My Name Is Memory

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“Persevere even though Hell and destruction should yawn beneath your feet.”

•°•°•°•°•

To the one from the star,

Sometimes I question myself if you ever recall any of the moments we'd shared together; or the people we'd met together -  just...anything, any string of memories -- no matter how long or short -- that tied us together to create a mesh of happiness, like a woollen ball that I held close to my heart to weave my own comforting jacket.

Memory: a word far crueler than hope.

Sometimes I wished from a shooting star that I could forget. Such a horrible thing to say, really. I wouldn't want to forget you. Or anything that had happened that night with my parents. But my everyday is now a reminiscent of your prior existence. It's a proof that I didn't have anyone now. My brother was long gone. My parents were no more. And you'd chosen to leave me too.

It was a Monday, if I remember clearly. Just a few days before Christmas. We'd been walking down the snow caked road hand in hand, watching the houses in our locality that had been beautifully decorated with fairy lights of every colour. Blue, gold, red, green. It was a riot of every hue.

“This is my second time here,” you'd said, looking at a man intently as he climbed up the ladder to his roof, and adjusted the string of light to match its symmetry with the rest of the house decoration.

“Second time?”

The warmth of the afternoon sun had faded with the ochres of daylight as evening crept in through the horizon. The lights seemed to reflect off its shimmer brighter than ever;  and looking at you made me remember every horrific dream where you'd walked away from me, leaving me alone in the middle of nowhere.

Sometimes, light was the enemy. With the light came the pull. And with the pull came your immediate disappearance.

I would've preferred the dark any day.

“Yes.” I remember you'd hesitated. “It's my second time here.”

“Well, if it's your second time here, then I'll make sure it's the most memorable one!”

“Of course!” You'd grinned. “But I want to show you something first.”

You'd pulled me along until we reached my house. No one was home, as usual, so we didn't bother tip toeing around like thieves. Gathering every kind of warm clothes possible from my dad's closet, you'd asked me to do the same.

I didn't understand why would we need another layer of protection when we were already clad in enough woollen. But I decided to just follow you anyway.

After five minutes, when you decided we were ready, we climbed up to the rooftop together.

The sky was almost clear that night. The clouds shifted its skirts to reveal the moon that had waned to a slim crescent and hung low in the vast stretch of inky black above.

“Hop on.”

I'd glanced at you with a look that probably no one would've been able to place. Wonder? Awe?

….Horror?

“What?”

“I said hop on.”

“You can't just say ‘hop on’. I mean, you surely don't expect me to hop on you, do you now?”

You'd rolled your eyes and laughed. And before I could even cry out a warning, you'd taken my arms and looped it around your collars, holding onto my hands tightly while I was pressed against your back like a monkey hanging from a tree.

I know I looked ludicrous. But I was hardly in a position to complain, lest you let go of me while I fell to my death like a screaming banshee.

“I'll show you the world today!” You'd whispered and before I realised, you'd taken off.

You'd jumped off the roof! Legitimately jumped off the roof with your aim for the moon.

My insides squeezed. My stomach somersaulted. And it took me all my strength to not burst your eardrums with my yells.

I never squeezed my eyes shut though. Looking at the earth far below, I watched it grow distant as we flew higher. After we'd reached a height, I looked above to see the sharp sickle of the moon look considerably larger. 

“Hold tight.”

“What the hell?”

And then, you'd shot forward, tearing through the clouds that blotted small fractions of the sky like ink on paper. The earth below was a blur of lights; and it looked like it was moving with us.

The experience was spectacular. I probably wouldn't be able to explain it in words if I tried. But I was certain I'd never felt like this before.

I was scared. I definitely was terrified! But the excitement -- this feeling of racing with the earth, of flying across the sky, of tearing through the clouds while my hair whipped with the zephyrs -- was inexplicable.

“Do you like it?”

“It's...terrifying,” I'd admitted.

“This is how we race though.”

“No wonder.”

You'd grinned. “There's more.”

And strangely enough, I wanted to know what else you could do.

•°•°•°•°•

A/N

I'm terribly sorry for the late update. College kept me busy gah. But I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know your thoughts. ^-^

Thank you so much for reading! ❤

~Jenna