ERASER

What if you can’t think? What if you just kept running and running no matter how much you begged for air? What if you couldn’t see? What if everything was just a blur, an endless colorless meaningless blur? What if fear was searing through you like a lighting bolt? And what if you’re running away from a monster?

It started with a sound. A whispering and comforting sound, like a ‘sweet nothing’ murmured into my ear as I lay asleep. It enticed me, charmed me to no end as I followed it like a dog led on a chain. The dark room should have alarmed me but instead it was reassuring as it gently lay me down on the couch. I curled up, smiling insanely as I let myself slowly drift off to sleep. Then it came suddenly like a wave upon a beach, a cold and splintering rush. I couldn’t breathe. I lashed my arms around, trying to grab a hold of something, of anything. But there was nothing. Nothing… I was drowning in a pool of nothingness. Darkness could not even begin to describe it. I couldn’t even think for a thought felt too heavy to hold. Emptiness swallowed me. Crying could be heard, but then the crying morphed into howls, painful striking howls. Just when the noise became more than I could tolerate, it became silent. A deadly silence, far worse than any noise thought humanly possible filled the infinite area.

“…Erase…” It whispered contently.

The cold immediately ceased to exist and slowly I could make out the objects in the room. The TV had switched itself on and its glow slightly illuminated the room. I looked around the room and then, still somewhat confused, I fell into a dreamless sleep.

If only I had looked, if I had only stayed awake long enough to notice… The picture on the mantelpiece, the one of my parents was…it wasn’t. It no longer existed; it had disappeared almost as if it had been erased.

It was gradual, just a blank here and there until there was nothing. Until those images meant nothing, until I could connect no feelings to them whatsoever. It was an altogether new meaning of alone.

“How are your parents?” People would sometimes ask. And an image would make its way into my mind. It’s like how someone tells you a story and you can picture it like a movie, running itself through your head. The thing is – the image was empty. Like an empty photograph. ‘Parents?’ I could ask myself. Who are they?

“Alice!” My little brother ran up to me after school. I had been supposed to drive him home. He looked up at me with trusting eyes and started telling me about a picture he drew in art. I just gave him a look clearly saying ‘who the hell are you’ and told him to scat. He was just another face in the crowd to me, just another stranger in the world of strangers that had become my home.

Green blurs followed by more green blurs. That was as close as I dared to look at anything.

It caught up with me finally; it wasn’t going to let me escape. It hit me like a bullet in the back, knocking me onto my skinned knees. It swirled around me, a daunting arctic mist. I could feel the water level rising, keeping me from the sweet air. I savored every single gasp of air, knowing it wasn’t going to last. The water was spinning, like a whirlpool almost, until it was no long spinning but a distorted image of something I could longer recognize.

“…Erase…” It said to me, smirking slightly.

Within a flash it had vanished. I wobbled slightly as I stood on my knees in the damp field. Hot and salty tears ran down my face. Energy drained, I fell into a heap, my eyes closing before I even hit the ground.

“Alice!” Camryn screamed. My eyes snapped open. Instantly my head pounded with a headache. I groaned, hoping that later I could find an Advil. I guess this is what happens when you jump off a trampoline. I knew it was a stupid idea.

“Are you okay? You fell…” I force a smile, laughing slightly as how she always states the obvious.

“I’ll live,” I say as I let her help me to my feet. I brush the dirt off of me. “Thanks…” I mutter before realizing that I’ve forgotten my friend’s name. I feel stupid as I look up at her, trying to recall what it was.

My eyes open wide as I realize I don’t know this person’s name. No matter how much I think I can not remember who she is. I can’t place her anywhere; she’s become a complete stranger to me. I bite my lip, feeling kind of puzzled. In fact, it’s as if she’s been completely erased...