"Daniel," Emily mused to herself one morning as she brushed her hair. Why did that name seem so familiar, she wondered.

  The name had occasionally brushed the peripheries of her consciousness, fleetingly, only to disappear among the many daily thoughts that made up her world. However, it had been happening so often that she finally felt it come closer and occasionally into focus, lingering just long enough to give her pause.

  Somehow, “Daniel” carried a feeling of familiarity—like it was from someone else's life, yet left wisps of memories as if seen through her own eyes.

  These glimpses, though brief, seemed to be happening more and more lately, and in ways she didn’t quite expect. Words in the newspaper, difficult words, made sense to her—too much sense. When she glanced at computers, VCRs, or radios, she just knew how they worked. As she watched her mother make a pot roast or stew, she recognized the spices, as though she’d used them herself.

  Puzzles and a hair unsettled by these thoughts, Emily decided to tentatively share some of these observations with Lucy and Lily.

  –

  Under the shade of the old oak tree in the schoolyard, Emily, Lucy, and Lily sat in a circle for lunch. It was a rare occasion where all three friends had home-cooked meals, so they decided to eat outside, away from the noise of the cafeteria and its, in Emily’s opinion, bland, unappetizing meals.

  The girls’ conversations usually revolved around stories, gossip, and the challenges that filled the days of kids their age, but today Emily felt an urge to confide something deeper, a feeling she couldn’t shake off. Looking at her friends, she felt a growing trust in them, paired with a deep longing to share the strange thoughts she’d been carrying alone.

  "You know," Emily began, her voice low and a little hesitant, "sometimes I feel like I know things—remember things—that don’t feel like mine. It’s like they’re from someone else’s life." She hesitated, her heart racing, sensing that she was stepping onto the edge of something she barely understood but felt drawn toward even though it was terrifying.

  Lucy tilted her head, intrigued. "What do you mean? Like déjà vu?"

  "Sort of," Emily replied, absently picking at the grass though she could feel her heart pounding. "But it’s more than that. It’s clearer, almost like real memories, or glimpses of things I shouldn’t know but somehow do." She looked up, meeting her friends’ eyes. "Like I was someone else. Sometimes, just for a moment."

  Lily, ever the thoughtful one, looked pensive. "That sounds a bit like past life memories.” She glanced up to be greeted by blank, confused stares from Lucy and Emily. “My grandma talks about that stuff sometimes” she quickly added with a shrug. “She says that souls can get reborn in new bodies and all, but sometimes they can remember old lives, or other times just bits of old memories and stuff"

  Lucy’s blank stare slowly disappeared, and she giggled playfully, brushing a stray bit of hair from her eyes. "Past lives? Old memories?” she started, her tone and cadence accelerating in time with her excitement. “This sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie!” Playfully nudging Emily she added mischievously “Are you sure you’re not just dreaming this stuff up, Emily?"

  Emily grinned, her smile tinged with relief. Lucy’s lighthearted skepticism made her feel less vulnerable. "Maybe," she admitted her demeanor growing serious again, "but it feels real. Sometimes, I even think about things that are complicated - I feel like I remember things from another world or time."

  Stolen story; please report.

  Lucy’s eyes widened with curiosity. She rapidly looked at Lily for any sort of understanding and back at Emily before blurting "Other worlds? Like in a sci-fi movie?"

  Plucking at the grass absently, Emily muttered, almost to herself, “Yeah…parallel universes, every possible probability in a different universe, reality itself is quantum…” The words left her lips in a daze, her eyes slightly unfocused as though her thoughts were somewhere far away.

  She looked up and caught her friends’ bewildered expressions. Realizing what she’d uttered, Emily quickly self corrected, “I mean…there’s this idea that maybe there are many worlds, you know? Like, in another universe, you could be the president, or I might still be a…well, someone else. Even a…boy.” She trailed off, casting a shy glance at her friends, feeling the vastness of her own words.

  Meanwhile, a small part of her couldn’t help but wonder where this knowledge even came from? Quantum mechanics wasn’t exactly everyday chatter but somehow she just knew this information. Had she read it somewhere or perhaps heard it on TV? The information felt solid and familiar, yet she couldn’t quite trace it to any one place. She shook her head, dismissing these questions for now as she focused her attention back on the topic at hand.

  Lucy leaned in, her eyes wide with curiosity. "Emily, this is so…cool! My mom says some people just know stuff. Like, maybe it’s a special power. Do you have a special power, Emily?"

  Emily hesitated, then nodded slowly. "Maybe. Or maybe it’s just my imagination.” She gazed off into the distance and muttered, barely loudly enough for her friends to hear “I like thinking there’s more out there to see and learn…we know so..little..about everything"

  Lily thought for a moment, then nodded. "My dad says science and magic are kinda the same thing. Maybe those memories or whatever you have are helping you understand stuff better, like, in ways we can’t even imagine?"

  Emily’s heart lifted at Lily’s words, which seemed to push away the mystery of her life with a surprising dose of clarity. "That’s a nice way to think about it," she murmured, smiling. "Sometimes, I do feel like everything’s connected in some strange way."

  Lucy’s playful side reemerged as she grinned. "Whether it’s science, magic, or something else, I think it’s awesome. You’re like a mystery we have to solve, Emily!"

  The conversation drifted back to lighter topics, but the seeds of curiosity had been planted. Emily felt a sense of relief for having shared, even if only a sliver of her truth. And in their own ways, Lucy and Lily accepted her mystery as just another unique part of their friend—a small oddity that made Emily all the more fascinating.

  As they gathered their lunchboxes, Emily felt a deeper bond with her friends. She had felt a small part of her momentarily recoil, as if a part of her had been terrified of sharing their innermost thoughts, fearing judgment, ridicule or isolation. This part of her quietened as Emily shared her secrets with her friend and realized that while they couldn’t fully comprehend her situation, their willingness to listen was enough to make her feel seen.

  —

  That evening, as Emily pushed her peas around her plate, her thoughts were still consumed by the puzzles of her existence and memories. Why did the name Daniel resonate so strongly with her? Why did it feel familiar yet distant, like a half-remembered dream? Furthermore, where had her sudden knowledge of complex ideas come from? Had she always had it, buried deep within, only now beginning to surface or perhaps just beginning to notice?

  “What if I do carry memories from a past life?” she thought wistfully to herself. “Maybe that is why I know what I do? Could quantum mechanics or many worlds explain what I’m feeling?” A more unnerving possibility briefly crossed her mind - was she really here in this body, or was she someone else? The multitude of possibilities floated and clashed in her mind - the answer just seemingly beyond reach.

  "We don’t really know what consciousness is," she murmured to herself as she gazed at her parents laughing and sharing anecdotes about the day while Emily herself felt the weight of the unknown settle around her. Either way, Emily felt that something bigger was at play. Or I’m just overthinking it…she thought, finally taking a bite of her meatloaf. Maybe I’m just a smart kid?

  "We don’t really know what consciousness is," she murmured, watching her parents chat about their day in laughter and familiarity. Meanwhile Emily felt comparatively adrift - the weight of the unknown settling around her as though she was a part of something bigger than herself. "Maybe I’m just a really smart kid with a hyperactive imagination?" she mumbled to herself with a small smile. She finally took a bite of her dinner but even as she tried to dismiss the questions, the thoughts of the unknown lingered solemnly.