Sometimes, she pretended she had not recognized the place.
Other times, she simply remained silent.
People who knew her well eventually learned not to ask too many questions. They understood that something about that location made her uncomfortable, although not everyone knew why. Some assumed she disliked the road because of the traffic. Others thought she preferred a different route for practical reasons.
Elira never corrected them.
Explaining the truth would have required her to open a door she had worked very hard to keep closed.
It was not that she had forgotten what happened there. In fact, forgetting had never been the problem.
She remembered too much.
She remembered the circumstances surrounding the accident, the suddenness with which an ordinary day changed, and the unsettling feeling that life could become divided into a before and an after without warning. She remembered the confusion that followed, the questions that seemed impossible to answer, and the way familiar routines became strangely difficult in the days afterward.
