Abandoned Memories

Lost And Forgotten

It took my brain a moment for it to actually comprehend what had just happened, and I was completely taken aback by his words. I was sure this was some kind of cruel joke. It was just so like him to say something like this just to piss me off.

"You might want to take a seat. This is going to be pretty hard to wrap your head around." He used the same condescending tone that he always used as he gestured to the chair behind me.

I mentally rolled my eyes and took a seat.

"Well, I'm not exactly sure where to start with this...it's a pretty complex issue," he said while repeatedly rubbing the back of his neck.

"Listen Zoe, it's been about four years since your mother's funeral. A week after that day, your aunt Jamie and I sensed some strange behavior coming from your end. All the memories you were making seemed to just evaporate into thin air after such short periods of time and you were so disoriented most of the time. Anyway, we took you to a few psychiatrists so we could try and understand what was going on."

He took a deep breath before continuing, and I started to tap my feet impatiently.

"They diagnosed your condition. You have a very specific type of amnesia which is called Anterograde amnesia. It's basically a form of amnesia that leaves you unable to sustain your memories for longer than a day. Your mother's death was the cause of this trauma."

I was about to open my mouth to speak, but he interrupted me almost immediately.

"There's more. Your trauma is worse because we never found out the cause of your mother's death. The amnesia may or may not be permanent. The doctors say that finding out the cause of your mother's death might help cure your condition, but seeing as the coroner could not find the reason behind your mother's death and it's been so many years, I just don't know how that's going to be possible. I've decided to explain this to you now because you have more of a chance of helping yourself now than you did before."

Excuse me?! Did he just say that I have to find out how she died?! And that if I didn't I'd have short-term memory loss for the rest of my life?? Was he serious?! I felt sick.

It took me a few moments to speak just so I could gather my thoughts.

"I-I'm not exactly sure how you expect me to do that. If what you say is true then even if I did gather some information, which I highly doubt, I'd automatically forget about it the next day!" I quickly adjusted the tone of my voice so that I would sound stern and not hesitant.

He smiled lightly, quickly grabbed a small notebook that lay on the table, that he so comfortably had his feet up on, and handed it to me.

"From now on, you're going to use this as your daily journal. Whatever you want, you can write in here. The doctors said it would help jog your memory every now and then. Don't worry, I'll be here to explain your condition every day no matter what happens." I smirked at the thought of him actually attempting to act like a father-figure after all these years, but decided to focus my gaze on the floor.

I was so confused. How could this happen? How dare my brain just erase my daily memories? I felt a sharp sting in the corner of my eye. I quickly blinked back the tears. I was NOT about to look weak in front of the person I despised most.

A few moments later I decided that if I didn't get some air, I was going to have a mental breakdown and that wouldn't be pretty for anyone.

I needed space and time to think.

I grabbed the first pair of running shoes I could find, along with the journal my father had handed me and without another word, I headed for the door. I needed to think about this thoroughly before taking action. How on Earth was I, out of all people, supposed to figure out the cause of my mother's death? As far as I was concerned, I was just a restless thirteen year old girl stuck in the body of a seventeen year old with four years worth of memories that no longer existed. I did what any person would do given the circumstances. I freaked out and ran.

I didn't even care where I was going. I just went wherever my feet demanded. I eventually had to pause seeing as I was hyperventilating and was undoubtedly exhausted. I took that as an opportunity to observe my surroundings, and it didn't take me too long to realize I was completely and utterly lost in the middle of nowhere.

I was in a forest and I felt like a lost puppy. I was surrounded by enormous trees that were much taller than any trees I'd ever seen before. They were curved in the most unusual way, all of them pointing north with their crooked branches, as if to say 'Hey! Follow me!' There were no paths or roads. It was basically just rocks, dead leaves and broken tree branches all over the place. Out of the corner of my eye, I could've sworn that I saw some bones on the forest floor in the distance. Oh great, I'm next! What a great legacy to have. I'm going to end up being that girl who had amnesia and died in some freaky looking forest because she couldn't get herself to think straight! I thought to myself as I paced back and forth, vigorously attempting to pull myself together. I blinked repeatedly trying to snap myself out of such absurd thoughts.

My heart rate had dramatically increased, though I wasn't entirely sure if it was because I had been running or if it was because I was absolutely petrified.

By now, I had estimated that it was either late afternoon or evening. My eyes widened at the thought that I had very few hours left to find my way home, otherwise I'd be screwed. If I didn't, I'd wake up in the middle of nowhere, and I'd be even more lost and confused than I was earlier that day with no one there to explain to me what was going on.

I started to frantically run, desperately trying to find a way out of that insanely creepy forest. After about ten minutes of doing that, I realized it was getting me no where. I was unquestionably dehydrated and overly exhausted.

My feet could no longer hold me up, and I collapsed to the ground. My journal fell to the floor next to me. My vision started to go blurry as a faint black shadow of a person appeared in front of me and only one sentence echoed throughout the entire forest. The voice was deep and almost mechanical,sounding like a robot. I hastily wrote down what the voice said before everything went black and I passed out in the middle of God knows where.

"The first clue lies within the deepest of trees and the darkest of your fears"