The night of the very next day after her return from the hospital was the perfect time to have a private talk with her sisters. Mother and Father were out for a romantic dinner together and Second Sis was in her room instead of out with friends as she usually was on Saturdays.
Gloria went to knock on Marie's door. "Big Sis," she called. When her sister answered the door, she said, "There's something I want to tell you and Second Sis."
She also called her other sibling and gathered her sisters in the living room. Second Sis reclined on the sofa while Gloria and Big Sis each took a comfort chair.
"Big Sis, Second Sis. The two of you are the closest people to me so I feel that I must tell you this," Gloria began, "Surely you've noted that I've been different since my fall from the bridge."
"Yeah, you've been very different," Second Sis agreed readily.
Big Sis shushed her wavy-haired sister and gave a her disapproving glare.
"It's true!" Carrie told her bespectacled sister.
Big Sis turned to Gloria. "It doesn't matter what you are now," she said supportively.
"It does," Gloria disagreed. "You see, after I was hit by that car, I was taken to a strange place. I don't think it was just a dream but..." She took a deep breath. "While I was there, I met Annie."
"You met yourself?" Second Sis asked, a little confused.
"No." Gloria shook her head. "I met Annie, the real Annie, a different person from me." She blinked and took another breath. "I'm not Annie."
Big Sis' mouth dropped open. Carrie sat up straight with disbelieving eyes and exclaimed, "What?"
"What do you mean you're not Annie?" Big Sis asked.
"While I was unconscious, I was taken to a place," Gloria repeated, "I met the real Annie there."
"If you're not Annie, then who are you?" Second Sis asked.
"I'm Gloria."
"That's your middle name," Big Sis pointed out.
"I don't think it's my real name." Gloria looked down to the carpeted floor. "That's what I was called at that place and, all I know about myself is that I'm supposed to have died on a battlefield."
"You're a soldier?" the blond sister asked, "You're a guy!?"
Gloria rolled her eyes up. Why had every person who heard that assume that everyone who had died on a battlefield had been a soldier and that every soldier had been a man?
"I don't know," Gloria said, "I don't know any more about my other life."
Second Sis put on an amused look. "Okay, assuming it's true, how did you end up here instead of Annie?"
"When Annie fell from the bridge, her soul was mistakenly claimed," Gloria told her, "When she survived, the mistake was realized and a soul was returned. However, the wrong soul was returned to this body. My soul." She did not mention that the cowled stranger had done it intentionally. That would be one too many unpleasant surprise for her sisters.
"What happened to the real Annie then?" Big Sis asked.
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