Mystery, Suspense, Grief
5 min
Emily
Jared Reyes
I wake up as usual–at the edge of forgetting, rubbing the sleep from my eyes, inhaling a lavender aroma. I get up from the bed and walk over to the bathroom. I look over to the photo of me and Emily pinned on the mirror and feel a sudden sadness on my chest. Why is that?
I walk back to my bed and look over to the clock on my bedside table. 8:20. "That's strange.", I whisper to myself, "How did 20 minutes go by so quickly?" I rub my eyes.
I stopped questioning it the moment I remembered I had a brunch date with my sister this morning. I put my shirt and jeans on and rushed down the stairs of my apartment to my car.
Luthersville is a small town where everyone knows each other. I've always wanted to leave but something keeps me here. Never knew what exactly but I could never bring myself to go.
While driving, I think back to my childhood and I can't seem to piece together a solid memory. I know I had a normal childhood, growing up with an elder sister, a healthy relationship with my parents, but I can't picture a clear moment.
Why didn't I just leave this town?
Every time I try to recall my memories, I hear this echo in the back of my head, like a tuning fork sound hindering anything from my thoughts. My mind wanders until I snap back into reality when I almost hit a curb.
Get it together, Oliver.
I shrug off the shock and continue driving. I look at the time on my wrist. 8:20. What?
I've been driving for 10 minutes. That's not right. I wiggle my left wrist in hopes of bugging my watch to work but it works perfectly fine. I check the time on my phone to confirm. 8:20.
What?
I pull up and park in front of the County Line Cafe, confused. I get out of my car and look around. I see my sister across the street wearing her violet floral dress.
"Emily! Over here!" I shout.
She jolts her head and walks over. "Hi. I was worried you weren't gonna show up." she says.
"You say that a lot, huh?", I reply with confusion.
"You bailed on me the last 2 times, remember?"
"Right. Sorry about that." I shrug, leading her into the cafe.
When she walks past me, I smell a similar lavender scent my room has. Weird.
A bell rings when I open the door to the cafe.
"Table for 2 please, Lucy." I say to the host. She knows every little thing about this town. Almost as if she runs this whole thing.
"Ah! The Summers! Right here!" She leads us to our table and serves us 2 black coffees. "How's your mother?" she asks sincerely, "It's been a while since she's visited. Ah Emily, look at you with that floral dress, you've always loved flowers, right? Especially lavender."
"Yeah, it's been a while." I replied. "She's been good. Working on her-"
Why can't I remember? First my childhood, now mom's job? It's like my mind is protecting me from something, but what?
A sudden silence. Emily's face fixates into an emotionless smile. I look around, no one seems to be moving a muscle.
Dead silence.
I hear a static noise at the back of my head. A faint voice says "No. Do that again."
I look back to Emily, sitting directly across from me, still frozen.
"Resume."
Resume what?
Emily's smile fades into a relaxed look, grabs my hand lightly, and says "She's doing well."
"Send her my regards.", Lucy smiles. "What can I get for you kids, today?"
I look at both of them, dazed at what I just saw.
"Emily... did you not see what happened?" I ask her.
"What, Ollie? She just asked us about our mom?"
"No. Not that... the pause? Did you not see that?"
"What are you talking about?" she chuckles.
Huh?
"Did you really-"
Emily cuts me off, "I'll have the chicken & waffles, today. Thanks, L."
"Uh... right. I'll have the BLT." I say with doubt.
"Alrighty. Coming right up." Lucy says as she grabs the menus from us.
I feel calmer after eating.
"Have you lost your mind?" Emily asks me.
"At this point, I think so."
"Have you talked to your therapist lately? You've been acting up since your last date with that girl, Ollie"
I grunt, "Her name is Joan, and yes I have seen Dr. Tremane recently."
"Joan." She chuckles. "What is she? 60?"
"You made that joke twice already. It was funny the first time, but now it's just old."
Suddenly, I feel the table tremble underneath me. I look down and jump from my chair.
Glitches.
The table is glitching, like an old TV static, glitching into a metal hospital tray.
"Em? Do you see that?", I yell.
"See what?", she says emotionlessly.
"THE TABLE?"
"What about it?"
"WHAT IS GOING ON?" I express my frustration. I storm out of the diner and see the rest of the world glitching. I start running, looking behind me to see the world glitching and skies turning into white walls. I'm running without looking in front of me when I hit a pole and fall to the floor.
"What went wrong here?", a voice says in frustration.
"I don't know. He became aware.", another voice replies.
"How do we reset him?", the woman asks.
"We could try this."
My body jolts with electricity from head to toe. I try to move my left arm but it's tied down to the chair. I open my eyes slightly and feel my head sway down with exhaustion. I am tied down to this chair.
"Well... did it work?", the woman yells.
Her voice. It sounds so familiar.
"Uh... no. Let me try again.", the other voice replies.
My entire body jolts again.
"Lucy?", I say breathlessly.
I lift my heavy head up and open my eyes only to see Lucy, in a lab coat right in front of me.
She lifts my head by the chin and says "Poor thing. Tried to leave Luthersville and look at where that brought you. No one leaves. Ever."
What is she talking about?
Lucy continues, "We built this simulated town to keep you safe from grief. You couldn't bear the pain of losing Emily, so why would you want to break it?"
"Dr. Lucy! I think I got it.", the assistant yells. Lucy rushes over to the screen of monitors.
Another woman walks into the room. She walks over to me and says "Oh Oliver. I'm sorry we've had to do this to you."
I look up and see a familiar face.
"Mom?", I say, with a cough. "What is this?"
"I'm sorry. But no one leaves Luthersville, right? Especially not you." She hands me a photo and places it in a fist on my palm. The photo of me and Emily on my mirror, except it was not on a mirror, it was on my hand, the day Emily died. The wave of sadness looms on my chest again.
"Miranda, come here. We figured out how to restart it." Lucy says.
Mom kisses my forehead, "I love you, Ollie."
Electric jolts enter my body. Pain is ten times worse than the last. My body shakes until I pass out.
I get up from my bed and look at the time on my clock. 8:20.
This time, I'm not confused. I know what to do. I walk to the mirror and look at the photo of me and Emily. "I remember." I say, with determination, "I'm going to leave this town."
I rush over to the County Line Cafe.
The moment I arrive, I see Emily across the road again.
"Em!" I yell. She walks over.
"You're not real, aren't you? You died 2 years ago." I shrug.
Emily looks at me and says, "Ollie, what are you saying? I'm here, aren't I?"
"But you're not. I lost you. We lost you. I couldn't handle the pain so I created this world in my head, which is now falling apart because I can't live this lie anymore. Em. It's ok, I can let you go now."
Emily looks at me, and for a second, her concern melts away as she smiles. Her real smile. The same smile she had when she joked about Joan all those years ago. "I was hoping you'd get here one day. Goodbye, Ollie."
"Goodbye, Em."
I take a deep breath and slowly open my eyes, with the wave of sadness leaving my body. The smell of the hospital room fills my nose, overwriting the lavender scent my room once had.
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