Forget Me Not

"Why do you keep taking so many photos of me?"
"I'm just preparing for when I get Alzheimer's."
"You're only twenty-five, Em!"

People this age are too quick to point at someone and say 'Oh, I can see you carry a trauma from your childhood." But how exactly do you recognize childhood trauma? Is it in the way someone's hands tremble when they reach for a cup? Or perhaps it's the quick, defensive smile that masks unease? It's not about ticking off a checklist of symptoms. Sometimes, it shows in the way someone interacts with the world, in obsessions, in the moments they choose to capture or let fly past. But what if Ermano had chosen not to let the tiniest detail of the moment slip away?

THIS IS A SHORT STORY