The Whispering Legacy

Remembering

The days are all the same here: can’t tell when it’s morning, can’t tell when it’s midnight. I’m not exactly sure how long I’ve been here, the years all mix up, but it might be over 7 years. No light enters this room. I’m not even sure if I remember what light is, or even what it looks like. It’s silent in this room, no noises besides my own breath and voice. I don’t know what I look like, what I’m wearing. I never really thought about it either. I don’t remember what happened to get me to be locked up in this room, whether it was my fault or someone else’s. No one ever visits me, no one ever cares.

I woke up (or was I already awake?) and looked around at the blackness that surrounded my daily life.

“Hello,” I said to the darkness.

I stood from my mattress and walked around the room, feeling the walls with my fingertips.

“One...Two…Three…Four,” I repeated as I circled once, twice, three times.

On the fourth time I stopped and sat back down on the mattress.

“I remembered what grass is,” I told the silence, “It’s the green stuff that appears on dirt.”

I stopped as if waiting for an answer then continued,

“I just don’t know what it feels like.”

It was silent for who knows how long as I slipped into my mind. Something awoke me from it though. At first I wasn’t sure what had brought me back to reality. Then it happened again: a noise. It was loud and frightening to me. The first sounds besides my own voice that I had heard. Many loud noises, coming from the wall to my left. Then, the noises stopped. All of a sudden, a piece of the wall opened towards me and something bright shined through it. I didn’t move at first. But I stood after staring for a while and made my way over to the wall opening.

“A door,” I said, my heart fluttering as I remembered what that was.

I opened it fully and a singe of pain flooded my eyes. I winced and covered my face with my hands.

“What is it?” I asked.

Of course, there was no answer. It took several minutes and many tries before I could remove my hands and see. There was another door in front of me. In fact, it was a whole corridor filled with doors and rooms behind those doors. Everything was so bright, I blinked several times as I made my way down the hall. At the end there was a big door with a sign on it.

“Fire…Exit,” I said softly, remembering how to read.

I pushed on the door until it gave and led me to an even brighter, noisier place. I stopped and covered my ears, clenching my eyes shut. When I could function again, I noticed I was up high,

“Flying?” I wondered, “No…Stairs.”

I looked down and noticed the winding steps that led to the ground below. As I followed them down, I took notice of the strange, metal birds in the sky. On the ground, my feet felt hot, rough dirt. No, not dirt, cement.

“I need grass!” I exclaimed.

My voice echoed in the empty street and I jumped at it. I smiled and shouted,

“You’re just an echo!”

“An echo, an echo, echo!” The street said in return.

I giggled then skipped down the street. I continued until I saw treetops.

“Green means grass,” I said.

I stopped skipping and sprinted until I could feel dew on my toes. I then collapsed onto the wet grass and panted as I stared into the sky. I closed my eyes and smiled as I stretched my arms.

“I haven’t felt this alive in a long time,” I said, my eyes still closed, “Ever since…Ever since…”

I stopped as my head began to ache, digging up a hidden memory. There was a man, a woman, and a little girl. Flashes of fear had crossed each of their faces but now they were blank. Their lifeless, bloody bodies scattered across a living room floor. Their blood drenched my skin, my clothes, and my hair. My heart raced both in the memory and out, I felt so alive. I opened my eyes as I now remembered everything. Killing my family, being locked up, and the torture of silence.

But now I was out.

I smiled grimly and said in a sing-song voice,

“I remember.”