Phantasma Memoria

Memory of a Phantom

A girl, with a crooked smile, once skipped through the fields; once was in harmony with the universe; once lived so serenely, you would’ve thought she was one with nature. Albeit, her life quickly dwindled, like a delicate flower plucked by a storm, petal by petal, piece by piece.

Now she was monotonous – if she ever spoke; her face a façade of calm demeanor but the worst of her demons wearing her from the inside.

No one knew her, far from that even her name. Her neighbors were concerned but never asked, too busy exchanging daily gossip. No one knew who she lived with, if she went to school or not, her age being a mystery. What was even more mysterious was her walking and walking, each night to an unknown destination. This was the time when the neighbors seldom saw her, leaving them wondering where she went, and when she would return, though after a while this became a daily occurrence which is why they cared little to ask about it.

The strangest things about her though was her tiny journal. It was a small yet distinct object that she handled with utmost care and had carried it everywhere. Only she knew what it meant and how much of a priced possession it was; it was the thing she was cursed because of and the only way the curse would be lifted.

She knew that the only mistake she had made in her entire life had cost her everything. She knew she made a mistake when unintentionally, she severely injured The Wizard’s sister when they were arguing about giving the girl a power. This caused The Wizard to curse her for her greed and anger, which she had never shown before. The sister had magically appeared out of the tiny journal pages when the girl was wishing and writing to the great wizard for a power. The argument started between the two when the girl started asking for greater things and it escalated when she accidently pushed her trying to get her point across. The curse that the wizard had bestowed upon her was that, until and unless she filled the entirety of the journal in a month, she would be stuck between worlds, appearing as a phantom. The catch was that, every other week, a thousand pages would be added to it – making it impossible for her to finish it by the end of the month.

She didn’t think it was that big of a deal until she realized that in her world she was now forgotten, it was as if no one remembered her, yet everyone could see her. This fact was never mentioned by The Wizard and she knew that in this state, she would go insane, constantly writing and writing, living for an eternity, with no hopes or dreams.

Yet, she never would’ve thought that a ray of hope would rekindle through a break in the clouds, finally freeing her. That ray of hope came in the form of her childhood best friend walking towards her neighborhood trying to find her, wondering how she was doing. She was baffled; how could anyone remember her? Especially someone she knew years ago! Something even more strange happened right when her friend looked at her; The curse lifted and she fell to the ground, feeling more tranquil than she ever was.

It was majestic how just having a memory had affected her world. The wizard had forgotten to clear this loophole and it came to her advantage – the wizard did not think of the possibility of someone she knew long before remembering her, just a wisp of that fading memory becoming her saving grace. That magical memory for the girl it was through her childhood best friend and for the wizard it had been through his sister. A lesson that she, her friend and the wizard learned that day was that- a memory… never fades.