Ten year old Martha Jones sat at the table in her kitchen, with homework papers spread out all over the table.
It was a Friday afternoon, and the sun was beginning to set. The setting sun was just out of view from the window across the room. Martha should know. She had been craning her neck to try to see it.
Martha just finished her science homework and had begun on her math when her twelve year old sister, Tish (her real name is Letitia, but for the time being, call her that, and you die) began arguing with her mum (who was the only one who could call her Letitia) about some sleepover she had been invited to.
"Letitia, I told you, no," Martha's mum growled. "You're too young to go on a sleepover by yourself."
"Mum, I'm twelve years old," Tish growled. "You need to stop treating me like I'm a baby. I'm not!"
Martha looked up from her homework to watch the argument that was boiling in front of her. Tish and Francine stood in front of the kitchen table shouting at each other.
"Please, mum!" Tish said. "I've been well behaved. I've got good grades on my report card."
"You failed French," her mum corrected.
"Because my teacher hates me!" Tish retaliated. "He woulda failed me even if I spoke French like—like…" she stuttered, trying to think of an example, but ended up throwing her hands in the air. "Like a real French man!"
"You, as a man?" Martha snickered, unable to hide her laughter. Tish shot her a death glare.
"Go away!" she snapped.
"Letitia," her mother warned. "Be polite to your sister."
"Make her be nice first!"
They started going at it again.
Martha couldn't concentrate with their yelling. She glanced down at her math homework, and shrugged to herself.
She could do it later.
Stuffing everything into her bag, Martha stood up and walked to her bedroom, shutting the door behind her. Judging by the shouts from the other women in her family, Martha had the feeling that they didn't even notice that she had left.
Martha threw herself onto her bed and stared up at the ceiling of her bedroom. Her eyes followed the weird spiraling lines of dried paint that colored the ceiling a simple yellowish color.
Martha just stared up into space, waiting for a memory to surface in her mind to occupy her time. After a couple minutes, her mind floated to a story she had to write for class once. She remembered sitting in front of her paper for a very long time, trying to come up with a story. She remembered that she never was able to write it. There was just a story that Martha just couldn't think of. Something she forgot.
The strange thing is that she felt as if she needed to tell this story. Like the whole world needed to know. Martha just felt a need to get it out, even if she had to walk through every country in the world. If only she could remember it.
Martha eventually floated back to reality from her thoughts, and the arguing between Tish and her mum became louder and clearer once more; it was still going strong.
"Mum, you've got to let me go," Tish's voice carried into Martha's room. "Lily's managed to get all of the cool girls to come. If I don't show, I'll be a joke! It's only ten girls!"
"Exactly," her mum replied. "Usually it's just you and Lily and sometimes Martha. Ten girls is unacceptable."
"You'd let me go if Martha went!"
At this, Martha's eyes shot open.
"Well…" she heard her mum murmur. "I suppose…"
Martha jumped out of the bed. She barreled into the kitchen with the force of a truck and half screamed, "I am not going to a sleepover with a bunch of older kids!"
Tish shot her a look of pure venom, which quickly was replaced by a rather forced smile.
"Come on, Martha. It'll be fun."
"Why should I?" she demanded.
"Because," Tish said, smiling forcedly. She didn't finish the sentence.
Tish knew why Martha didn't want to go. Martha always felt out of place around kids Tish's age. Besides, it wasn't like Tish wanted her there; having a little stupid sister there can't be considered 'cool'.
Martha and Tish stared at each other, hard looks on their faces. Nothing was happening, so her mother threw her hands up into the air.
"I haven't got time for this," she snapped. "Make up your minds. Letitia, you're not going to that sleepover without Martha."
"Then I guess she's not going," Martha snapped, turning to go back to her bedroom.
"Martha, please," Tish exclaimed. "I'll do anything!"
Martha froze. She turned slowly and glanced at Tish's begging face. "Anything?" she repeated. Tish nodded, and Martha thought for a second. "Do my chores for a week?"
Francine scoffed at this, but didn't say anything. Tish was silent, Martha watching her closely. "Well?" she asked.
"Oh, fine," Tish grumbled. She turned to her mother. "Well?"
Francine bit the inside of her cheek. She rolled her eyes and said, "I guess."
"Oh yes! Thank you!" Tish exclaimed. She gave her mother a hug, and then gave one to a rather unhappy Martha ("OI!"), and hurried to her bedroom to call Lily on the landline.
"Don't forget to do your chores!" Francine called after her.
"And mine!" Martha added, which caused Francine to smile a bit.
"And you, go do your homework."
"But mum—"
"Go."
Saturday went by in the blink of an eye. It was as if the day had grown very short. And before she knew it, Martha was throwing a change of clothes into a bag. She tossed a hairbrush in, followed by a book and a few other things, and zipped it up. She slung it over her shoulder.
"You ready to go?" asked a voice. Martha turned around and saw her mother standing in the doorway. A frown appeared on Martha's face.
"Do I have to go?"
"YES!" came a snap from behind Francine. Tish appeared and beckoned Martha forward. "Mum's about to drive us."
Martha rolled her eyes and walked out of her bedroom, shutting the door behind her.
In what felt like no time at all, Martha was surrounded by a loud group of girls giggling their heads off.
As soon as they had gotten through the door, Tish had run off to say hello to Lily, leaving Martha standing in the hallway by herself. All the other girls had arrived and were chattering loudly in the living room. They didn't take notice to her.
Martha walked quietly into the room and dropped her bag on the couch next to a girl with a long braid. It landed in front of her foot.
The girl turned around and snapped at her.
"Watch it!" she snapped. The girl glared at her for a second before pushing Martha's bag off the couch and onto the floor. She smiled rudely before looking back at the girl she had been talking to.
Martha frowned. All of Tish's friends are so rude. She bent down and picked her bag up off the floor, swinging it over her shoulder. She heard the girl whispering a snarky comment about 'stupid little girls', followed by a giggle from her friend.
Lily and Tish ran past her as she walked into the hallway. Neither of them stopped to make her feel welcome.
Martha let out a deep breath and sank down the wall, her bag plopping down next to her. Why did she ever agree to go to this dumb sleepover? When Tish had said 'the cool girls', Martha knew that cool generally meant stuck up and rude. What was she thinking?
Martha began trying to get lost in thought, with some difficulty since the girls in the other room wouldn't shut up. After a few moments, her thoughts floated back to what she had been thinking about the day before. That story she felt as if she needed to tell.
She still couldn't remember it. She tried as hard as she could but she couldn't think of anything in the story except… wait a moment… there was a man in it. An extraordinary man. That was all she could think of. She didn't have time to think of anything else before she heard a commotion in the living room.
Lily's mother had brought out a huge plate of biscuits, and all the girls were rushing to them. Martha stood up and started to hurry towards the plate when it was surrounded by a thick group of girls. Lily's mother watched them snatch them up. When the girls cleared out, Martha hurried up to the plate. All that was left were a few crumbs.
"Sorry, Martha," Lily's mother said. "Those were the only biscuits I had."
Braid-girl giggled. Martha shrugged and started to wander back to her bag. She passed Tish, who was munching on biscuits with Lily. Martha saw that she had an extra biscuit and looked at her hopefully. Tish met her eye and stuck the snack into her mouth.
A few hours of wandering later, Lily's mother had declared it to be lights out time. Martha changed into her pajamas (it took a while since the girls kept hogging the bathrooms) and pulled her green sleeping bag out of her bag. She was about to roll it out near the couch when braid-girl (or, Tianna, as Lily had called her) stepped in front of her.
"Find another spot," she snapped. Martha stepped back, and Tianna rolled out her own pink bag in the spot. Her rude friend set hers up too.
Martha ended up setting hers up in a corner. She laid down in it facing the wall so she couldn't see Tish and the other girls starting to talk in a hushed voice. But she could still hear them.
"We should tell some stories," Lily suggested.
"Like what?" Tish asked.
"I dunno, like legends or something. Ally, how about you try?"
There was silence before a girl spoke. Martha recognized her voice as Tianna's friend.
"Well, I do know one story," Ally began. "My parents used to tell me it when I was little. The story goes that little things called stars lit up the sky."
"Stars?" Martha whispered. No one heard, and Ally continued her story.
"They were these little silver things that you could see at night. They say that you could see the whole universe!"
"That sounds farfetched," said a girl called Danielle.
"Well it is a story," Ally snapped. "Anyway, they say that the stars were in special places so that they formed pictures called constipations."
"I think you mean constellations," Tianna put in, laughter evident in her voice.
"How would little dots form pictures?" Lily asked.
"I think it was like connect the dots," Ally replied. "The story says that it is the most beautiful sight in all the world."
The girls started chattering again. Martha wasn't listening anymore. She was too busy thinking about stars.
The corner where she had set up her sleeping bag was right under a window. Martha tried to imagine what the black sky would look like with stars lighting it up.
She thought it would have been beautiful.
She was brought down to earth by the sound of her sister's voice.
"They say that if you drink from the fountain, you would stay young forever!" she said. Martha recognized the story as one that her mother would tell them when they were little. She listened as Tish continued the story. "They say that the fountain is somewhere in France, hidden from view. It would be amazing to find it."
Without thinking, Martha said, "Spain."
Martha hadn't turned around, but she knew that every girl had their eyes on her. Martha sat up and faced them.
"What was that?" Tish asked.
"The story goes that the fountain is in Spain, not France," Martha said. Tish's face went slightly red as a couple girls giggled at her mistake.
"Well, how about you try telling a story?" Tish snapped.
Martha stared her down. It was a challenge.
"But I don't know any more legends," Martha said.
"Then make one up."
Martha thought for a moment. "There is one story," she murmured. "I think there is one that everyone should know. Not just us, everyone in the entire world. It has meaning. I think someone should travel around the earth and tell it. They should walk the world telling this story." Martha had no idea why she was saying this stuff. She felt as if the words were pouring out of her mouth, like she had no control over it.
"What story, then?" Tianna asked.
"About a man," Martha murmured.
"What kind of man?" asked another girl who Martha couldn't name. Martha couldn't believe it. The girls were starting to seem interested.
Martha smiled. "An extraordinary man. He's done so many things that had helped the world, not just us, the universe. He's the most important man in the universe."
"What did he do?" Ally asked. Martha opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out. Her eyebrows furrowed. The girls stared at her, waiting for a reply.
"Well?" said Tianna. "What did he do? Spit it out!"
"I don't know…" Martha replied.
Tish threw her hands up in the air. "How could you not know?" she demanded incredulously. "It's a story you made up!"
"I just don't know."
"Well tell us you at least know his name."
Once again, Martha was at a loss. She didn't answer, and that was all Tianna needed.
"Wow, little girl," she said. "Great story." The girls laughed, and Martha put her head down. Tish stared at her through narrowed eyes, disappointment and embarrassment on her face. Her friends must think her sister was in idiot.
Martha laid back down with her back to them, trying her best to ignore the other girls. After a few minutes, their attention floated to other things, and Martha was left alone.
She felt so stupid. How could she not remember anything other than the fact that the man was incredible? What did he do? What was his name? Why was Martha thinking about him as if he were real? Was he?
The minutes dragged by slowly, and the chattering died down. The girls went to sleep, one by one. As the last one drifted off to sleep, Martha laid awake, trying to remember the story she had forgotten. Why was it so important to her? Why did she feel like everyone need to know it, like the world depended on it?
As she drifted off into a dreamless sleep, she heard a distant wheezing, nothing that she could recognize. It echoed in her ears. Most girls would think it was weird, but Martha didn't. Despite he never hearing it in her life, it was comforting in her last moments—her last moments of life, that is.
But she didn't die. She was unraveled. She was erased. At that moment, every living person in the room—no—in the world was gone.
Martha Jones had never been born.
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