A woman stood behind the bakery stand packing fresh pastries.
She wore a simple apron and had graying dark hair.
Around her neck rested a faint spark of gold in sunlight.
Clara recognized her sister's frame despite the passage of time.
Lily: Mom, I brought someone who wants to meet you!
The woman turned around with a warm and tired smile.
Her gaze fell directly onto Clara standing a few feet away.
The woman's smile vanished as her eyes locked onto Clara's face.
Silence fell between them despite the loud noise of trains.
Clara: Alina?
Alina: Do I know you, ma'am?
Clara: Look at my neck, Alina.
Clara reached up and lifted the gold rose pendant high.
Alina reached down and grasped her own identical gold necklace.
Her hands began to shake violently as she compared them.
Alina: Where did you get that rose pendant?
Clara: Our mother Rosana gave them to us when we turned eighteen.
Clara: Mine has Rosana written on the back, just like yours.
Alina stepped out from behind the wooden bakery counter slowly.
She stared at Clara's face like she was seeing a ghost.
Alina: I... I remember a small white house near a lake.
Clara: That was our childhood home in New York.
Clara: You disappeared after the severe storm in the valley.
Alina: I woke up in a distant hospital with no memory.
Alina: The only thing I kept was this gold pendant.
Tears spilled over Alina's worn cheeks as truth settled in.
The foggy haze in her memory was finally breaking apart.
She took two steps forward and held out her arms.