Azure

Forgotten

It all started when he was in the first grade. Vishesh was an ordinary six year old boy in an insignificant town in Bihar. Short and skinny, he was one of the smallest kids in his class and would always fall prey to the bullies in his school. He was currently being chased across the school ground by Monu, who wanted to steal his pocket money. Though he was just one year older than Vishesh, Monu was almost twice his size and it would not take long for him to catch up with Vishesh. Terrified, Vishesh ran as fast as his legs could take him, fervently praying that Monu would forget about the money. He ran for some time but as he looked back, he saw that Monu had stopped running. Monu stood there, perplexed for a second, and then walked away with a bewildered look on his face, as if trying to remember something that he had forgotten.
Vishesh was bewildered himself. He did not understand what had happened. He stood there in disbelief as he watched Monu walk away as if nothing had happened. Had his prayers been answered? Or did Monu have somewhere else to go? Vishesh left the playground, equally perplexed but relieved at the same time.

It happened again, a few months later. Vishesh had not done his homework and it was only minutes before the teacher would enter the class. He sat in his seat, scared of being punished by the teacher, hoping she would forget to collect the homework. And so it happened, his teacher entered the class, taught her lessons and left without mentioning the homework. Vishesh was yet again left scratching his head. He did not know what just happened and whether he had made it happen.

A few more such strange events occurred before Vishesh realised that it was not just a coincidence and that he actually could make people forget things. He was too afraid to tell anyone because he knew nobody would believe him. However this ability had given him a newfound sense of power. His innocent mind did not know enough to use his powers wisely. As the years passed by, his powers became stronger and his control over them grew. He had decided to keep his special ability a secret from everyone. However, in an unguarded moment he confided in his close friend Sunil, who promptly told his father over dinner that night. Sunil's father, an ordinary government officer working in The Central Forest Institute in Mumbai, showed an inordinate interest in what his son had to say. He then left the dinner table to make a phone call.

It was a normal Monday evening and Vishesh was just returning home from school. As he walked down the street that led to his house, he saw four men get out of a white van. It was unusual for vehicles to come on that street at that time of the day. Before he could think any further he felt strong arms grip him from behind. The last thing he remembered was a handkerchief being pressed against his mouth before he lost consciousness. He woke up with a jerk as he heard a loud thud of the door of the van being opened. Panick stricken and afraid, he tried to scream for help but one of the men covered his mouth. The other three dragged him along. His vision was still blurry and he was still dizzy. In a few minutes, he regained consciousness and saw where they were taking him: The Central Forest Institute. It made no sense to him at all.

The men took him inside the building and the bright white light blinded him. They then went to the top floor of the building and pressed a button that revealed the hidden door to a secret laboratory. In the laboratory, Vishesh saw several other children like him, asleep in cages. He was then thrown into a cage himself. He frantically tried to free himself, banging the prisons bars and crying for help when he heard a voice call his name. "Vishesh", said an old man wearing a white coat. " You are a very special boy with a unique ability. This no forest institue. This a laboratory where we conduct experiments on special children like you."
Vishesh then realised that The Central Forest Institute was just a cover up for this laboratory which was conducting illegal experiments on children. The man then left the room. Defeated and exhausted, Vishesh cried himself to sleep, thinking about his family back home. The next morning, the same men took him out of his cage and placed him on a table, where his hands and feet were chained to restrict his movement. The old man came again and attached wires to his brain. He passed out soon. Vishesh woke up twelve hours later in his cell in agonising pain. Being too weak to get up, he fell asleep.

This routine continued and he was tortured by the scientists almost everyday for three years. He was so weak that he was reduced to a skeleton.

Over the three years he had managed to become friends with a few of the other children in the laboratory. They had made plans to use their powers to escape. They were supposed to leave the laboratory that night. Everything went according to plan that night. One of them used his powers to open the cell doors. While the other made the guards unconscious. Their years of planning and coordinating had not been in vain. They executed the plan smoothly and soon were out of the laboratory. After they were out, Vishesh used his powers to make the scientists forget about them. He bid his friends goodbye as they all set off for their home towns. He could not believe that he was out of that place and was on his way home. By the time he reached his home town, it was morning. He could not wait to meet his family again.

He was now facing the door of his house, eager to see his family. He hesitated a bit and finally rang the bell. As his mother opened the door, she looked at him confused. "Who are you and how can I help you?", she asked. He could not beleive that his own mother did no recognise him. " Mother, it's me, Vishesh", he said, to which she replied,
" I do not know anyone named Vishesh". Stunned, he then remembered that he was the one who had done this. The first year he had lost any hope of seeing his family again. He couldn't bear to think of how much they might have been missing him and decided to relieve them of their pain by making them forget about him. With this, he told his mother that he had probably gone to the wrong house and walked away slowly. Devastated and helpless, he left, not knowing where to go. If only he could bring back all the memories he had erased.

-Rtr.Manasi Aithal