, dark wooden buildings she was accustomed to were replaced by small and polished white and grey houses with large glass windows. The large, clunky street lamps were replaced with sleek metal. There were statues of people and animals she had never seen before.

The place seemed uncanny to Eva. A place so familiar, but yet so very different and alien at the same time. It frightened her deeply, somehow even more than anything else so far, because now she could feel the snow on her face and hear the wind howl. Whatever this was, it was her reality.

 

She came across a wooden fence, with a sign hang upon it reading “Pupperstone Park”. She had never heard of such a place, but a part of her seemed to recognize it.

As she walked inside the gate, she noticed a sign that had a cat and a dog on it. Was this some kind of playground, but for pets instead of children? She shook her head at the absurdity, dogs can’t use swing sets or slide down a slide. She must have been mistaken. 

 

The inside of the park was covered in large tubes, a small stage and obstacles. Eva recognized them as things that were often used in dog shows, but the ones in the park were a light plastic, not heavy wood as she has seen previously.

There wasn’t a single soul in the park, whether animal or human. Perhaps Eva should have expected that, it was late at night and snowing. At this point, Eva realized she was only wearing a sleeveless blouse and a thigh long skirt, but she didn’t feel cold. She should have get cold, she should have been freezing, but she felt nothing. Something was very wrong with her indeed. 

 

Eva noticed two wooden benches to the side of the park, and decided to sit down and try to understand her predicament. As Eva sat down, she had a vague feeling of deja vu

The park. The bench. The trees. The very ground she walked on. She had been there before. The memories were vague and seemingly long forgotten, but she conjured up images of her and her brother playing in the same park as children. 

 

In these memories, the park had equipment children played on, not plastic dog toys or bright colored food bowls. She remembered her and Gabriel jumping off rickety swings and landing firmly on the ground. She recalled climbing a large metal jungle gym and being terrified of falling. Eva had these memories, but they felt off in the distance and as if they didn't rightfully belong to her.

She used to play at this park, but now it was for dogs. All the buildings and streetlights had transformed. How long did she spend in that coffin?

As she began to understand, her mind couldn’t take it. She couldn’t take the reality that she was in the town she had grown up in, but at the same time, it had changed so much from her memories. Was it the world that was faulty, or was it her brain?

Either way, she wanted to escape the thought. Eva rose to her feet, in a slow panic. She briskly walked outside of the gate. Leaving the park and her childhood memories behind. 

 (Author's Note: I can't believe the pet park in the sims 4 is actually called Pupperstone park. It killed me to actually type that. Such a stupid name honestly.)