Sarah forgets about herself

Tom pulled out the coin and said, “I wish Sarah would forget gradually about herself, like a person with amnesia, over the next five minutes, then remember everything after two hours.” It was a personal fantasy of his; turning his intelligent and driven wife into a completely blank slate. Deep down, he wanted to know if he could seduce her a second time, and with the coin this was his perfect testing ground.

Sarah winced. She had felt a cold shudder go through her. Still she managed a smirk. “Oh is this one of those forgetting fantasies you were talking about?”

Tom nodded. He could picture introducing Sarah to her own, foreign home. He could imagine her regaining attraction and lust for him, and falling for him all over again. “Just out of curiosity, what are you thinking about at the moment?” How fast the wish would make her forget was an open question. She shook her head. “Nothing different. I think I’m a bit cold,” she said, bringing the couch blanket around her, “Are you sure the wish worked?”

Tom beelined for the kitchen to prepare some warm water. He did not want to miss this. Sarah’s voice trailed behind him.

“Uh, Tom? When did you buy this couch?”

Tom grinned. The wish was working. The couch was his; when they moved in together, he brought it from his place.

Sarah tried to picture Tom, and she could see the all-too-familiar creases of his eyes, the stubble on his jaw, the way his hair was flowing in the imaginary wind in her head. She didn’t know it yet, but the wish was already making her forget things about her husband. First were the negative memories: stumbling into his private porn collection, the atrocious way he cooked pork, and all the fights and conflicts he had with her. What a weird wish, she thought.

Tom is so silly sometimes, she thought. Thats why she married him. But the word marry sounded weird to her. She was independent. Driven. Intelligent. Why would she settle for Tom?

“Uh, Tom?”

She could feel the sediment stirring in her mind, which made her heart beat quicker. The wish was working. She knew it. But then why was she so anxious? She calmed herself down again.

She tried thinking about her husband again. It was a while ago, she thought. And everyone called her crazy for marrying someone ten years her senior. She tried focusing on his face but all that came out was a blurry silhouette of a man she knew was supposed to be her husband. A small headache started on her forehead.

“I’m starting to forget your face,” not sure why she was speaking out loud anymore. And then something inside her told her she was forgetting herself.

I’m Sarah Reynolds, she told herself, and I work at Pearsons & Hilbert. That name felt weird, she was sure it was something else. No, she corrected herself, I’m Sarah Park. That felt right. It felt familiar. She tried picturing her significant other, but couldn’t remember the last time she felt romantic love. The panic came back; she was clearly supposed to be worried about something, but why?

“I’m Sarah…” Her mind went fuzzy. She felt bubbles appear in her head and pop, one by one, as memories of her former life started to leave her.

I’m Sarah Park, and I work at… she couldn’t remember where she worked. It was P-something. I file briefs for companies, I’m Sarah Park, I’m Sarah…

She remembered for a moment she had to say something out loud. “Park?”

Yeah! That was it. She worked at Sarah & Park! Wait no…

Just then, Tom came back with a cup of warm water. The woman on the couch jolted suddenly, taken aback by a stranger.

“Sarah?” Tom said. Her eyes were filled with fear; her pupils were pinpoints and she looked like she was ready to jump out of her blanket.

The woman couldn’t recall her name. In fact, she didn’t think she could remember anything at all. And she had never seen this man in her entire life. However, something deep down told her to trust him.

“Is that my name?” She said, a lilt of uncertainty in her voice.

“Oh wow,” the stranger said, “it happened so fast.”

“I’m scared,” she said, “who am I? Where am I?”