Free Finding Carrie by C. E. Snyder

tired of hearing it,” Sierra said and went back to watching the TV.
    “What do you do?” Carrie asked again.
    “I am going to school for acting,” Sierra said, shifting herself on the couch to better look at her mother. “I want to be an actor just like Isaac. He’s going to help me get into his next play,” she said, smiling.
    “She’s got a real talent for it too,” Isaac said as he walked into the apartment with a box and some mail in his hands. “You got a box, Carrie.”
    “I do?” Carrie asked, getting off the couch and walking over to the desk.
    “Do you want me to open it?” Isaac picked up the letter opener. The box was about a foot in size. Carrie didn’t know what it was.
    “Sure,” Carrie said. He didn’t say anything; he just cut the tape and took out what was inside. It was a book.
    “It’s your book,” he said, handing the book to Carrie.
    “My book,” Carrie said, holding the book where she could see it.
    “ My Greatest Love ,” Isaac read the title. “It’s going to be released in a week,” he said, sounding sad. What was going to happen when her book tour started and she didn’t have her memory back in time?
    Carrie studied the book then noticed the author’s name. “This can’t be a book I wrote. You said my name is Carrie Walsch. The name on the book is C.A. Shay,” Carrie said, pointing to the cover and showing it to Isaac.
    “That is your maiden name. Your name is Carrie Ann Walsch. You started to write before I met you. So C.A. Shay is your pen name,” Isaac explained. Carrie set the book down on the desk then wandered over to the fireplace. She stopped in front of the fireplace and looked up to the picture that was hanging just above the mantel. The picture had the four of them in it.
    Carrie saw herself holding Isaac’s tie, pulling him closer to her. She had her head turned to the side with her eyes almost closed, and Isaac was kissing her cheek. One of the girls was pretending to push him toward Carrie, and the other was leaning against her for support. Everyone was all smiles in the picture. They were all dressed up. Carrie was wearing an off-white gown with a black tie around her waist. The girls were wearing white dresses with peach-colored ties around their waist. Carrie had a black headband that was twisted up in her hair and had curls and black ribbons draping down her back. The girls’ hair was made up the same way with white ribbons. Carrie couldn’t stop looking at it. She felt Isaac standing next to her. From the corner of her eye, she saw him look up to the picture.
    “What is this?” Carrie managed to get out of the trance the picture had on her.
    “This is our wedding picture. It is your favorite and mine as well,” Isaac said, looking at the picture then looking down at her. She had her mouth hanging open and her head tilted slightly to look up.
    “Oh—we look happy,” she said, shifting her eyes to the pictures on the mantel.
    “We are,” Isaac said, watching her look at the pictures on the mantel. “This one is our first date, and it was the day we met Amy,” he said, picking up the picture and handing it to her, to look at more closely. She held the picture close to her body. It was the two of them sitting on a blanket. It looked like they were on a picnic. Carrie was sitting with her legs crossed straight in front of her, and she was leaning forward with a big smile on her face. Isaac was sitting with his back toward the camera, leaning on one elbow, one leg bent up with his arm laying on it. “Amy thought we would like a picture of the two of us. I love this picture. I love your smile. Amy thought we were so much in love. She was surprised when she came up to us and found that it was our first date.”
    “Amy? Who is that?” she asked, placing the picture back on the mantel where it had been sitting.
    “Amy is your best friend. She is also your personal photo-grapher now,” Isaac said. He took her hand and took her over to a