Author - Essy
Disclaimer - No infringement of copyright was intended here.
Archival - By permission only
Notes - This fic was first written as a response to the Sarah Deathfic challenge on UGL.
This is irremediably creepy. I can't move. I mean, my body's walking, talking and going on with my life, but I'm not. It's like I've been possessed. Isn't magic great, huh? Just when I think things can't get any worse, it throws something like this at me. I guess there's nothing left that I can do, but try and hone my telepathy skills...
Just in case I am managing to broadcast to anybody, I'm the *real* Sarah Williams. A year ago I... this is going to sound weird, but three years ago I wished the goblins would come and take my brother away and THEY DID! There were all these goblins in my house and then this guy came and told me that if I could make my way through a labyrinth I could save my brother. Anyway, I messed up; big surprise. I don't seem to have much luck with this stuff. I fell down a hole into this pit. There was a dwarf there who called it an oubliette. God, listen to me I sound like I'm on drugs! But it really happened, I swear. I fell into this oubliette and the dwarf said he could help me get out.
I've spent a lot of time since then wondering what would have happened if I'd gone with the dwarf. Maybe I wouldn't be here right now. Maybe I could look into the mirror and see myself staring back but I don't, because I didn't trust the dwarf and I told him to get lost.
So anyway, I waited in the pit and looked for a non-existent way out, but most of all I stared at my watch. The time I had left to save my brother ticked down to nothing and I was sent back here...to earth.
Oublier. It's a French word, a verb actually. It means to forget. When I reappeared from the labyrinth a whole lot of forgetting had gone on. My little brother Toby had vanished forever, but nobody noticed. They'd all forgotten he ever existed. They'd forgotten me too.
It was different with me to Toby. I'm here, but I'm not here. Like I said it's some kind of possession. Some pod person is operating me and all I can do is go along with it like a remote controlled toy. Ironically, the person pushing the controls is living my life better than I did, at least by most people's standards. I'm tipped to be prom queen this year. It makes sense if you think about it. I have that compliant, vacuous stare down at any rate. When I see myself in the mirror, it's like there's nothing there. My eyes are lifeless. I've been pushed aside and forgotten so that when you look in my eyes I don't even register as a presence.
I'm flunking Creative Writing. You'd think my teachers would be worried. It used to be my best subject, but I guess the robot me doesn't have much of an imagination. Anyway, my teachers haven't noticed any change - nobody has - because they've forgotten me, the *real* me that is.
Oublier. It's a scary word.
I guess what I'm asking is that if anybody can hear this, they should stop it. Turn off the robot. Disassemble it. It may seem like murder, but it's not. After all, robots aren't alive to begin with and I died a long time ago.
That's what I want now: peace.
...and maybe to be remembered. That'd be nice too. Knowing that at least one person just...remembered me.