What happens when you can't even recognize your own parents, but you're able to identify the most notorious playboy in school? //
Asher Thomas lives in a world where she isn't able to recognize people's faces, including those of her parents and even...
"Shut up, Dad." My eyes are closed, and my fingers are rubbing furious circles on my temple. The pain is unrelenting.
He laughs, swerving the car into our driveway. "I'm not mad. You're a teenager, you've got to have some fun."
He says this because the only person I hang out with is Chloe. He says this because he's relieved I am getting out of the house more. After this experience, however, I never want to leave the comforts of my room again.
We pull into the garage, and he opens the door for me.
"Thanks," I say. As soon as I stand, my body threatens to keel over. Gagging, my head dives into a wave of nausea.
"Hey, hey." My dad's eyes crinkle. He's amused. Shutting the door behind me, he steadies my shoulders, and I flash him a meek thumbs-up that I can walk. He chuckles, never straying too far behind me. "I know what it feels like," he murmurs.
At this thought, we both grow silent. Dad follows me into the house, who is followed by a long line of memories. Dad drank a lot when Mom left – often, he'd wake up in my current state. That's when he hired Heidi – to take care of me, and himself.
"Get some sleep." He claps my shoulder. His eye crinkles are back. "I'll get you some Advil." Jokingly, he adds: "Try not to throw up over the carpet."
I roll my eyes, but I'm up the stairs in the flash, leaving the mob of memory-people locked in the garage.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
AARON
I am in the forest behind the school, eating jellybeans by the handful. The air is calm and cool, far from how I am feeling now.
I venture deeper into the greens, weaving through trees and watching the trail thin out under my feet. Though my presence is loud, the bugs are alive, and the deer are rustling through the undergrowth. I am here, and nature has accepted me.
I stop by a flat boulder, taking a seat and finishing off my candy. I silence my phone, take off my backpack, and lean back. Sunlight filters through the trees, tiptoeing to the ground, and I think that I must be like this sun, so strong, but in pieces, scattered over earthy floor, disjointed. My mind is the forest, and my thoughts are the light.
I lean back against the broad rock, stuffing the empty bag of candy into my pocket. The back of my head rests in a crook in the stone, a small cocoon for screaming thoughts, and I am molding into this rock. I think, I should close my eyes, become part stone, stay here forever, because a rock must be so less chaotic than Out There. This rock must be at peace. This rock must not think about other matters, for it has none.
I close my eyes. I stretch out my legs. I sleep.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
