Cursed to Forget

Chapter 1 - Forgetting to Remember

                A thud echoes through the halls of a sparse apartment. A rattling noise, not unlike that which a decorative Christmas bulb makes, follows not long after. A young man lies face down on the cool hardwood floor, reeling from having smacked his head underneath the table he was dusting around. He contemplates getting up and going about his housework. He almost decides that it's not worth it to try. Ever since he bumped into that eccentric elderly lady at the local bodega last week, his life has comprised one mishap after another.

"You forgot to look where you were going, you say?" he recalls her words and how her voice squeaked with a supercilious tone. "Well, my dearie! You're going to forget a lot more, one of these days!"

He remembers dashing away as she began to cackle at her own words. He thought her to just be a mad woman who should have been locked away in an asylum ages ago, however, he might just believe her to be something more important. Life has been nothing but bumps and bruises since then. And the aches don't go away, even when he takes warm baths.

Jamie wants to blame it on his own poor luck and being another year older. Though, there is something inside of him that feels off. Like something is gone. He tries to use his head and collect whatever loose bobbles are inside, but his own mind betrays him, and he can't figure out what ails him. He eventually does collect himself and goes about his day.

After a short time, the phone begins to ring. He rushes to it and picks it up. On the other end it's his girlfriend of the past few years. She's in tears. Blubbering over him being a jerk and forgetting her grandmother's funeral being today. Jamie is taken aback, stuttering and trying to defend himself. But she won't have it.

"I thought you would be here for me! We're through, Jamie!! Never contact me again!!" she declares before hanging up.

With his heart in pieces, Jamie attempts to return to his housework but he just can't muster up the strength. He finds himself in his bed and he begins to ponder.

"How could I forget Shiela's grandmother's funeral? We had just talked about it this morning.", his mind begins to wander, and he tries to recall the conversation. But in the myriad of compartments inside of his mind, he can't remember.

He begins to sob and once the tears dry up, he is fast asleep, his body and mind exhausted from this most recent trauma.