Memories

Part 1

It has been three years since I got stuck here. Three years since I woke up in this sad little town surrounded by monstrous walls and no way out. Three years since I woke up with no memory of anything except my name. Lani. No one knows how to pronounce my name right. They constantly pronounce it wrong. I always try to teach them, but no one is ever interested. It is simple really, only four letters but somehow they always say it wrong. Honestly, I have just gotten used to it and given up trying to teach them. My best friend, whose name is Lilo, also has the same problem. She has the same long dark brown hair and brown eyes. It's frustrating. Definitely not as much as being stuck in here. Everyone who is here with us also woke up here with no memories. Most of them have been here way longer than me. Every three months, the Makers send in three new people. No one knows who the Makers are or why they put us here. All we know is that they built this place.

We have divided ourselves into four job groups. The Keepers of the Garden (my group). The Keepers of the Law. The Keepers of the Kitchen and The Keepers of Construction. One week after you arrive, you go through a series of tests. Based on your score, the Council will decide what group you will join.

I love my job. In the Gardener's section of the city, it is always so green and bright. Like a bright light in a pitch-black room. There are some plants here and there in the other sections, but they arenʻt as taken care of like the ones here, plus most of them were weeds. The rest of the city is all gray and gloomy. Trash litters the ground. All you can hear is the beeping of old machinery and loud conversations. The smell of polluted air and waste is overpowering. When I visit, I always trip on uneven gravel. There are barely any plants, just buildings. Then there is the garden. The garden is quite beautiful and full of bright colors, people helping one another and having quiet conversations. You can smell the rich soil and flowers along with the sweet scent of fresh fruit. We grow all of the food here. The Keepers of the Kitchen take care of the animals.

My gardening neighbor today is an older lady named Grandma Martha. She, well, is kind of crazy. (and FAT). She chases little kids down the road because she thinks that she owns the street.

The central garden is in the middle of our section and shaped like a large circle. Six thinner outer rings wrap around it. Today I was assigned to work on the outer ring of the central garden, known as A6. I groaned internally. Even though the outer ring was thin, it was the longest because it had to wrap around the other layers. Most of the time, the people that get assigned to A6 donʻt do a great job. They tire out quickly. That meant I had to work extra hard today.

I was watering some tomato plants when Lilo walked up behind me.

"What's up?" she asked, even though it was clear I was gardening.

"The sky," I replied as I spun around to face her, a smirk on my face.

"Wow," she said, slow clapping. "Hilarious,"

"Oh, come on! It wasn't that bad!" I protested. "Which ring are you working on today?"

"B3,"

I sighed. "Lucky. A small one and close to the middle."

"Yup. Oh! Did you hear that the Council is thinking about-"

"What is that?" I cut her off, "Sorry, but do you see that?"

"What?" she seemed a little annoyed that I stopped her in the middle of her sentence.

"That," I said while I pointed to the object that had caught my eye. It was a plant, one that I didn't recognize. It seemed about 2-3 feet tall multiple green leaves were coming out of the top and reaching towards the sky. I started to walk closer to get a better look. Lilo followed me. When I got closer, I could see that the leaves were slightly glossy. The lower leaves sagged somewhat while the ones near to the middle were straighter. There was one little leaf in the center that rolled up, only the edge unfurling a bit. The stem of the plant was skinny and tall, urging it to lean slightly to the right.

"Woah," Lilo said as she stared at the mysterious plant in front of her.

"Woah, is right. What is that?" a familiar British voice said. Newt. Newt was about my age, slightly taller with blonde hair. Suddenly, I got a weird feeling like I knew what this plant was, although I was quite sure that I had never seen it before. Maybe it was from before I got stuck in this place? Then I heard something unfamiliar.

"Ti can be planted in two ways. One way is to plant the seeds. The other way is to cut a piece of the stem off and let the roots grow in a glass of water. When the roots are about an inch long, you can take them out of the jar and plant them into the ground. Then after watering and caring for about four to six weeks. BOOM! There you have it. A stunning Ti leaf plant." The voice was strange. Like it was there but not at the same time.

"Hello? Earth to Lani! What's going on?" Lilo said while waving a hand in front of my face causing me to snap out of it.

"I uh...I think I remembered something," I replied. "something about this plant!. It's called a..., Ti leaf. Yeah, that's it. Someone was talking about how to plant it.

"You had a bloody memory?!" Newt exclaimed with wonder and excitement in his voice.

"Yeah, but itʻs kinda fading. I need a piece of paper. Does anyone have paper?" I was able to get a notepad. Across the top, I scribbled the word MEMORIES. I jotted down the things that I heard in the memory and how the Ti Leaf looked. Next to my notes, I drew a quick sketch of the plant. I loved to sketch all of the plants that lived in the gardens. I had a whole drawing book filled with drawings and notes of every plant that we have here. Now I can add this strange Ti leaf plant to my collection.

Sorry I'm new to this and idk how to indent 😣

I hope you liked it! Please keep reading and lmk what you think!