Forgotten

A girl asks for her worries to be taken away and finds an unexpected new reality.

Becky stood there, taking the verbal beating her mother dished out.  Becky had forgotten to do the laundry the night before, and now, her mother, trying to get ready for work, didn’t have her favorite blouse.  Becky apologized, but nothing could stop her mother when she was on a tear.  Her mother had been this way ever since Becky’s father had left them without any explanation back in October.  Becky gave a final apology, grabbed her backpack and left the house, closing the door a little too hard behind her.  So much anger over a simple thing.  It wasn’t like Becky forgot these things often.

Becky made her way down her street.  She lived less than a mile from school, an easy walk.  As she neared the first cross street, she noticed a boy leaning against a fence.  She had never seen him before.  He was staring at her.  She made her way by him without a word.

“I can give you peace,” he said.  She turned to look at him.

“What?”

“I can make it so nobody will ever bother you again.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m Ralf.  What do you say?”

“Nothing will stop people from bothering me.  Thanks anyway.”  She turned and continued her walk to school, looking back once to see if the boy was following.  He was gone.

At school, she went to her locker.  Someone had put a sticker on it that read, “Geek Crossing,” the usual hazing by the usual crowd of kids.  She wondered what she had ever done to deserve it.  She opened her locker and discovered a white mess.  Someone had sprayed shaving cream in through the grill of the locker.  Everything was covered.  Behind her she heard laughter.  She didn’t turn to look for the source.  It didn’t matter anyway.  She took out her books, wiped off the shaving cream and headed to her first period class.

AP English was Becky’s least favorite class, not because she disliked English, but because her teacher, Ms. Hardy, insisted on calling on her all the time.  That always led to jeers and insults from the A-girls, a small band of popular girls who tormented Becky.  Becky knew today would be no different.  Today was the day the class would be getting back their poetry assignments.  Odds were, Ms. Hardy would have Becky stand in front of the class and read her poem.  Ms. Hardy distributed the poems to the class.  Becky had received an A.  Then, Ms. Hardy called Becky up to read her poem.  Becky stood before the class.  She could see the A-girls whispering and laughing.  She could see the boredom on the other students’ faces.  Then she noticed the boy, Ralf.  He waved.  Becky looked down at her poem and read.

Jumping from a ship
She is last
Waves below
No arms to catch her
Doesn’t care
That is her way
Last aboard
Last ashore
Like no other
Of me, but
Not mine

Ms. Hardy thanked her and she returned to her seat.  She felt something light, probably crumpled paper, hit her head.  She didn’t turn.  Class dragged on.  Finally, the bell rang and everyone left the classroom.  Ralf was waiting for her in the hallway.

“I can make it go away,” he said.

“How?”

“Just ask me to and it will happen.”

Out of nowhere, Sarah Parker, the leader of the A-girls, materialized in front of Becky, strode forward and threw a hard shoulder into Becky’s, saying, “Loser,” as she passed.

“All you have to do is ask,” said Ralf.

Becky, fed up with pretty much everything that day, answered without thinking.  “Will you make it all go away?”

“It’s already done,” said Ralf.  He pointed behind her and she turned.  Four of Becky’s tormenters approached.  Becky waited for the inevitable hazing.  They passed without a word, without even looking at her.  Becky turned to Ralf to find that he was gone.

Becky made her way to second period, her favorite class, primarily because nobody in that class picked on her.  The subject, Physics, was interesting but not really high on her list.  In this class were two of her friends, Milly and Jessy.  Becky took her place at the desk the three of them shared.  Neither of them seemed to notice her.  She said hi and they didn’t reply.  She said hi a little louder and Jessy looked up briefly but then turned to Milly and asked to borrow a pencil.

By the end of the day, it was clear to Becky that she had, for all practical purposes, become invisible.  Nobody seemed to be aware of her, even when she got right in front of them and tried to talk to them.  Teachers who used to call on her all the time, acted like she didn’t exist.  What had Ralf done?

She went home that afternoon and started working on her homework.  By five, her mother had returned home.  Becky expected more trouble, but her mom didn’t say a word to her.  She didn’t even look at her.  At first Becky thought it was her mother’s anger, but soon she realized that she was just as invisible to her mother as she was to everyone else.  When her mother prepared dinner that night, she made it just for herself.  

What had been surprise and confusion for Becky was replaced by fear.  She realized she was completely alone.  Ralf had said he could make it so nobody would bother her.  He did just that, but the price was nobody even knew she existed anymore.

Becky went to bed that night, and tossed and turned for some time.  Perhaps there was a way to get the people she liked to see her and know she was there.  She had to find Ralf to find out.  He had to know a way to be seen.  Becky thought that because she assumed that Ralf, like her, was invisible.  So, if he was invisible, he had to know a way to become visible because he became visible to her.  Finally, satisfied that there was a solution, Becky fell asleep.

The next day, she got up, got ready for school and left.  Her mother had not noticed her.  Becky walked down the street towards the school.  At the first intersection, she started to cross.  At the last second, she saw a car speeding toward her out of the corner of her eye.  She jumped back to the curb.  Vehicles, by law, had to yield to pedestrians.  It took her a few seconds to realize that the driver of the car didn’t see her, not because he was inattentive, but because she was invisible to him.  

Becky looked up and saw Ralf standing across the street.  He waved to her.  She looked both ways and crossed.

“What have you done to me?” she said.

“I gave you what you asked for.”

“If I knew this was what it would be like I never would have asked for it.  I want things to go back to the way they were.”

“That’s not possible.  There is no going back.”

Becky thought about that, then remembered her idea.  “You made yourself visible to me.  How did you do that?”

“You have to focus on the person you want to reveal yourself to, really think about what you are going to say and do.  Then they will notice you, but if you don’t really focus, they will lose focus on you.  It is very draining and people won’t react to you the way you might expect.”

“How will they react?”

“That you have to see for yourself.”

“Unbelievable.  This is a nightmare.  You knew that and you brought me here anyway.  Why?  You had to have a reason.”

Ralf looked thoughtful.  “Look, let me show you something.  Follow me.”  Ralf started walking.

“But, that’s not the way to school.”

“You don’t go to school anymore.  They don’t know you exist.”

Becky followed Ralf into town.  He led her into a convenience store.  There, he went into the fridge at the back of the store, grabbed a six pack of beer, and walked out of the store.

“You didn’t pay for that,” said Becky, as they exited the store.

“Of course not.  Want a beer?”

“I hate beer,” said Becky.

Ralf popped open a beer and downed it in one giant gulp.

“So, is this what you do?  Steal beer from convenience stores?”

“Follow me,” he said.  He led her to a bank a block a way.  Inside, he climbed over the counter.  Becky watched in horror.  She could see him moving to each station.  He jumped back over the counter.  None of the tellers or other people in the bank had noticed anything.  Ralf counted out some money and handed it to Becky.  She counted five hundred dollars.

“Ralf, this is stealing.  It’s wrong.”

“Unfortunately, it is necessary.  There are some things you will need money for.  You will need a bank account too.  Then you can get a place to live.”

“I live with my mom.”

“Trust me when I tell you that isn’t going to last.  It happens to all of us.  When we come here, the people we leave behind change.  Parents tend to pick up and move.  You’ll see.  You will need a place to live.  If you don’t pay for it, the landlord will rent it out and you will be homeless.”

“So, you steal money from banks?”

“Yes, but truthfully, only enough to survive.  I find it just as distasteful as you do.”

Becky paused, absorbing this new information.  She realized her fear had shifted to horror.  None of the crap she had to put up with before was bad enough to make this life seem good.

“There has to be a way to go back,” said Becky.

Ralf opened another beer.  “If there is, I don’t know what it is.”

“Well, what do you do here?”

“I don’t know.  I go to movies, read, travel.”

“Travel?”

“Oh yeah.  You can get through security at airports without any problem, and onto planes too.  I’ve been all over the place.  Just got back from Amsterdam last week.”

Becky looked at him.  Something about him was familiar.  “Do I know you?”

“You knew me before you came here, but I don’t think you could remember me now if you tried.”

“Who are you?”

“Ralf Emerson.  I used to live next door to you.  We used to play pirates when we were kids.  We were best friends.”

Becky didn’t remember him.  “How can you remember me if I’m here now?”

“That’s just how it works.  No clue why.”

“So, wait.  You went to Amsterdam?”

“Yup.  Awesome time.”

“Are there others like us?” said Becky.

“Yes, but you probably don’t want to talk to them.  I mean, some are all right, but some have changed in a bad way.  You know.  Come to think of it.  You need to be careful not to go anywhere near Broadway Hardware.  Don’t forget that.”

“Why?”

“Just don’t go near it.”

“Okay.  How many others are there?”

“I don’t know.  It is hard to pick us out.  I mean, unless someone is looking at me and maybe talking to me, I don’t know they are one of us.”

“Then how do you know there are others?”

“They have found me.  I don’t know how they did for sure, but they did.”

“Am I the only one you have brought here?”

“Yes.  You are first and last.”

Becky looked at him again.  There was something familiar, but what it was remained a mystery.  He finished his beer and put it down.  “Want to go on a road trip?” he said.

“Where to?”

“Let’s take the train into the city.  Tons to do there.”

She didn’t have to go to school.  Nobody expected anything from her.  She didn’t really exist, except to Ralf.  “Okay.”

Ralf led the way to the train station.  There they hopped on an express going in to Grand Central.  Becky noticed something on the train.  Even though people didn’t notice them, they didn’t try to sit where they were sitting, as if they knew something was there, but not what.

They arrived in Grand Central and made their way the subway.  There, they took the 6 up to 86th Street, then headed west and south to 82nd, to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  Becky had never been there before.

“You know, we could steal pretty much anything in here if we wanted to,” said Ralf.

“Wouldn’t they notice?”

“They would notice something was missing, but wouldn’t see us with it.  Strange thing.  You know, if there were many of us, I would expect to have heard about such a theft.  I think the lack of news about strange disappearances indicates there are few of us.”

They continued through the museum for another two hours before heading out to find something to eat.

Ralf found an Italian restaurant.  There he told Becky to try to become visible so they could get served.  Becky tried to focus, thinking about the waiter and what she wanted to say to him.  She thought about asking for drinks and for recommendations on what to eat.  The waiter stared at her for a moment and then at Ralf.  “Right this way,” he said.

“Keep it up.  You need to keep it going until we finish eating.”

“I’ll try,” said Becky.

She managed to do it.  They ate and then stopped trying to be visible right after the check arrived.  Ralf dropped a hundred dollar bill on the table and they left.  “I don’t like to stiff waiters if I don’t have to,” said Ralf.

They spent the rest of the day wandering around the city, finally ending up in a bar in Chelsea.  Becky had never been to a bar before.  Ralf ordered two drinks from the bartender then faded from sight.  He handed one to Becky.

“Don’t worry,” he said.  “It’s a Shirley Temple.”

As they drank, Ralf told Becky his story.  By the end of it, she was in tears.  Most sad to her was the fact that someone who had been so important to her, just vaporized and all memory of him had left her.

He had disappeared when he was twelve.  It happened at Broadway Hardware.  He had gone in with his father, wandered off in the store and gotten lost.  As he searched for his father, a small boy, maybe six or seven, approached him.  He asked Ralf if he wanted help and Ralf said yes.  The boy said, “Ask me to make it go away and I’ll help.”  Ralf asked without thinking about it.  At that moment, he saw his father approach.  He called out to him, but the man just walked by without even looking at him.  

Ralf said that he left the store and went home, finding that both of his parents no longer knew he existed.  He went over to Becky’s house, but she didn’t see him.  He cried for days.  Eventually his parents moved away, and Ralf was unable to figure out where they had gone.  He roamed around town for days, finally moving into the middle school, where he lived for a year.

One day, he walked by the hardware store.  He saw Thane outside the door.  Thane motioned to him to come and he did.  As he neared Thane, the small boy said, “It is time for your test.”  Ralf noticed another boy there with him.  Thane told him too that he needed to take the test.  Afraid of what might happen, Ralf said, “Him first.”

Thane took the other boy’s hand and spoke to him.  The two disappeared, then Thane reappeared, his eyes closed and his body swaying gently, as if he was in a trance.  After a few minutes, Thane’s eyes opened.  He turned to Ralf, “Now, it’s your turn.”  Ralf said, “What happened to the boy?”  Thane said, “He failed the test.”

Ralf then explained that Thane took his hand and he had a vision and then the vision was gone and he was standing with Thane again.  He had passed the test.

“What was the vision?” said Becky.

“I don’t remember.  What’s important is that you not take the test,” said Ralf.

Then Ralf told her of his adventures after his test, making it sound like an exciting time.

The finished at the bar and headed back to Grand Central.  There, they hopped on an express and returned home.  On the ride home, Ralf said, “It’s nice to have company.  I’m glad you’re here.”

Becky said, “I can’t imagine being alone for all those years.”

They got home and Becky returned to her house.  Ralf said he was going to his apartment.  He said he would check in on her in the morning.

Becky went in her house.  She found her mother sitting at the kitchen table, crying.  Becky tried to concentrate so she could appear to her mother, and after a minute of trying, managed to do it.

“Mom?” said Becky.

Her mother looked up, tears streaming down her face.  “Oh, hello.  When did you get here?”

“Why are you crying mom?”

“I don’t know.  Why are you calling me mom?”  That caught Becky off guard.

“Has something bad happened?”

“I don’t know.  I’m just sad.  Something’s not right.”

Becky thought she knew what wasn’t right.  “Mom, I’m sorry.  I didn’t know this would happen, I swear.  I can’t change it, but I would if I could.”

“Change what?  Who are you?  What are you doing here?”

“I’m Becky.  Don’t you remember me?”

“Becky.  No.  Do you live in the neighborhood?”

“No, mom.  I live here, with you.”

Becky felt an overwhelming sadness.  She felt her concentration wavering and then felt it fail.  Her mother’s eyes glazed over as she looked at Becky.  She had become invisible again.  She went to her room and cried herself asleep.

The next morning, Becky woke up and went to the kitchen.  Her mother had already left for work.  Seeing a mess in the sink, Becky cleaned up for her mother.  Then she checked the hamper in the hall closet, and seeing it full, did a load of laundry.  While she waited for the laundry to finish, she watched TV.  Daytime television was such a drag.  She turned it off, grabbed a book and read.

Laundry done, she left the house to take a walk.  As she walked down to the sidewalk, a beat up Camry pulled up and stopped.  The window rolled down.  It was Ralf.  “Hop in,” he said.

Becky got in the car.  “Where did you get this?  Did you steal it?”

“No, I bought it.  So, you up for a trip?”

“To where?”

“You’ll see.  It will take a couple of hours, but it’s worth it.”

“Okay.”  Ralf pulled out onto the street and accelerated.  As they drove, Becky told him about her mother.  Ralf comforted her.  He said his mother’s crying would pass.  His mother had gone through the same thing.  

They drove north up to Hartford then northeast to Massachusetts.  There, on the border of Connecticut and Massachusetts, they got off the highway and drove five miles to a small road that went into the woods.  At the end of the road, they came to a smaller dirt road that led to a cottage on a lake.

The cottage was old, at least a hundred years old.  It was red, with a wrap around porch.  There was a dock with a rowboat, and a hammock tied between two trees on the shore.

“I grew up here,” said Ralf.  “Well, at least in the summers.”

“Where is everybody?” said Becky.

“Most people don’t come out here until late June.”  Becky looked at the other cottages that lined the shore.  They went all around the lake.  Far out in the middle of the lake she could see a boat with a man fishing off the side.

Ralf walked up onto the porch, followed by Becky.  He sat in a rocker and Becky sat in the one next to his.

“This is your parent’s place?” said Becky.

“Yeah.  They came out last week and got it ready for the summer.”

“Did you see them?”

“No.  That’s when they always do it.  I don’t think I could bear looking at them again.”

Becky looked at Ralf.  She could see the tears in his eyes, waiting for him to release them.

“You know, after I came here, the thing I missed the most wasn’t them.  It was you.”  He turned his head toward her.  “I’ve watched you all this time.  I watched you at your house and at school.  I saw the way those girls always picked on you.  I saw the way you fought with your mother all the time.  I watched you as you cried for weeks after your father left you and your mother.  I’ve seen all of it.”

Becky didn’t know what to think of that.  On the one hand it was kind of creepy, and on the other, kind of romantic.

“I’m happy you came here,” said Ralf.

“To the cottage?”

“No, here.  I’m sorry you don’t like it here.  I should have warned you.”

Was she mad at him?  Was this place so bad?  Sitting there on the porch of that beautiful cottage, looking out at the still lake, she wondered how bad it really was.  Certainly, she missed her mother, and her friends too, what few there were.  But, she had Ralf, and he didn’t seem to be going anywhere.  In fact, it seemed like he really wanted to be with her.  “It’s okay, Ralf.  I’m not mad.”

Ralf released the tears that had built up in his eyes, and they rolled down his face.  He reached out and took Becky’s hand.  “Thank you, Becky.  You have no idea how much that means to me.”

Becky felt his hand trembling.  She wondered where all of this was going.  Was something developing between Ralf and her?

“Do you want to go out in the boat?” said Ralf.

“Okay.”

They walked down to the dock and got in the rowboat.  Becky sat in the back, and Ralf in the middle.  He pushed off from the dock and started rowing once he cleared it.

As he rowed, he told her stories about the lake.  He told her about a mysterious creature called the Gowolla monster that lived in a swampy marsh on the far side of the lake.  He said the kids around the lake had been telling that story for decades.  He thought it was the otters that lived in the area.

They made their way slowly around the lake.  Ralf pointed out the cottages of his friends.  He talked about the ski club on the lake and how many of his friends were a part of that.  He couldn’t ski.

Time passed and they found themselves back at the dock.  They got out of the boat and Ralf took Becky to the car.  He was going to take her out to eat.  They drove into town and stopped at a pizza place.

Inside, they made themselves visible, were seated, ordered and waited for their food.  Ralf said this was where his parents would take him every Friday in the summers when they would come here.  He knew the waiter, who, of course, didn’t recognize him.

The pizza came and they ate.  Throughout the meal, Becky struggled to find something to say.  Ralf had opened up quite a bit.  She didn’t know how to respond to that.  It felt like he was waiting for something from her, but she didn’t know what.

Finally, as they finished, he said, “Thane is dangerous, Becky.  If he finds out about you, he will make you take the test.  If you fail, you could disappear like the others who fail.  I can’t stand the thought of that happening.”  What did it mean to disappear?  Becky could only imagine, and what she imagined wasn’t good.

“What can we do?” said Becky.

“We need to run away.  Far away.”

“He can’t find us?”

“I hope.”

“But, my mom.”

“I know.  It’s horrible, but I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

“Okay, but I need to say goodbye to her, even if she doesn’t remember me.”

“I understand.”

They finished eating and Ralf paid the bill, then they left and started driving back home.  On the drive, Ralf explained that he had figured out a way to hide from Thane, but it was much easier to do it if he was far away.  He said that Thane didn’t know about Becky yet, or, at least, he hoped he didn’t.  If he did, he probably would have confronted them already.

They arrived in front of Becky’s house.  “Do you want me to wait out here?” said Ralf.

“Why don’t you let me stay here the night with her and then get me in the morning?  That will give me time to pack anyway.”

“Okay.”  Ralf left, and Becky went inside her house.  Her mother was in the family room watching TV.  Becky made herself visible and sat next to her mother on the couch.

“Hi, mom,” said Becky.

“Oh, you’re that girl from next door, aren’t you?  What are you doing here?”

“No, I’m Becky, mom.  Don’t you remember me?”

“I don’t know any Becky, dear.”  She turned off the TV and turned to Becky.  “I have to run some errands and could use some help.  Can you come with me?  Do we need to call your parents?”

“I can go.  We don’t need to call anyone.”  Becky felt tears coming.  She wanted to hug her mom and beg her to remember her.

“Okay then.  Let’s get going.”

Her mom led her out to the car.  They got in, pulled out of the driveway, and were off.

The first stop was a furniture store.  Becky’s mom had bought a small coffee table and a lamp.  Becky helped her mother get them in the car.  The whole time, she struggled to stay visible to her mother, though it was quite difficult to do so.  At one point, in the store, she had disappeared and had to fight to become visible again.  Her mother had forgotten that she had been with her.

From the furniture store, they went to the drug store.  Her mother had to pick up a prescription.  She explained that she had to go on antidepressants.  She didn’t know why her mood had changed so drastically.  Becky felt a pit in her stomach.

The left the drug store and started walking down the street.  “I just need to get something at the hardware store,” said her mother.

Becky remembered Ralf’s warning.  “What do you need there?” she said.

“A flathead screwdriver.  Mine is missing.”

“You have one.  It’s in the garage in the top drawer of the cabinet.  I know right where it is,” said Becky.

Becky realized she was still walking and in that moment looked up and saw the hardware store no more than a hundred feet ahead of her.  She stopped.  In the window of the hardware store she saw a boy.  The boy was looking right at her.  He motioned for her to come to him.

At that moment, Ralf ran up behind her and grabbed her hand.  Becky’s mother had continued walking forward, now unaware of Becky.

“We have to run,” said Becky to Ralf.

“We can’t now.  We have to go to him.  Promise me you will remember me,” said Ralf.

“What are you talking about?”  Ralf shook his head and pulled her forward.

They closed the distance to Thane and stopped.

“You were hiding from me, weren’t you, Ralf,” said Thane.  “How did you do that?”

“I don’t know.  I just did, I guess,” said Ralf.

“Interesting.  So, who is this?”

“I’m Becky.”

“You know you have to take the test.  Correct?”

“I know.”

“Are you ready?”

Becky felt Ralf squeeze her hand and let go.  She looked at him and saw fear on his face.  Her own fear had been growing from the moment she had seen Thane.

“I’m ready.”

Thane took Becky’s hand, and in that instant, the world disappeared and she was blinded by a brilliant blue light.  Then, the light faded and she found herself back in the world, only Thane and Ralf weren’t there.

She looked around, watching the people going in and out of the hardware store.  Some looked at her, as if they could see her.  One walked right up to her and asked her where the post office was.  She gave him directions.

It hit her.  She was back.  She existed.

“You know,” said her mother’s voice.  “I know where that screwdriver is after all.”

Becky turned.  Her mother was looking right at her.  “Mom!”

“Yes, Becky.  We are going home now.  This was a wasted trip.”

“Mom, you can see me.”

“Of course I can see you.  Are you okay?  You look strange.”

“I’m fine.”

Thanes voice drifted to Becky from far away, “So, I give you the choice, Becky.  You can stay here and be a part of this world, or you can come back to Ralf and me.  If you stay here, you will never see Ralf again.”

Becky stopped in her tracks.  Suddenly, she realized that Ralf had known all along that the test was a way to get back home.  He hadn’t wanted her to leave.  He had lied to her.  Despite that, Becky wasn’t angry, because she knew that Ralf really cared about her and needed her.  He wanted to be with her, and nobody had ever wanted that before.  She looked at her mother, who was giving her a queer look, almost as if she was trying to decide if she knew who Becky was.

“And if I come back to you and Ralf?” said Becky.

“Then you live in peace.  Either way, you will find, your life will have changed.  What do you choose?” said Thane.

Becky ran up to her mother and hugged her.  “I love you so much mom.  I really do.”

“I love you too, honey,” said her mother.  Then the woman’s eyes glazed over and she looked at Becky in an entirely different way.  “Um, hello?  May I ask why you are hugging me?”

“Just because I love you,” said Becky.  She could see Thane and Ralf standing by her side.

“Thank you, dear,” said her mother.  Becky leg go of her mother’s world and watched as the woman, now a stranger, walked away.

Ralf ran forward and grabbed Becky, holding her tight.  Through his sobs she could hear him saying, “Thank you.  Thank you.  I love you so much, Becky.”

Reviews

[Ria Kova]

Once again, the ending made my mind blow and gave the chills as if Id just read a grand book. Im so subscribing man! Brilliant.

[RavenWells]

This is a really creative story. The only thing I found a little unrealistic was how much Ralf cried. But hey, being alone for so long could probably do that to a person. Besides that I loved this story, great job! :)

[Mark Labbe]

Thank you. I think I needed Ralf to cry in this story. Where I failed was in exposing his sorrow before he broke down. If I go back through this I will probably do more to explain Becky's reaction to the new world and more to at least hint at the difficulties Ralf faces.