The Key to Midnight

let's make it the kitchen. You are sitting at the kitchen table. Your mother is cooking something. It smells delicious. Makes your mouth water. What is your mother cooking, Joanna?'
        Silence.
        'What is your mother cooking, Joanna?'
        'Nothing.'
        'She is not cooking?'
        'No.'
        'Then what smells so delicious?'
        'Nothing. There's no smell.'
        'What is your mother doing if not cooking?'
        'Nothing.'
        'Are you in the kitchen?'
        'Yes.'
        'What's happening?'
        'Nothing.'
        'All right then. What is your mother's name?'
        'My mother's name is Elizabeth Rand.'
        'What does she look like?'
        'She has blond hair like mine.'
        'What color are her eyes?'
        'Blue. Like mine.'
        'Is she pretty?'
        'Yes.'
        'Heavy or thin.'
        'Slender.'
        'How tall is she, Joanna?'
        Silence.
        'How tall is your mother?'
        'I don't know.'
        'Is she tall, short, or of medium height?'
        'I don't know.'
        'Okay. All right. But you are there in the kitchen.'
        'Yes.'
        'Now… does your mother like to cook, Joanna?'
        'I don't know.'
        'What is her favorite food?'
        Silence.
        'What is your mother's favorite food, Joanna?'
        'I don't know.'
        'She must like to eat certain things in particular.'
        'I suppose so.'
        'What kind of meals does she prepare for you?'
        'Regular meals.'
        'All right… what about beef? Does she favor beef dishes?'
        After a hesitation, Joanna sighed and said, 'My mother's name is Elizabeth Rand.'
        Frowning, Inamura said, 'Answer my question, Joanna. Does your mother prepare beef for you?'
        'I don't remember.'
        'Yes, you do,' he said gently, encouragingly. 'You're in the kitchen. What is your mother cooking for you, Joanna?'
        She said nothing.
        Inamura was silent, pondering her blank face. He changed the subject. 'Joanna, does your mother like to go to the movies?'
        Joanna shifted uneasily in the armchair but kept her eyes shut.
        Inamura said, 'Does your mother like the theater, perhaps?'
        'I guess she does.'
        'Does she like the movies too?'
        'I guess she does.'
        'Don't you know for sure?'
        Joanna made no response.
        'Does your mother like to read?'
        Silence.
        'Does your mother enjoy books, Joanna?'
        'I… I don't know.'
        'Does it seem strange to you that you know so little about your own mother?'
        Joanna squirmed in her chair.
        Inamura said, 'What's your mother's name, Joanna?'
        'My mother's name is Elizabeth Rand.'
        'Tell me everything you know about her.'
        'She has blond hair and blue eyes like mine.'
        'Tell me more.'
        'She's slender and pretty.'
        'More, Joanna. Tell me more.'
        Silence.
        'Surely you know more, Joanna.'
        'She's very pretty.'
        And?'
        'Slender.'
        'And?'
        'I can't remember, damn it!' Her face contorted. 'Leave me alone!'
        'Relax, Joanna,' Inamura said. 'You will relax.'
        Joanna's hands were no longer in her lap. She was fiercely gripping the arms of the chair, digging her fingernails into the upholstery. Under her closed lids, her eyes moved rapidly, like those of a sleeper caught in a bad dream.
        Alex wanted to touch and comfort her, but he was afraid that he might break the spell that the doctor had cast.
        'Relax and be calm,' Inamura instructed. 'You are very relaxed and calm. In deep sleep… deep natural sleep… yes… yes, that's better… deep relaxation. Joanna, perhaps you can't remember these things because you never knew them. And perhaps you never knew them… because Elizabeth Rand never existed.'
        'My mother's name is Elizabeth Rand,' Joanna said woodenly.
        'And perhaps Robert Rand never existed either.'
        'My father's name is Robert Rand.'
        'And perhaps you cannot picture the activity in that kitchen,' Inamura pressed on, 'because it never existed. Nor the apartment in London. So I want you to float freely in time… drift… just drift in time… backward… backward in time. You are looking for a special place, a unique and important place in your life… a place that reeks strongly of