OUT BEYOND THE MATRIX

The Butterfly Effect

"Uh, I asked your name? Why are you so shocked?", She waved her hand in front of me bringing me back from my own thoughts. I was always fond of dominos, the way they fell in a synchronized manner. I would carefully place one domino keeping in mind to place the next one at the right degree so that when it's hit, it falls down making another one fall down with it & start a chain reaction. Whenever I used to push the 1st domino, I'd say Oops, my bad as if I weren't the reason for their chaos. One domino fell causing another one to have a taste of vengeance. Butterfly Effect discovered by Edward Lorenz, tells us something similar to these dominos. How a small change in the course of action can cause a big change in near future events. Amazing, isn't it? The server or whatever it is up there controlling us came crashing down & led me to my death. A death where my existence is no longer evident. For all I can say, There is no God above us or if there is, He's having a real good time seeing all of us rot.

For a second, I was having sympathy for Emmi for not being able to remember all those memories, to not be able to be with her parents but more than that, I was pitying myself for not having anyone remember me. The ground beneath my feet had receded when Emmi, out of all the godamn people in this retarded world asked for my name. I wasn't as much shocked to have a shotgun pointed at my head than to have Emmi forget me.

"Oh My God! Don't tell me. You know me, right? I forgot you too, right? If it happened with my parents, it could've happened to me too".

"Yeah, I- uhh", I shook my head in dismay, "I'm your best friend, Alex. The answer shouldn't be that I know you, It's YOU KNOW ME & I know you're not big on trust so here you go". I opened my phone & showed her pictures & I could tell that she was having a hard time processing all of it.

"I am honestly so sorry but I don't remember you".

"Hey, it's alright, Where are Charlie & Lydia? Did they forget you too?".

"No, apparently, I'm the only ugly duckling".

"Sucks, where's your stuff Emmi"?

"OMG! yes! I am so dumb and thank you for reminding me, uh what was your name again, Alex! yes, Alex, I'll be on my way then. By the way, do not call me by my nickname, You haven't earned that yet", Yeah I have earned it since we were kids but women, I tell you. They make a fuss over everything & Emmi, Don't even get me started on that.

"No, where are you going? You know you're not allowed inside?"

"At least, they'll let me have my stuff since they saw pictures of me & they know there's a room where no couple over 40+ age would hang on Taylor Swift's picture or vines for an aesthetic interior".

"You still make sense despite being brainwashed."

"Hey, STFU. You might know me, I don't. Zip it". She motioned towards my mouth & I smiled back, at least she was talking to me.

"Okay, sorry. I'm coming with you. I know you won't accept this but please, I only had my dad & he forgot me. And I thought of staying a few days here at your place but your parents forgot you & hell, you forgot me which sucks but please.."

"You done chit chatting, move up your ass, we're late".

She packed her stuff & picked up the money she had saved. She told me that when she was searching on the internet for more details regarding this announcement, The President himself forgot that he was the president, I was shook. He ran away from the white house saying that he was a cashier & not the head of the entire government. She told me to hold the reaction & spilled that according to her calculations 2/3 people were either forgetting or being forgotten. We decided to take her car, the car that was gifted to her a year ago for her 19th birthday. When Emmi & I were kids, we used to go on these small hikes in the forest nearby & to our luck, we found a small cabin in the woods which was less than a cabin and more of a treehouse except it was on the ground. It was enough for 3 people to live in. It looked like somebody made it for themselves but couldn't afford the interior because there was a kitchen but no sink & a washroom but no shower. Nonetheless, We took that place for ourselves, every Saturday & Sunday we would go and clean that place. Over the years, We had a lot of our stuff placed there so if we were to come there, We'd stay a few days & invite josh over at times. It had 2 small rooms and a small sitting area with an attached washroom and a kitchen. The kitchen had a door that lead outside at the other end where we made ourselves a small garden where Emmi out of respect for the nature & her curiosity planted vegetables. We would go every 2 days and water them but after a while they adjusted themselves to the rhythm of the forest and grew by themselves. The kitchen didn't have a sink so we made one ourselves, kudos to us. We managed to get ourselves portable sink from our pocket money & for the bathroom, we had a small water tank installed after much begging for money since we were broke. We both watched videos online how to make sure that the toilet has a proper flush system & how to make amends with the shower. When we both got our jobs at the local pharmacy, we collected the money & got ourselves a rusty old 2nd hand shower but it worked fine so it was going on great for us. We had a place to call home.