Book Writing

Clashing Memories

"Urgh, my eyes hurt...." I mumbled as I rubbed my eyes, trying to get the spots flying around in my vision to disappear. My memories became flying fishes, gleefully trying to escape from my mind to torture me. I groaned in annoyance. 

It was at that time that I realised that Dad was towering over me, his shadow falling on me. 

For a moment, I mentally panicked, thinking that he was going to get angry at me for being on the ground for no reason, but it was soothed when I saw the worry painted on his face. He's not going to hurt you, Aruke. He's your dad. I calmed down a bit. 

"You okay, Aruke?" Dad asked me as he held out a hand. 

"Y-Yeah..." I nodded, taking his hand.

After that, Dad helped me stand and stabilise myself on a chair. While making myself comfortable on the chair, I rubbed my forehead in a futile attempt to get it to stop aching. Luckily, Dad noticed and passed me a glass of water, which I gratefully took. 

Eventually, my vision cleared and I could see better, so I sighed in relief. 

"Feeling better now?" 

I nodded, "Thanks, Dad. I feel much much better." 

"Good to know," he smiled, but it soon turned to concern, "What happened here, Aruke? I was on my way up when I heard your shout. Then I went up and saw you on the ground." 

"I don't know Dad," I admitted. "I was just looking at that weird MP3 player on top of the box of new arrivals and then there was this bright light that blinded me." 

He blinked, "MP3 player?" 

"Yeah," I nodded.  Dad looked perplexed. 

"What are you talking about Aruke?" He tilted his head. "There was never an MP3 player with the artefacts. Are you sure you weren't imagining things?" 

"What do you mean, Dad?" I felt confused over what he was implying. "There WAS an MP3 player with the box."

"You must have been hallucinating, Aruke," he frowned. "I don't recall ever seeing an MP3 player around." 

Would you look at that? He doesn't believe you. The voice in my mind teased. I growled in annoyance. Shut up. The last thing I want to hear that from is you. Oh, how cute, you're asking me to shut up. Question, how can you ask yourself to shut up?

My temper flared up hearing that thought, and my fists tightened, "Why don't you believe me Dad?"

"It's not that I don't believe you, Aruke. It's just that I'm trying to be logical about this." 

"Dad, I know what I saw. There was an MP3 player here and it lit up!" 

"Calm down, Aruke. Let's think this through rationally. Why would there be an MP3 player here?" 

"I..." I stopped. 

He was right. Why would there be an MP3 player here? It wasn't an artefact or anything. Plus, it looked brand new. 

I hung my head, unable to deny the fact that he was right. Regret seeped into my heart. Tears pricked at my eyes. 

See?! You were wrong. You're always wrong! S-Shut up... 

"I-I'm sorry..." I mumbled under my breath. "I-I was wrong..." 

My heart felt heavy, and my throat was suddenly super dry. I tried not to let it show, but it was as clear as day; I was really regretting it.

"Hey, Aruke! You okay?" Dad looked at me.

I nodded numbly, "Y-Yeah..." I gripped my fists tightly again. 

"Hey, it's okay, Aruke," He hugged me. "I'm sorry for being too blunt." 

"N-No, it's fine. I-I was wrong..." 

"Did your voice say that again?" 

I nodded again, unable to hold back the tears that fell due to my aching heart. 

"Hey, Aruke, don't listen to that voice in your head, okay? I keep on telling you to fight that voice." 

"I-I try, b-but it always comes back..." I sobbed out. 

"It's okay, it's okay," he rubbed circles into my back. "Let's go down okay? We'll sort out the artefacts later." 

"O-Oh..."I nodded before I let Dad walk me down the stairs to the living room, which was quaint and comfy with a homey feeling with a bunch of sofas surrounding a tall table, and he sat me down on the sofa. 

But just as he was about to sit down, there was a knock on the door. 

"Huh? Who's that?" I blinked in confusion as I looked at my dad. He shrugged, looking just as perplexed as I was. 

"I'll go get it then," I decided. 

"You feeling good enough to do it, Ruke?" He asked me. I nodded, my bad mood gone now thanks to Dad. 

"Okay then. Just be careful."

"Dad, I'm not even stepping out of the house," I stared at him blankly. At that, he sheepishly laughed, "Sorry, I forgot. Anyway, you should get going, shouldn't you?" 

"True. Wouldn't want the visitor to be kept waiting," I agreed as I got up and walked over to the door. 

Once I got to the door, since it was just nearby, I took in a deep breath, calming myself down as always before opening the door to a visitor, and soon opened the door to reveal...