These Memories:
A Series About Friendship and Forgetfulness
: Before all things / I had a name / I think it left me long ago / Why can't I remember / Today I have another chance / to step out / I will not rest / until I know / what it all means / I will not give in / until I have you back / where you belong / I will not stop / because this is who I am / Maybe in time / these memories will fade away :
I Will Not Give In
Determination can you take farther than anything else.
These Memories; Part X
It was raining again.
When it rained, Number Twenty-Eight got wet because nobody bothered to cover the grating that looked into his tiny cell. His hair dripped into his face; the band had snapped long ago. His stomach growled pitifully; when was the last time they'd thrown anything down here? Last week? He was sure he'd been forgotten, like his memories. Unlike them, though, nobody cared enough to try and bring him back.
His head throbbed painfully; he pulled his thin knees to his chest to lay his head on them and close his eyes. He was a little warmer like this—not much, but a little.
He didn't remember where he was anymore. Maybe he'd always been here, cold, hungry, and alone. The instinct in his mind was the only thing that remained of what had to be his old self. It marveled that he was still alive.
Sheer force of will, he told it, shivering uncontrollably as a blast of cold wind ricocheted about the pit, I don't know what I'm hanging on for, but I will not give in.
"Nara Shikamaru?" said a voice from above. He glanced up, squinting in the dark at the worried face peering down.
He answered.
"Who?"