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“Okay, Mallory, just sit right there and we’ll begin.” A woman dressed all in white with long box braids gestured to the reclining chair in the middle of an empty room.
Mallory, curling into herself, took hesitant strides to the chair.
“Sit all the way back please,” the woman said.
Mallory did as she was told, clutching both her elbows across her chest. “Will I forget?”
“Do you want to?”
She shook her head with no hesitation, hair collecting static against the chair.
“Then you won’t.”
The woman started to hook Mallory up to the machine that descended to a place above her head. The nodes were sticky and cold against her temples and forehead.
“Ready?”
Mallory nodded slightly, trying not to tangle the wires connecting her to the machine.
The woman in white flipped a few switches on the overhanging machine before Mallory’s vision went black.
She gasped and gripped her elbows tighter, the sudden loss of her senses frightening her.
Then, she was plunged into the memory.
Fire crackling and enormous ocean waves crashing onto the beach were the first things she remembered. Next were the warmth to her outstretched hands and the cool night air to her back. Then was the immense calm she felt. And then…
“Whatchya thinkin’ about, Mal?”
She turned her attention to the speaker – her best friend Donovan – lounging in the sand next to the fire, looking out to the sea.
“Hm?”
He flipped his dark hair out of his eyes to look at her fully. “Lost in your head again?”
“A little…” Mal said sheepishly.
Donovan sat up straight. “I know just the thing!”
Mallory laughed as he stood and rounded the fire, throwing out his hand to help her up. “What are you doing?”
She took his hand and stood as he exclaimed, “We’re going on an adventure.”
They ran along the beach, weaving in and out of the waves as they headed towards a cliff face at the edge of the beach.
“C’mon, let’s go up there!”
Mal immediately stopped in her tracks, starting to curl in on herself. “I don’t know about that, Don.”
“It’ll be fun, I promise!” Without another word, Donovan dropped her hand and started climbing the steep cliff. But, Mallory didn’t think she was strong enough to go up. Watching him climb would be enough adventure for her.
The her that was reliving the memory knew what was coming.
As Donovan got about halfway up, Mal called, “I don’t think I can climb that…”
Donovan, still climbing, turned to face her at the bottom. “It’s not that hard, I prom–“
Mallory let out a shriek as Donovan lost his grip and the sea swallowed him, the swirls of darkness taking over her vision.
In an instant, she was thrown back into the metal room with the woman in white. Mallory quickly wiped her face, fingers coming away damp.
The woman put her hand on Mallory’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.” Mal only nodded, the nodes pulling at her skin.
“I should’ve stopped him...” Mal said quietly.
“Are you sure you don’t want to forget?”
Mallory hesitated, curling in on herself further before looking up at the woman. “I’m sure.”
The pair didn’t speak as the woman removed the nodes and Mallory left.