The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

The Made You Forget Me
by Melissa R. Mendelson 

They made you forget me.  I just saw you last week.  We had coffee together, and we spoke like old friends.  We talked about what we feared and hoped, and we hugged each other as we said good-bye.  We promised one another to stay connected.  But now, you don’t know who I am.

I flinched at the emptiness in your eyes.  I tried to recall our conversation from last week.  Bits and pieces came back to me, and you looked surprised that I had that information.  Did I get it off the internet, social media?  How could I know such personal things, and when I reached out to touch your hand, you pulled away.  You looked at me in a strange way, and you looked for help.  You called for help.  I had no choice but to hurry away.

I called my parents later that day, crying that you forgot me.  My parents were quiet for a moment.  Then, my mother said, “I’m sorry, but I think you have the wrong number.”

I went through all my contacts.  You weren’t the only one that forgot me.  Even on social media, no one remembered me.

I stared at myself in the mirror.  I wasn’t a ghost.  I was real.  My hand pressed against the glass, leaving an imprint, but why did I fade so fast from the rest of you?  Why did you forget me?

I remembered.  I made a joke.  I had to laugh at the world.  It was my way of dealing, and I was never good at dealing.  I had to laugh, but no one else did.  Then, I got this strange text.  No number.  Just a weird message that said: You’re gone.

That was two days ago.  I called out sick from work because I was afraid that someone was coming after me.  I didn’t realize how easy it was to get my address off the internet.  I got a motel room, and then I tracked you down.  But you thought that I was coming after you.

I glanced at myself in the mirror.  That’s strange.  I look dusty.  I shook my head.  More dust appeared.

I turned around.  The dust followed.  My sneakers reminded me of my feet caked in sand, my skin glittered.  So much dust.  What is happening to me?

The dust was getting worse.  I could barely see the room.  My image blurred in the mirror.  I had to do something, but what?  What could I do?  All this because of a stupid joke that I made on the internet?  It’s like you can’t say anything anymore.

“No,” I said.  “No,” I screamed.  “No!  I won’t be gone.  You can’t make me be gone.”

I bolted for the door, throwing it open.

The wind swept the dust away.

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Fiction © Copyright Melissa R. Mendelson
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com.

About Author Melissa R. Mendelson:

Melissa R. Mendelson is the author of the Sci-Fi Novella, Waken.  She also has a prose poetry collection called, This Will Remain With Us published by Wild Ink Publishing.  Her short story collections, Better Off Here and Name’s Keeper can be found on Amazon/Amazon Kindle.

If you’d like to learn more about Melissa, you can visit her accounts here: www.MelissaMendelson.com