Just Remember Me

Where am I? I thought as I looked around at my surroundings. Who am I? Huge skyscrapers towered above me, while people rushed past. Hmm, I must be in a city. I started walking down the long, straight street. I didn’t recognize anybody; maybe someone will recognize me… When I stopped at the corner of the sidewalk, I heard a crack of thunder. I spun, and looked up; there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. As I was wondering what that could’ve possibly been, I heard screaming from behind me. I slowly turned, only to see that there was nobody behind me. What is going on?! I kept on walking.

As I rounded a corner, I saw a stack of newspapers outside of a convenience store. The title read The New York Times. There is no way that I’m in New York… I would’ve had to remember something about it… right? I walked into the little store, and a bell clanged.

“Well, hello Miss,” said a man with a strong New York-type accent, “Haven’t seen you in a while.”

“You remember me?” I replied.

“’Course, not every day a pretty lady like you walks in to buy some—” he cut off suddenly.

“What? Buy some what?!”

“Is she okay?! Call 9-1-1!” he practically screamed.

“There’s nobody else here! I… I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

“Don’t worry, I’m here to help you!” he said as he started to come toward me, his hands outstretched.

“Get away from me! There’s nothing wrong!” I bolted out of the store, and ran down the street.

I ran from 6th street all the way to 13th, dodging cars as I did so. But then, something caught my eye. It was an old antique shop, and there was a window display that had a full-length mirror. I walked toward it slowly, not recognizing the person inside of it. She had long blonde hair, and she was very tall. Her bloodshot green eyes were the first things I noticed. I looked down; this can’t be me… But, somehow it was. For the first time, I’d noticed my clothing. I was wearing a sleek, black dress that had come to my knees, with a long black coat to go with it. To be honest, I looked like I was going to a party. Or, a better guess, I had just come from one, considering the slight tangles in my hair and my eyes.

I looked into the shop to find an old lady looking at me curiously, with a horrified expression on her face. I didn’t think I looked that bad. I waved with a slight smile on my face. As I did this, I heard another scream from behind. I whipped around and saw nobody. The fear that I had accumulated in this last hour grew immensely. So, I ran as far as I could, and didn’t stop.

I heard sirens coming from the other side of me, but saw no police car or ambulance. Also, there was no fire in sight. All of a sudden, there were voices screaming at me. “Is she okay?!” “Help her!!” “What happened?” “Don’t worry, we’re here to help; can you hear me?!”

Now am I going insane?!  I didn’t know what was happening; I started pounding on my head, trying to get the voices out.  CRASH!, I heard as I saw a flash of light. Thunder, again. Did I just see lightning, too?, I thought.

I could feel the headache growing in the back of my head. I heard sirens yet again. I looked around; there was nothing in sight but strangers and taxi cabs. What. Is. Happening. To. Me?! I sunk down on a door step, trying to get control of myself. The door behind me suddenly opened. I jumped up, realizing I was on somebody’s property.

“Don’t be alarmed! It’s okay!” the man said. He was tall, and dressed in a uniform that made him look like a doctor. I guess he was a paramedic… Going to work, probably, considering all the sirens I’ve been hearing.

“Who are you?! And why is everyone telling me it will be okay?

“That’s because it will be okay! You just need to stay calm! Don’t worry, everything will be alright.”

“Stop telling me things like this!” I screamed, “I’ll be FINE!”

“Shh, it’s all going to be alright. Everything will be fine, just let me help you!” He said, and walked down the steps.

“NO!” I screamed, “Get away!”

Strangely, he was one of the only people I’ve recognized in this whole situation. Why? I thought, Why me? That would be a better question. I backed up slowly, and jumped into the nearest cab.

“Where to, miss?” the cab driver said as I put my seat belt on.

“Anywhere,” I replied, “Anywhere but here.”

I saw him look at me strangely in the rearview mirror as he pulled away from the curb.

“Are you okay?”

“YES!” I screamed, “YES, I’M FINE!”

“Whoa, no need to yell, missy,” he said, “I was just asking for your benefit.”

“I’m sorry. I guess it’s been kind of a long day.”

We drove in silence for a while after that. I wasn’t sure whether I was ever going get out; I was comfortable with the silence; with just my mind and me, and nobody bothering me. Well, until the loud voices or crackling thunder came back. This time, though, I started to get pain in my arm. It felt like someone was pulling at me, trying to drag me away. To be honest, all I wanted was to be dragged away; to be out of this dream or whatever it was… To remember who I am.

I sighed, and the cabbie just looked at me with a sad expression on his face. I was wondering what that was about, but I thought it was best to not ask any more questions at this point.

When we slowed down to stop at a red light, I saw a crowd of people gathered around a car. I also noticed ambulances and police cars sitting idly by on the side of the road, their lights still flashing.  I guess that I was a curious person, whoever I am, because I told the cab driver to let me out here.

“How much do I owe you?” I asked, reaching into my pocket. I then realized I had no cash. “Uh, I don’t think I have any money with me.”

“That’s okay, miss. I’ll cover it.”

I thanked him as I stepped out into the cool, crisp air. It felt like it was nighttime, with how cool it was outside. It was only September; it shouldn’t be this cold outside in the middle of the afternoon.

As I was about to shut the door, I heard the cab driver mutter, “You’ll be gone soon, anyway.”

“What was that?” I wasn’t sure whether I had heard him correctly. I mean, obviously I couldn’t have. What kind of person says that?

“Oh, nothing,” He replied with that same sympathetic look on his face.

I slammed the door and walked from the cab, wondering what he could’ve possibly meant. I bolted across the street, to avoid being hit by the passing cars driving through the section of the road that wasn’t blocked.

“What’s going on here?” I asked a man with graying hair and a police uniform on.

“It turns out that there are some reckless drivers in this world.” He replied, giving me a look. This look told me that he knew something I didn’t, and he wasn’t going to tell me what it was.

“Oh, yes, I agree.”

“Well, could you move on, miss?”

“Oh, um, well, I guess I can,” I said. But, I had a weird feeling he wasn’t asking me to get off the street.

 

As I started walking away from the crash, I noticed a woman who was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I wondered how on earth she was wearing clothes like that in such cold weather like this. And again, my curious mind got to me.

“Excuse me,” I asked her in a quiet voice, “But aren’t you cold?”

She looked at me weirdly. “What do you mean? Aren’t you hot?”

I looked down at my clothes again. I was in this dress and coat, and I was still very cold. I backed away, and looked at the car. It looks extremely familiar for some reason. It was black and new-looking, a car I had absolutely no interest in, because I wasn’t even sure I had a car, let alone liked it. Still, I was wondering why it had looked so familiar.

I caught a glimpse of the girl in the car. She looked like someone I knew, but it was distant. Like I had seen her once, but I couldn’t remember who she was. The paramedic was yelling at everyone around him; and I noticed that it was the same one who I’d seen on the steps earlier today. Why is he the only person I recognize?

I started to rub my temples, and I felt something. It was cold, thick; Blood. I pulled my shaking fingers down from my head to in front of my face. It wasn’t mistakable, they were covered in blood; my blood.

I screamed, but nobody heard me. I touched, but nobody felt me. I fell, but nobody saw me.

I was lying on the street, cold and shivering.  The ground beneath me didn’t feel nearly as hard as it should’ve been. It felt as if I was lying on leather. I couldn’t move any part of my body.

Crash! I heard the thunder again, louder than ever before. I saw a flash of lightning, the brightest yet. I couldn’t take control over my body, or mind for that matter. The voices had taken over.

“Help her!” “Everyone get out of the way, quickly!” “We need to move her, now!” “Mommy, is she going to live?”

This one had hurt me the most... “Mommy, is she going to live?” This played over and over again in my head.

What is this strange dream? Or nightmare, as it had appeared now. I thought, as I lay helplessly on the ground, with nobody to help me. Why is my blood slowly surrounding me? Why didn’t I just stay in that taxi?  Where am I? Who am I? Why do I have so many unanswered questions?!

I saw it then, and my answers had become clear: The flashing lights of an ambulance, across the street. I closed my eyes; I just want it to end.

When I opened them, I was in a completely different atmosphere. I knew all the details now; It was late at night, thunder storming. I knew it was December 22nd, 2010. I was driving home from a Christmas party at a friend’s house. I was rounding a corner, and I saw the headlights.

That’s all I can remember. Now, though, as I looked around me, I saw a crowd of people. Flashing lights everywhere, especially right in front of me. I felt the cool texture of the material beneath me; I was on a stretcher.

         The paramedic was the one I remembered from my strange dream, which had just been a hallucination after all.

“Miss, I’m here to help! Can you speak?” he said in an urgent voice.

I looked at him, and then around at everyone looking at me with sympathetic looks on their faces. They were all there: the taxi driver, the store clerk, the police officer, everyone.

I needed to accept the fact that I was dying, I knew I did. That’s exactly why I had a hallucination; I was in denial. I felt the blood all over me, and even though the paramedics said that I would be okay, I knew that they didn’t mean it. They couldn’t save me, and they knew it too.

As I drew in my last breath, I’d come to accept my fate: I was going to die, and there was nothing, absolutely nothing, that I could do about it.