The Journal of Memories

We all followed the President out of the room and into an elevator. We went down a floor and as it opened, we saw the makeshift lab they made for them. We walked through some plastic draping and I spotted my dad. He stood knocking over his stool, “Ben!”

We ran to each and he grabbed me into a bear hug, “I am so glad you are safe! Where is your mother? Is she okay?”

I nodded, “She got affected by the gas but she is safe. Luna helped me make sure of that.”

My dad released me and looked at Luna, “Hello. I am Ben’s dad. We have been hearing a lot about you two, especially you.”

She smiled, “I have heard a lot about you too. We have been looking for you for weeks. It feels good to finally find you guys.”

He nodded, “Yes it has. Do you have the tablet? And my journal?”

Luna handed him the tablet and I grabbed his journal, “Sorry we kind of read through it.”

He laughed, “Not a problem. I think you guys deserved it, after all you have been through. It will take about twenty minutes to make enough for you two to try it out. Get comfortable.”

He lifted up the tablet and the journal and yelled out to his coworkers, “We have the reversal!”

All of them cheered and got to work. The President led us back upstairs to her room and stood looking out the window, “I love this room because I can see the city. Even the Statue of Liberty, well what is left of all of it.”

Luna stood next to her, “We can always rebuild it though.”

The President smiled, “Yes... Yes we can.”

I stood next to Luna and grabbed her hand looking out at the sun setting, “It really is beautiful.”

Luna nodded, “Yes it is... It feels weird how we won’t be able to walk around the city anymore with just the two of us. It won’t be so empty.”

“No it definitely won’t.”

The President looked at us, “I was thinking of making something to remember everyone that was involved in this. Do you two have any ideas?”

Luna’s eyes shone bright, “An eye.”

The President looked confused, “An eye?”

I nodded, “An eye. It allows you to look into the soul. Our eyes are bright while their are dark... We can make a giant orb like an eye and engrave the names of everyone we have lost at the bottom. It can be bright and when the sun hits it is shines bright colors around it.”

The President nodded, “That sounds like something to put in Central Park.”

Luna and I both nodded. I looked out over the buildings, “That sounds great, Mrs. President.”

She smiled at both of us, “They should be done now. Would you like to try it out? After all you two are the ones that helped us get here.”

Luna smiled, “That would be amazing to finally remember our lives.”

We went back down to the lab were my dad was sitting with two vials next to him. He smiled when he saw us, “It is ready when you want to do it.”

I looked over at Luna, who looked excited, and I nodded, “We are ready.”

He handed us the vials and we both sat on the ground, unscrewing the caps. Luna grabbed my hand, “Ready?”

I intertwined our fingers, “Ready?”

We both breathed in the thick gas. My head filled with pressure and my eyelids felt heavy. I watched as Luna slowly fell to the ground in a deep sleep. I followed soon after, letting darkness take over my vision.

I saw flashes light everywhere. They were rushing passed me and I felt like I was floating. They all rushed into one giant bright light then exploded around me.

I was in a coffee shop reading a book. It was getting dark outside, meaning I would have to leave soon. Henry was supposed to meet me here hours ago.

Typical Henry, always late.

I sighed and decided to finish the page I was on before leaving. I was only one of a few people in the cozy shop. Many of us are regulars that come around when we need to get away from the world.

A guy was sitting on a couch finishing his cup. A couple were at the bar eating some coffee cake. A waitress with short blonde hair and green eyes came around, filling everyone’s mugs. Her smile was so beautiful and bright as she flowed around the place, keeping small conversation. I remember that I always see her here. Henry says I come here because I have a crush on her, that is partly true, but I mostly come here because it is cozy and everyone is like a family. We don’t know each other well but we know what we do when we are here. The guy on the couch called out to her, “Hey Luna when are you going to play that wood thing again?”

Luna... I suck at names sometimes. I will probably forget it later.

But, I liked her name too. It reminds me of the moon while I am reading on my balcony.

She smiled and shook her head, “You know I rarely do that... And it is called a violin, Charlie.”

She is also really sassy.

He called out again, “Come on, I will pay you a good tip!”

She laughed, “Do you always just throw money at things to get your way?”

He went back to his coffee, “Suit yourself.”

She came over to where I was sitting, “More coffee?”

I looked over my book, “Oh... it’s okay. I am going to be leaving when I finish this chapter.”

She smiled and still poured the coffee into the mug, “One for the road never hurt.”

She looked at my book, “It’s Ben, right?”

I nodded.

She smiled, “I don’t understand how you can read so much. I always see you class reading too. And you actually read real books too.”

I laughed, “I don’t know, it’s just what I do. It’s something I love. Like something no one else does. My own unique thing.”

She smiled again, “I can understand that.”

Someone called her name from the kitchen.

She gave me a warm smile, “I will see you later then.”

I smiled back, “See you later.”

The lights exploded around me again.

My eyes fluttered opened and I sat up. I looked next to me to see Luna sitting up too.

Her eyes widened when she saw me, “Ben, do you remember?... the coffee shop.”

I pulled her into a hug, “I remember everything Luna.”