Written last 2020
“Mneme, I’m going to ask you some questions, okay? I need you to answer them.”
I open my eyes and squint. Everything is dazzling white. A man looks at me, worry in his eyes and creases in his forehead are showing. I slowly sit up straight but end up stumbling and getting a headache.
“It’s okay,” said the man. He rushes beside me and helps me sit up straight. I notice him wearing a white coat, and his eyes were a deep sea of blue, not a calming sea, but a thunderous ocean. “My name is Doctor Axel Plius. You just had a car accident. I need to ask you some questions okay?”
I nod my head.
I was in a car accident?
I look down and see my clothes. They had already changed it to the custom hospital clothes. Blue, pale dress, with no footwear with me.
“What is your name?”
“Mneme,” I answer quickly, still looking around my surroundings. The walls are painted with a faint shade of green. This should be comforting to the eyes, but it brings an eerie ambiance to the hospital room instead.
“Your full name?”
“Mneme Moneta.”
“Okay, Mneme. When is your birthday?”
“I…” I stop in my tracks.
When is my birthday?
“I don’t remember.” I stutter. How can I forget my birthday?
The doctor looks at me sympathetically.
“It’s alright. These things happen. Can I ask what your job is right now?”
“I’m a world literature professor.”
I groan inwardly. How can I forget my birthday but remember what I do for a living?
“I notice that some information about yourself can be easily retrieved, but some, and I’m worried, like your birthday, cannot.” The doctor said. He looked at me in a troubled manner.
I nod and try to recollect what happened before the car accident. I recall walking to my car after buying a cup of coffee, but I couldn’t remember any collision that had happened.
“Mneme.”
“Hmm?” I snap myself out.
“You don’t remember who I am, do you?”
“You’re Doctor Axel Plius,” I said jokingly.
He smiled at the comment but his eyes betrayed him, portraying sadness and pity.
“No, you really don’t remember anything.” He sighed. “Drink this.”
He handed me a cup of water. For a moment, I saw it swirl with a black mist. But just as quickly, the mist disappeared.
“What is this?” I asked as I accept the cup of water from him.
“This is from a river known to have unique properties.” He replied as I drink the cup of water.
I coughed, trying to get the contents out of my body. I looked at the cup of water in disgust. “What? This is from a river?”
He looked at me. “This is from the River of Mnemosyne.”
I stop in my tracks. Mnemosyne?
“Surely, you are familiar with the river and the name? Being a world literature professor.”
“The River of Memory in Greek Literature.” I nod, looking at him, dazed.
Doctor Axel sits in front of me and looked me in the eye.
“Mnemosyne, goddess of memory, you are allowed to remember what you were forced to forget.”
I feel my sight blur, becoming unfocused. My hands drop the cup of water. I hear the glass break as it falls on the floor. I let myself slip in the darkness.
