Short Story

A short story that was for school. Reader discretion is adviced.

Katie woke up with a start.  Crap, crap, crap.  Today was her big day. She’d been preparing for this presentation for a week. If it all went well, her promotion could very well be hers. Her hand absentmindedly reaches out and fumbles for her phone.  Where’s the app? Ah, yes.  There. Ride to work please.  Yes, yes, get me the fast one.  A badge flashes across her eyes, “Your Lyft will be here by 8:25 am.”  Perfect.  Now to get dressed and cook some breakfast.  Wait.  8:25?  Her eyes dart to the clock, hanging half crooked on the wall. “Looks like breakfast isn’t in the cards.” Katie murmurs to herself, and slips on a sweater. “Not off to a great start there Katie, Not at all.”

Olivia approaches Katie. “Tickets for next month’s comedy show. Don’t forget.  I’d love to have you there ” Katie smiles back. “You got it. I promise I’ll see you there. Pinkie Promise.”

Katie walks into the board meeting and sets up her powerpoint presentation. She could already imagine her promotion. A larger office space. A nice big desk.  It was glorious.  The sound of the door broke her out of her thoughts.

“Howdy Katie,” said James.  “You in so much shock from yesterday, you decided to come back for more?” he drawled.

“Yesterday?” replied Katie, her face scrunching up in confusion.  “What do you mean?”

“Damn.  Didn’t think it was so bad you started to repress the memories.” replied James.  “All I remember is that you walked outta here looking like someone had kicked a puppy.”

That’s strange, thought Katie. She hadn’t been in this room for years.

“Yeah,” said Charles, who’d just walked into the room.  “What are you doing here?  Wasn’t your presentation yesterday?”

“Nooo.  I gave no presentation yesterday.  Today’s my presentation.”

“The one with the rubber ducks on the slides?  That presentation? No need to embarrass yourself again.  We’ve seen it.  And it was just awful.  Just terrible. There’s no need for my eyes to be tortured again by images outlawed by the Geneva Convention.” quipped Charles.

How’d Charles know about the rubber ducks? thought Katie.  They were just added last night.  Maybe she really had presented the slides?  And afterwards so distraught by the result, she drank her sorrows away, causing permanent memory loss? That didn’t sound like Katie at all.  And she didn’t feel hungover in the slightest. Maybe it was just an elaborate prank.  Katie needed to ask someone she’d trust not to screw her over.  Maybe… Bingo.  “Hey Boss, did I give a presentation yesterday?”

“If that’s what you want to call a presentation.  Where’d you come up with that idea anyway?  Freaking space pirates.  We're running a business, not tryna reenact some sci-fi film.” her boss said.

Ah crap. She knew the space pirate idea was over the line.   And there went the prank hypothesis. Score one for the memory hypothesis.  Today was not looking to be a fun day.  Next stop, medical.

“Nope. Looks like nothings wrong.” the doctor said.  “Healthy vital signs, and no signs of a stroke or any alcohol. Both cognitive and memory tests you passed with flying colors.  You have a clean bill of health.  Just a little out of shape, but nothing major.”

Huh.  Her coworkers had sworn up and down that she’d given the presentation yesterday. And that ruled out general amnesia from medical reasons.  So what in the world was going on.  She whipped out her phone and pressed record.  “Detective Katie, we have a case.  It appears that our subject has recently had her memory stolen. Subject appears to be coping from the shock of a failed presentation. Be advised. Subject is a space nerd.” she said, making her voice deeper, trying to imitate Watson.  She quickly clicked off her phone feeling slightly silly.  It looks as if the stress of the day has been getting to me.  Maybe it’s just the stress.  It’s been a while since I’ve done something fun.

“Wow.  You look amazing,” her new date said.  “Original first line,” quipped Katie.  “Wanna buy me a drink?”

He turned toward the bartender.  “A vodka for me, and a water for the lady.”

Two hours later, Katie’s head was spinning and while her stomach continued somersaulting, Katie stepped into an Uber.  “I enjoyed tonight, Peter,” called out Katie.  “I can’t believe I was the first one you told about the teddy bear. See you next week?”  All Katie got in return was a wave and a smile.  As Katie drifted off to sleep, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she forgot something important.

Crap, crap, crap.  Today was her big day.  I’ve been preparing for this presentation for a week. Her hand reaches out for her phone, and absentmindedly closes the recording app. Where’s the driver app? Ah, yes. There. Ride to work please.  Yes, yes, get me the fast one. A badge flashes across her eyes.  Huh.  That’s strange.  It’s normally only that cheap on weekends or weird times. What time is it anyway?  She quickly checked the time on her phone. Yep.  Looks right.  Her eyes dart back to the date.  Saturn’s Day?  It should be Thor’s Day!  Did she sleep through two full days?  What the heck?  Wasn’t her presentation today?  She distinctly remembered her presentation being on Thor’s Day.  She hurried to her computer.  “What day is today?” she types into the search bar.  Saturn’s Day it is. Huh.  Okay.  Something’s going on here.  Think Katie. Think.  You woke up thinking today should be Thor’s Day and Google tells you it's Saturn’s Day. What’s going on?  Katie pulls out her phone and texts Finn from work:  What happened yesterday?  Finn’s reply was almost instant:  What do you mean?  I heard you left work early yesterday. You tell me. Katie’s eyebrow raises.  I don’t think I’ve ever left work early in my life. That’s strange.  Did someone kidnap me?

Yes Katie, her brain replied.  And they left you nice and comfy back in your bed.  No, idiot, you’ve been date-raped.  Little bit of Rohypnol in the drink, and you can kiss your memory goodbye.

Well shit. Thought Katie as she opened up her calendar.  Let’s see if I went on a date last night.  Ah crap.  Katie felt like it should have been more dramatic. And there’s that.  What’s the thing they always say?  Head to the doctor’s to get evidence as soon as possible? I’m going to nail this bastard.  What’s his name?  Her finger’s open the app.  Peter? If that’s even his real name. Thought Katie darkly. 

“Well, if you’ll excuse the pun, this person seems to have been the utmost gentleman. No remnants of drugs detected in your blood.  No bruising, no swelling, and nothing else this kit can detect.  You didn’t shower before you got here, right?” the doctor said.  “It says here,” he said looking at the clipboard.  “You were here yesterday due to memory problems?  Was that with regards to this?  That appointment was quite early in the afternoon.  Was the date a morning one?”

Katie’s head began to spin.  She’d left work early to go to the doctor’s?  And for memory issues no less?  Before the date? She pulled out her phone.  Time to get detective Katie on the case. And just before she hit record, she noticed something. A recording. Yesterday. That I don’t remember recording.  Okay….  She hastily put in her earbuds.  Her phone spoke in her own voice, “Detective Katie, we have a case.  It appears that our subject has recently had her memory stolen. Subject appears to be coping from the shock of a failed presentation.  Be advised. Subject is a space nerd.” Space nerd?  Failed presentation?  Wait. She failed her presentation?  Her blood pressure rose. Memory stolen?  As in she had this problem yesterday?  “Thanks doc, but I gotta go. See you later,” she said as she rushed for the exit.

Six hours of googling later, and all she had was “Common side effects of growing older” and a BuzzFeed article that could be summarized as “Write things down.”  It seems forgetting the entire previous day was not a common problem.  Who would have guessed.  Feeling devious, Katie bought an older looking tape recorder that would make any detective proud. *click*  “I am potato. 1147.  This is Katie.  If you are hearing this message and don’t remember recording it, it means that your memory is no longer functioning. Everyday you are unable to remember the previous day.  So far, this seems to have been going on for two days. Katie out.” *click*  Feeling slightly silly, Katie puts the recording device next to a “Play Me” sticky note, and heads to bed. It couldn’t actually be the case that I’ll forget everything today right?  Surely there’s some other reasonable explanation for this and tomorrow I’m going to feel like an idiot for trying the recording trick. This is something that happens in poorly written fiction movies. Not real life. Right? Sleep came slowly that night.

Crap, crap, c- huh?  What’s that?  I don’t remember having a tape recorder.  And what’s that?  “Play Me”  Did someone sneak into her room last night?  Only one way to find out.  *click* “I am potato. 1147 T-” That’s my voice.  And my activation code from when I was fourteen. God.  I can’t believe I made that. A code intended to convince me that I’m me.  That time travel book was such a terrible influence on my threat model… Wait.  That code was used unironically. Shit.  What was it saying?  Memory loss?  That sounds extreme.  But I’ve never told anyone about that dumb code. This is probably some prank, I’ll just check the date to make sure.  It says it’s been going on for two days?  So that means it should be Sun’s Day. Not Thor’s Day like I know it is.   “Alright phone, don’t screw with me.” said Katie.  A button push later and “Sunday” flashes across her screen. Ah.  f-that. Guess I’ll take it seriously.  What do you do when you can’t remember the previous days?  Plan?  She took out a pen and paper and got to work.  Alright. Chores.  I’ll do those on Sun’s Day.  So there needs to be a separate Sun’s day recording.  And Mani’s Day. To begin the work week.  On top of the individual day’s recordings there needs to be a main record of everything.  So I can remember what I did previously.  Alright.  I think I can do this. *click* “I am potato-”  And the rest of the day disappeared in a hurry.

Crap, cr- huh, what’s that? “Good Morning Katie! This is your captain speaking. I am potato 1147.  You appear to forget every previous day.  This has been going on for four days.  Today is Monday.  You failed your work presentation, and the schedule looks like…”

After a long day of work, Katie began thinking,  The fact that I can’t remember the previous day’s is going to make my potential capped.  It’s fine for now, but it means I can’t build up skills over time.  Though I’ve always been able to force myself to work really hard for a day.  But then I’m exhausted the next day.  Hm.  But I won’t remember doing that.  So I can force myself to work hard the next day.  And the next. New office space here I come! She quickly got to work recording herself in preparation for tomorrow.

Crap, cr-”Good Morning Katie!  I am potato 1147.  Today the legion’s of Katie’s have drafted you into their service.  Today you are going to force yourself to work for the Greater Katie Empire. The things you need to know are….” said the recording.

Exhausted from work, Katie headed home.  This was the fifteenth day of so-called “Operation Workaholic” according to the recording.  As she headed to bed, a thought struck her.  What was she doing exactly?  The Katie she was right now was going to die. All the memories from today, the way the barista had smiled at her, the youtube video’s she’d watched, all the little things that shaped her today were going to disappear. She’d just worked really hard toward a goal she’d never see or enjoy.  And furthermore, she’d done nothing today that warranted adding to the record. No record. No memory. So did today’s Katie even exist if future-Katie doesn’t remember her?  With trembling fingers Katie clicked the recording device. “This is past Katie.” *sharp inhale*  Speaking to present Katie.  Make sure your day means something. You existed, damn it.  Make it count.  Over.”  She slept better that night.

Crap, cr-”Good morning Katie! I am… Your chores for today are….This is past Katie..” echoed the recording.  Do something meaningful.  What should I do?  A mouse click later and an amazon package arrived.  No point in making her future self drink suboptimal lemonade after all.  Rows of lemonades stood in front of her.  Every single brand that she could get her hands on was here.  It totaled some fifty different cartons.  “Well that’s not something you see everyday.” Katie joked.  She pulled out a tasting glass and opened the first one.

click* “My favorite lemonade is Pure Summer Homemade Lemonade,” she said into the recorder. *click*

Crap, cr-huh?  What’s this?  Lemonade?  Wow, that’s some good Lemonade.  Though maybe a coffee would be better this early in the morning… “Good morning Katie! Today is…”  A mouse click later, a pile of coffee packages arrived at her door.

Crap, cr-huh?  What’s this?  Coffee?  Wow, that’s some good Coffee. “Good morning Katie!  Today is…” Huh, those curtains look bland.  Maybe she could improve the…

Crap, cr-huh? What’s this?  Coffee?  Wow, that’s some good Coffee.  And this is just an amazingly cozy bed.  And the towels are sublime.  And don’t get me started on the soap. And the food. The wine.  Wow.  Someone’s been putting in real effort to know what I like. Thanks past-Katie.  Hm..  Do something important. Maybe skydiving counts?

*click* “Skydiving is overrated.” *click*

Do something important. Hmm.

*click* “Barrel rolls should be called vomit rolls.” *click*

Do something important. Hmm. Who’s Peter and what’s he doing on her calendar?

*click* “Schedule another date with Peter.  You’ll thank me later.” *click*

Do something important. Hmm.

*click* “You hate poetry.” *click*

Do something important. Hmm.

*click* “Pottery’s impossible to learn in a day. No matter how hard you try you aren’t able to make the bottle you’re imagining.  Trust me, you’ve tried.” *click*

Do something important. Hmm.

*click* “Your favorite song to listen to for the first time is…” *click*

Do something important. Hmm.

*click* “Klien bottles are really cool.” *click*

Do something important. Hmm.

*click* “The musical Hamilton is a gateway drug to musicals.  Approach with caution.” *click*

Crap, cr-”Good Morning Katie. I am potato 1147..  Your memory is not working…. The things you need to do are… The nicest programming language is..  You hate…  You’ve climbed up the… You’ve gone on a date with Peter three times and.. The most recent gossip at the office is…”  Holy crap.  It keeps going.  Even listening at 4x speed isn’t fast enough.  By the time this finishes half of my day will be over.  I’m going to have to cut something.  But what?  Anything I cut kills that version of past-Katie. She’ll be lost forever.  Her day’s impact destroyed.  Holy crap.  That’s brutal. I don’t think I’m cut out to make that type of decision. Wait a second. It looks like I just reinvented forgetting things.  *chuckles* Would you look at that. Human evolution was onto something. I just happen to have smaller storage space than the brain.  But what to cut. What to cut. How do I prioritize what is valuable and what isn’t?  *Sigh*  Here goes nothing.

Crap, cr-”Good morning Katie! I am potato… The things you need to remember are….The things you’ve done include…” echoed the recording. Off to work huh.  What do I need to remember?   A spreadsheet was due today.  And her new friend Sydney was into K-pop. And the recording warned her she’d already asked the obvious questions and cracked the obvious jokes.  How to come up with something new when you can't remember the conversation’s you’ve had?  What a conundrum…

*click* “Today everything ran like clockwork. It was great. Sydney enjoyed the conversation about… That randomizer was a great idea. Also, you need to be ready for the project as…”*click*

What to cut?

*snip*

*snip*

What a great day.

“Night Katie” she said, and headed to bed.

Work was getting frustrating.  This spreadsheet was fighting her every move.

“Hey Katie,” said her boss.

If you want to work an extra hour a day, the larger office space is yours.”

Office space.  What the hell would I do with more office space?

“I know this is something you’ve been eyeing for a while, and I wanted to provide you with the opportunity to…”

“Thank you.  I really appreciate it.  Let’s just say that I’ve had an, uh.  Change in priorities.  I’m good, thank you” said Katie.

“Alright.  Just let me know.” said her boss.

*click* “And we held hands and went on this beautiful walk, and it was amazing! It’s a real shame you’re not going to be able to remember any of it! We talked about his life mission to help humanity, and have you heard of this movement? It’s about… Basically Katie, I know this is going to be hard as you won’t remember. But you’re falling for Peter. Head over heels. Get a move on it, girl.” *click*

“You hold a job, are dating someone, make new friends, and wear things that are in fashion?  And you’re telling me you forget everything the previous day? Sure, and I’m Gandolf.”

“I thought we were friends, Katie.  How could you forget that I gave you the tickets for the comedy show? You pinkie promised me!”

“You already told me that, don’t you remember?  Is your memory going? Geez.”

I’d love to promote you but your skills don’t seem to be improving.  Have you tried working on them?”

Months went by.  Everyday she added to the recording.  Everyday she cut an equal amount.  One step forward.  One slightly smaller step back.

Today is a big day. The recording said Peter was planning something big.  If her excited ramblings were anything to go off, Peter sounds amazing. She was excited.

Peter approached.  “We’ve been dating for a while, and I feel as if it’s time for you to meet my folks back at home.”

“Of course Peter.  That sounds fun. I’d love to meet the people who raised you.”

“I can’t believe how funny your parents are. Your mother is the funniest person I’ve ever met.  And, oh my gosh.  I can’t believe you did that as a child!  You looked so adorable in your firefighter outfit.  And wow.  That story with your father.  Who would have guessed. A Richie Rich fan indeed.” Katie said, as she lay on the grass looking at the sky.

Peter hugged her in, closing together tighter.

“The stars look so nice tonight.  Want to sleep here tonight?”

Katie felt like she was missing something.  The alcohol was muddling her thoughts.

Stars.  Stars seem nice.  Yeah.  I’m safe here.

“I’d love to Peter. It’s beautiful.” she said as she snuggled into Peter’s arms.

Katie woke up with a start.  Crap, cr- Huh? Why am I soaking wet?  And what’s a recording device doing in my hands?  She hit play. Nope. Totally broken. The rain must have ruined the device. How important could a recording be anyway?.  After all, she had a meeting to prepare for.  As she stood up, she noticed a stranger sleeping not far off next to her.  Looks like a popular sleeping spot, she mused, as she headed off to get an Uber. Time to nail this meeting. Just imagine how amazed they will be when they hear about the space pirate idea…