Alleyway Amnesia (Fiction)

This is my freewrite for the prompt "blackout." This was supposed to be a 5 minute freewrite, but I went a bit overtime, as I often do. Since it is not a contest, I just let the muse take me where it will. Instructions are here in case you are interested.

Alleyway Amnesia (Fiction)

The woman woke up remembering nothing. This was a complete blackout. She could not even remember her name. She noticed she was wearing a waitressing uniform with a name tag. She removed it to examine it more closely. Her eyes were a little blurry; she struggled to focus, but then the name came clear: Henrietta.

Was that her? Shouldn’t she feel some spark of familiarity at the sight of her own name? She looked around. Where was she? It did not smell good. It smelled like garbage and, well, worse than that. She noticed she was in an alleyway. Her uniform was slightly torn. Had someone hurt her?

She didn’t feel hurt or alarmed in any way. Wouldn’t she feel worried in some way if she had been assaulted? She got to her feet and did an inventory. It didn’t take long.

She had no purse, no wallet, and no identification of any kind on her other than the name tag. She had a little apron around her waist that had room for spare change and bills, but it was completely empty now. She had no phone.

She began to walk confidently towards the main road. For some reason, her empty pockets did not concern her. In fact, she felt strangely light-hearted and joyful. She had a feeling deep down inside that, finally, everything would be okay. It was odd because she could not recall.

What was her life before she woke up in the alley? Every time she started to think of it, a creeping sense of dread came over her, so she made up her mind to consider herself reborn and never to think of it again.

Of course, no one is born in an alley in their late twenties, so there were obstacles to face yet.

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