I couldn't believe it.
My very own father was giving me all these terrible memories. At the beginning, Father had given me fun, and happy memories. The ones that I enjoyed so much. Like ice cream and circus clowns and sunsets. But yesterday, he gave me my first terrible one. I knew that he wouldn't do it again; not since I'd broken into sobs of terror.
But today, when I lay on the bed ready for a new memory, there was something missing. Something small in the picture that you couldn't quite put your finger on. The air in the room was all the same, the bed, the pillow. Everything, and still it felt as though something wasn't fitting in the puzzle correctly. I wait for Father to put his hands upon my back. Ready for the memories of fairs and lollipops to fill my mind.
Finally, Father's hands are placed on my back, and I wait, expecting something fun,
but receiving the opposite.
I am sitting on a cement ground, staring to night sky. There is a huge lump in my throat and there are tears in my eyes. I can't control it. There are tears streaming down my cheeks at an unstoppable rate. I notice that I am hugging my knees and am rocking back and forth, like awakening from a terrible dream. I hear footsteps behind me, and a sob escapes me.
A man and a woman put down next to me a bunch of plastic bags. I don't know what's in them, but I know that whatever they are, they reek. Soon, I figure out that the man and woman had been put to be parents. They are young, but look so old.
Then it strikes me.
My parents are leaving me here. Going away without me. They don't want me anymore...
The man turns around to leave, but I cling to his leg.
"Don't leave me!" I cry.
The man jerks his leg, and I fall to the ground, hard.
I didn't want to be left alone here, I wanted my father back, I wanted my parents back. Still not ready to let go of my parents in this memory, I agian try to get ahold of the man. This time though, he seems to be ready. As soon as I have a a hold of his jean, the man slightly bends down and swings his arm, hitting me square in the nose. I fall back as my vision begins to blur and as blood trickles down into my mouth.
I try to get up, but my head begins to spin and it is getting hard to control my body and it's also getting harder to see.
Finally I am sucked out of the terrible memory.
I sit on the bed, hugging my knees and rocking back and forth as I had in the memory. Tears are streaming down my cheeks at the same upstoppable rate and the memory begins to haunt me, coming back in flashbacks.
"I never wanna go back there, Fater!" I say to father.
The pain in my heart starts to fade away, but the memory still haunts me and my life.
"Why did they do that?" I ask.
"That's the past, Rosemary. This society, this world has changed into everything but predictable. Everything is gone. That is why we have a Reciever and a Giver. To keep all these memories from the people and keep them to ourselves so that everyone else will be safe," replies Father.
I nod, not saying a word.
I look up at the clock and see that it's time for me to leave.
"It's time for me to leave," I say.
Father nods knowingly, and motions his hand toward the door. I wipe away the tears and head to the door. But then I turn around and walk back to Father.
What I'm about to do, is going to cost the love that I have for this life.
I put my arms around Father and kiss him on his cheek, then leave, no to home, but rather to the Office of releases.
When I reach there, I ask the attendant for the realease sign up sheet. At first she looks at me peculiarly, but then hands me the sheet of paper. The paper asks for my name, my family unit, my job, and why I want to be Released.
For the last one, I write down that I want to see Elsewhere.
I give the attendant back the paper and she tells me that I can go to the waiting room that was more like my sleeping area at home. I sit on the bed and then lie down, thinking if what I'm doing to myself is right. I cant take back the sheet for release, so I just fantasize about how Elsewhere might be like. Soon, I fall asleep, and dream about the next Reciever.
Who will the next Reciever be?
In my dream, it is a boy.
I am later awoken by a young lady, who leads me to the Release room.
"How come I don't have a Release Ceremony?" I ask the lady.
"Because, you aren't at the Old age yet," she replies ever so plainly.
The lady leaves the room,and then a young man walks in holding a tray of shots and a tiny bottle. I watch as he fills in the shot, and then watch him test the tip.
"Please put up your sleeve, Rosemary," he says.
I roll up my sleeve, and the man gets ready to inject me until I inturupt.
"Let me do it," I say. I might as well do something nexperienced new before I'm Released.
The man hands me the shot, and then I take hold of it an inject my arm.
The world seems to spin faster and faster and then the edges of my vision begin to blur and soon, I can't see anything, sucked into utter darkness.
Sucked into Elsewhere.