The Story Of Daniel

/t w e n t y - e i g h t/

Chapter 28

One Day Before

You never know when your last day will be. You could be living it right now, reading this book, or it could be in fifty years, no one knows. Just like Daniel never knew that this day would be his last day before his life changed forever. He woke up and went through his normal morning routine, ate breakfast, and was out the door, headed to Amelia's house. They walked to school, chatting along the way, everything was normal. They went to school, sat through their classes, the typical school day. Nothing felt off, there was no odd feeling that something big was going to happen. It had been months since Sarah died and Daniel was doing just fine. He and Amelia did their homework at Daniel's house and when she left, Daniel snuggled into his bed.

He had no idea that when he woke up, as he walked to school the next day, everything would change.

Now

Dear Daniel,

It's November thirtieth; the last day in this month. I'm sure you don't think that the last day of a certain month holds any significance; but it does. I can assure you, it does. You probably think that it's June, right? Think again. It'll be December first when you read this. Crazy, right? But it's true. As you can probably tell from the hand writing, I'm Daniel. And hopefully you're Daniel too. And if you aren't Daniel, do me a favor by giving this to him. All right, now that I know it's the real Daniel, I can begin.

I need to tell you a few things, Daniel. Some of these things will blow your mind and some of these things you just won't believe. I know how it feels; I was the same way at the beginning of the month. Only, I didn't have a note like this to tell me it all. My parents had to explain the best that they could. Consider yourself lucky. Especially since they don't know the half of what happened this month. This crazy, wonderful month. They don't know what happened when they weren't there. They don't know what was going on inside of my head. And you wouldn't have known either if it wasn't for my glorious idea to write this letter. This letter to my future self. Well, one day into the future may not sound like a lot. But for us, Daniel, a day is a thing that you should treasure when you have it; because it's going to be swiped away from you whether you like it or not.

So, Daniel. Are you ready for the first big fact to blow your mind? Well, ready or not, here it comes. You've been living like this for about half a year now. And by living like this, I mean forgetting every memory from the month. You remember the coma, right? Well, it's kind of hard to forget. Anyway, that coma did some damage to your brain. And I know what you're thinking. Your thinking, 'That's not true. The doctor said I was fine.' Well, the doctor was wrong Daniel. And if you don't believe me, than you should fix that. Because it's true.

The damage didn't affect you though until you were hit in the head with a shovel (don't even ask), all the damage took place and this horrible cycle started. At the end of every month, your memories are wiped clean.

Alright, take a moment to let that sink in. It is the truth, you know. Why would I lie to you? You're me. I'm just trying to help you; make the transition smoother. This may be a shock, but it's not a lie. And it is also the reason why I am up at eleven thirty at night writing this letter to my future self.

Here's the second big fact of the letter; I'm going to tell you everything that has happened this month. A lot of great things have happened this month, and I'm not too keen on forgetting them this fast. I know that telling a story isn't the same as actually having the memory, but it's all I can do. It's better than nothing. The Indians used to do that, didn't they? They passed down stories because they couldn't write.