‘’I uhm… o-officer, what year is it?’’ Alessandro asked trying to hold down the tremble in his voice.

‘’It’s 2018 of course! Why don’t you seat down, you may have hit your head’’ Oh, Alessandro could only wish that was the case.

He indeed had to sit down, not because the officer told him to but for his own sake. How was it possible that in the human realm not a single year passed?! The memories from Arcadia were nonexistent, it was like they were erased from Alessandro’s mind the second he stepped foot on that forest. What concerned the young elf the most was the fact that all of this was not a dream, he was not crazy either, he knew his soul went through hell itself. How he did not remember anything? That was a question yet to be answered but for the time being, he had to adjust to the present. The reality pictured in front of his eyes, the reality of not knowing what to do other than pretend that everything was somewhat fine. Alessandro needed answers to the many questions he was having but first, there was his family and friends, the people his heart was desperately wishing to see. With a slow sallow that tasted bitter down his throat, he looked at the cellphone in his trembling hands, managing to somehow mark the numbers. He still could not believe his brain never forgot those digits, the ones from his mom’s phone number to be precise.

Alessandro loved both of his parents but he admitted long time ago that he was definitely a mama’s boy, being an only child, he was spoiled quite a lot. Seeing so many memories at once did not feel overwhelming in the slightest, after all, they were the ones that brought him back to where he belong, home.

‘’Kid? Do you want me to call you a doctor? You obviously don’t look ok.’’  The officer said, breaking Alessandro from his thoughts.

‘’No, I… I’m ok, just a bit …. dehydrated that’s all.’’  The boy told the truth to the policeman, for the most part that is. He couldn’t necessarily tell the man the other reasons of why he was not feeling ‘’ok’’.

‘’Alright, let me bring you a glass of water.’’  Having said that, the officer stood up from his seat to go through the door behind him and did not returned back until a minute later with the promised glass of water.

‘’Here you go. Also, I haven’t introduced myself, I’m officer Mariano. Now, I supposed you don’t have any identification with you. Am I correct?’’

‘’No sir, I …. don’t have any with me’’  Alessandro answered nervously.

‘’Very well, drink your water and make your call. I’m going to make some calls on my own’’

Alessandro was almost sure those calls would be related to him but he did not care about that right now. After swallowing the refreshing water in one long sip, he finally pressed the call button and waited anxiously for his mom to answer.

‘’Hello?’’  A lovely voice spoke through the other end of the phone. Alessandro did not know how to feel and could not help but close his eyes upon hearing his mom’s voice. She sounded exactly the same as he remembered. Alessandro tried his best to not shed a tear in that moment. 

‘’H-hey mom…. It’s me, Alessandro.’’  He responded to his mother with shacking words yet happy because he was finally speaking with her.

‘’Oh! Hi sweetie, why aren’t you calling me from your phone?’’ Ah, that question was bound to happen and Alessandro knew it but, how could he explain the situation to his mom without sounding like a complete lunatic?! What excuse could he possible give his mother for her to believe that her son suddenly appeared lost in a foreign country?! Apart from that, Alessandro could not help but chuckle at how casually his mom was talking to him, like he did not disappear for long forty years. He was starting to think it was all product of his mind and most likely he was already insane.

‘’Mom, it’s hard to explain that right now…. I just need you or dad to pick me up…. I- I’m in Mexico.’’

There was a long pause when Alessandro made that request, it was expected for his mom to stay quiet after hearing that, after all, she thought her son would be with his friends, not in a completely different country.

‘’Is this one of your pranks, Alessandro?!’’  she asked in annoyance.

‘’No, no… mama I swear it’s not, I am really here.’’  In other circumstances, his mother would have not believed him due to the fact that he was a very bad lair, even when he tried to make some practical jokes, he would always get caught. The boy did not know how to lie, he was a very honest person for his own good. However, this time was different, there was definitely seriousness and fear in Alessandro’s tone and that was something he wasn’t hiding. In that moment, the woman knew her son was telling the truth.

‘’Ok, sweetie, you are scaring me…. What are you doing in Mexico?’’ she asked worriedly

‘’I-I don’t know mama… I just want to be at home!’’  If she was worried before, now she was scared of what could have happened to her son. Alessandro was known for his happy, childish and most of the time, flirty behavior. Listening to him like this was not normal, she knew there was clearly something wrong with the boy. 

‘’Just tell me exactly where you are sweetie and I’ll take the next fly to Mexico!’’  Alessandro immediately smiled at that, he could finally reunite with his loved ones.

Officer Mariano was still making some calls but Alessandro did not care and just gave him the cellphone with his mother in line, so he could tell her their exact location. The policeman seeing how desperate the boy was, took the phone immediately. After two minutes or so, the man centered his attention to the young elf again.

‘’Your mom already knows where you are and will pick you up. Also, I called you a doctor, just for checking and make sure you don’t have a concussion. I need to ask you some questions.’’  He said with all the seriousness his job as a law enforcement demanded.

Alessandro knew what those questions would be, the sole idea of having to answer them terrified him and confused him at the same time. One was fine but several of them, definitely not a good idea. How would he do it?! How could he respond with the truth?! Could he even respond with the truth?! Was that even allowed?! He knew that he had to lie so the officer would not take him as crazy. Besides, it’s not like he knew much other than he escaped from a place named Arcadia after forty long years of being trapped there. Giving the circumstances he was in, no one would believe him.

‘’I just hope my terrible lying skills doesn’t give me away.’’  Alessandro prayed in silent.

He could only wait and see how things would turn up, hopefully, all of this was a dream and he would wake up sooner than later. However, he highly doubted that, everything looked very real to him. Was he hallucinating perhaps? Did he actually hit his head on the forest and was having real amnesia because of that? For all he knew, that could be a possibility.

The next hour, Alessandro spent it cleaning himself from the dirt glued to his skin and ripped clothes. Officer Mariano was kind enough to borrow him a pair of clean clothes he happened to have at the station. They were a bit big on him but Alessandro was not paying attention to that small detail. It was a clean attire and that was the only thing the young elf cared about when he accepted said clothes.

Alessandro was not aware of this, but while he was inside the station, Dr. Kelly arrived to the parking lot upon officer Mariano’s request. She was a respectable and well known doctor in the area but held a secret not many knew. The minute she stepped out of her car, her body blossomed quite literally. The action took her by surprise, she was feeling a special power around her, rather small but noticeable nevertheless.

‘’There’s a newbie in town!’’  She said with an innocent grin. She was about to discover that this newbie was no other than the patient waiting for her inside the station.

Shaking her long blonde hair in a confident yet graceful way, she headed inside the police station. Once there, officer Mariano was already waiting for her sitting on his desk while talking to a smiley Alessandro. Although, that smile disappeared the moment he saw the doctor.

She was a very elegant woman with a presence more than notable even if she was in a crowd of people. But that was not her most noticeable feature, on the contrary, it was something a lot different and unique. That uniqueness in her appearance were the flowers coming from under her skin, yes, her skin. Alessandro knew several fantastic creatures but never one with the doctor’s particular looks. Dr. Kelly had a crown of roses on top of her head, but it was no ordinary crown. The roots of said roses were growing from her head itself, like some type of flower pot with hair instead of dirt or earth dust. The more Alessandro looked at her, the more flowers were popping from under her skin. The young elf was not scared per say, but, he definitely had mixed feelings. Officer Mariano started to talk very casually with her, as in the flowers in her body were not there at all.

‘’Have I really gone crazy? Is this even real?!’’ Alessandro quietly asked himself in disbelief. At this point, he did not know what was real or not anymore. He was heavily concentrated on the roses blossoming from Dr. Kelly’s body that he did not even notice officer Mariano left them alone for her to do her examination.

‘’So, hi! I’m Dr.Kelly! How are feeling today?’’  She asked happily.

‘’I… I’m good, I guess.’’  Alessandro responded her trying to focus on her face and not the array of colors from the roses glued to her skin.

‘’That is great news my pretty elf! Now, let’s….’’

‘’Wait! Wait, did you just call me pretty elf? Can you see my ears?!’’ Alessandro interrupted her, he had to actually, just to comprehend why was she the only one to notice his obvious pointy ears. Unless his mind was still playing tricks to him and he was imagining the whole thing.

‘’Of course, I can see them! You are a changeling, just like me!’’