Aug 11th, 2019

Heidi Marten blinked her eyes rapidly, willing the strange images from her vision. It had been happening more often lately, when she was tired or upset and looked at certain people, or places. The image of Christy dressed in a short tank top and skinny jeans, vomiting into a clump of her mother's rhododendrons, filled her head.

Heidi didn't know how she knew they were rhododendrons or that the flowers were Christy's mother's, but she knew those things as firmly as she knew her own name and that her hair was a deep golden blonde only because that's the color she dyed it. Otherwise it was an odd dishwater blonde that looked silver-gray in most light.

Heidi smiled at her classmate as the image faded, trying to focus on what the girl had just said to her.

"I think St. Mark's is a great cathedral," Heidi said. "But, no, I don't want to live in it. It would be drafty and people would keep coming in."

Heidi turned away as Christy sneered.

"Maybe it's 'cause you're foster trash," the girl drawled. "You could never live in a place this fancy."

Heidi glanced around the dim interior of the Venetian cathedral. The insult was more of the same stuff she'd gotten for years, and not even that creative. She considered how anyone could possibly live in this large, ornate church.

"Probably not," she admitted. She turned back to look Christy in the eye. "Did your mother ever forgive you for puking in her prize flowers?"

Christy gaped at her. "How did you know-"

Heidi's phone began a persistent ringing and she dug it out of her over-sized purse. It was time to call home.

Ignoring her classmates, she walked outside to the famous square filled with pigeons and found a relatively quiet nook between two souvenir shops. She quickly dialed the number and counted the rings before the line was answered.

"Snyder residence."

"Hi, Mrs. Snyder. It's Heidi. Can I talk to Erik?"

Julie Snyder snorted in answer and Heidi could hear her yell Erik's name. Heidi flinched at the sound, hoping Erik was okay.

Erik was her brother and her whole world. She would do anything for him, anything to make his path in life easier, despite his unusual peculiarities. Erik was autistic, and his sensitivity to sound often triggered a social anxiety. It was hard enough on him to talk to her only on the phone while she was on this trip. Mrs Snyder's yelling wouldn't help at all.

"Hello?" Erik's tentative voice came over the line.

"Erik," Heidi sighed in relief. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay. Mr. Snyder took away my batteries."

"Oh, no," Heidi frowned. "I'm so sorry."

Erik spent most of his free time building battery-operated robots. It was his focus, how he coped with the overwhelming sensations of having to interact with noisy, complicated people all day at school.

"It's okay, sis," Erik said, reassuring her in his broken, hesitant speech. "I made them work anyways."

"Good. That's great. How was school today?"

"Okay. I sat with Kevin at lunch. He had a peanut butter sandwich and a bag of Cheetos. I told him he should eat more fruit 'cause it's better for you."

"Oh, okay," Heidi tried to keep the censure out of her voice. She struggled to keep herself from correcting Erik's social missteps. He needed to figure some things out for himself, and people needed to accept him for who he was. But it was hard to bite her tongue over it.

"Oh, Heidi," Erik said. "Did you see the cathedral today?"

Heidi smiled. Erik had dealt with her going on this trip by researching places where she could take a picture so he could see them like she was seeing them.

"I sure did," she said. "I'll send you the pictures tonight, okay?"

She heard a rustling noise and she knew he was nodding. He often forgot that the non-verbal stuff didn't come across over the phones. She bit her tongue on that reminder, too.

"I have to get going now," Heidi said. "I'll be home in-"

"Four days," Erik interrupted.

"Three," Heidi corrected him. "Remember, we don't count today, right?"

"Four days, counting today," Erik said, compromising his stance.

"Love you, bro," Heidi said.

"Love you, too." Erik abruptly hung up.

Heidi slowly put the phone away and headed back towards the front door of the cathedral. Even after almost a week of calling home at the same time every day, Mr Cadwell, the chaperone, panicked when she was away from the group for too long. Never mind that he got lost frequently, while Heidi always remembered the way back to the hotel. She got back just as the group was gathering to move on to the next item on their itinerary.

"Freak!" Christy hissed at her, obviously still upset about the reminder of her mother's flowers.

Heidi sighed. She had been excited to go on this trip, her reward for winning an essay contest at school. But the weird visions were much more frequent here, and she worried about her brother a lot.

It didn't help that Christy and several of the others had decided to pick on her, primarily because she'd won the trip instead of forking out the several hundred dollars for it the way the others had. That meant that Heidi was traveling through Italy with a group of snobbish brats.

As the group loaded back onto the ferry from St. Mark's Square, Heidi wondered how she could possibly enjoy the last few days of the trip. She felt something small and lightweight hit the back of her head. She wiped her hand down her hair and found a wad of gum. Just great.

Heidi stared at the tall building carved out of a cliff face, wondering why there was even a cliff face in the middle of the Venetian business district. They had just come from a tour of the Gallerie dell'Accademia, an art gallery, and her classmates had walked on, ignoring the odd structure that held Heidi's attention.

Mr. Caldwell walked up to her, his stocky frame giving a little wobble to the strutting stride.

"Ms. Marten," he droned. "You need to keep up with the group."

Heidi nodded absently.

He glanced at the cliff face building and cleared his throat. "Do you see something interesting?"

Heidi gestured up at the windows within the sheer rock. "It's odd archecture, don't you think?"

Mr. Caldwell stared up at the building for a long moment. He shrugged and turned back to the girl. "Not any more odd than the rest of these ancient things."

Heidi turned to the man. A feeling of dread filled her. Was she seeing things again? She could usually tell when something was one of her visions. "You don't see any difference?"

He frowned. "No. Now, please, keep up with the group."

Heidi nodded and turned down the sidewalk towards her classmates. She glanced back at the building as she walked away. A figure moved past one of the windows. She caught a glimpse of red hair and a sharp-featured face.

She stared at the window for several seconds until she bumped into a dark-haired young woman. She turned to apologize and stopped when she caught sight of the woman's eyes. They were amber and ringed with long dark lashes and a white, shimmery tattoo.

The woman held her eyes for a long moment, as if she recognized Heidi. Heidi was absolutely certain she would have remember anyone with such striking eyes.

As the woman turned and walked away, Mr. Caldwell grabbed Heidi's arm and pulled her along, muttering about weird Europeans. Heidi shot him a look before turning back to the woman.

This time, Heidi noticed the woman's clothes. She wore a dark, calf length skirt with a loose blouse and a snug, corset-style vest. Her shoes were some kind of pointed boot, and a tiny hat with a little veil sat jauntily on top of her curly updo.

Before Heidi could comment on the strange clothing, the image of the woman seemed to melt and shift, and her clothing became a modern, calf-length summer dress. Her hat became a black-and-white bowl-shaped straw hat.

The woman turned as if feeling Heidi's gaze on her. She stared back for a moment, then grinned and turned to walk on.

Heidi gaped at the woman as Mr. Caldwell pulled her away. She had never had such a strong vision without knowing right away that it was a vision. She could feel something shifting inside her, as if her entire life had just pivoted, changing the course of her future.

That woman, Heidi knew, was the first sign of a major shift in her life. What Heidi didn't know was if that shift was for the better.