The Land of Forgotten Memories

"There exists somewhere in a parallel universe, a Land of Forgotten Memories.

 I know for sure because I've been there."

 This world is an open place, easily accessible but difficult to leave. The land exists in levels. A visitor enters at the lowest point, where memories have entered the land and are still memories. They have been forgotten by the people who created them, but only just. Somewhere on the borderline of your mind, they still float, unsure of where to go. But they don't stay here long. In a little while they move to level 2. Here they are completely  forgotten and are thus no longer memories, but forgetems. This is a term used for memories which are forgotten and will in all likelihood never be remembered again.
Its an interesting story of how these lands got created. Once upon a time, many years after our very own universe had been created, another parallel universe was on the verge of being formed. The Creator (as we shall refer to him), decided that as man's brain developed, he'd have many more memories, soon too many for our own universe to handle. At the same time, it wasn't fair to man to discard these memories. Some brought him joy at being recalled, some brought sadness, some brought anger, but most of all, man seemed to have learnt the most out of these memories. They helped him grow. So the Creator fashioned a parallel universe, running alongside ours, to store them.
Almost like an archive. It worked well for a while. But soon the memories multiplied beyond control and they got completely jumbled up. It became difficult for man to extract the required memory. And even if he did succeed in doing so,more often than not it brought other irrelevant memories to mind as well.
"This won't do." thought the Creator. Things had to get more organized. And so he split the universe into a number of sections, each designated to a certain kind of memory. These sections were called 'Lands'. And so got created the land of happy memories, sad memories, memories to be learnt from, memories that instigated anger, memories of data, funny memories and the list goes on. Among these lands is the land of lost memories. The land a the end of this universe. It is the darkest, most morbid land ever created and is a constant threat to the other memories, for nobody wants to end up here. Nobody and nothing wishes to be forgotten. These 'forgetems' are memories of people, places, incidents or all together, which have happened at a certain point in time, but being of either no consequence to anybody or very painful they have been forgotten or blocked out respectively. For example, when you left your residence to go to the bus stop in the morning, you might have passed certain people on the street. However, being absorbed in your own world, you failed to really notice them. And so, the incident is forgotten and filed in the Land of Forgotten Memories.
(to be continued)

The Imaginary Friend

  
Just last week I visited the hospital, requiring medication for a mere cough and cold. As I sat myself down to wait my turn, I noticed amongst the people sitting there, a little boy. He was probably just 5 or 6 years old; a skinny guy, with huge spectacles perched upon his nose.

A cute kid; he was there with a man and woman I shall assume to be his parents. They were deeply engaged in conversation and the little boy was left to amuse himself. Like all kids that age do, he preferred to kneel on the bench and look at the rows of patients waiting behind. He was smiling and waving. At times he even played a bit of hide-and-seek, ducking behind the backrest and suddenly popping up, laughing all the while. Who was he playing with I wondered, turning around to look for the patient who had the energy to amuse this child. But nobody paid him the slightest bit of attention. I really did scan the place, but found no answer. So I jumped to the next most obvious conclusion. This boy had an imaginary friend.

I am no expert in psychology, but I did assume that the imagination of a person who is not present, or may not even exist in physical reality, is a disorder. And I did actually Google it. But it turns out that it isn't and it is in fact due to a very good imagination and can also be beneficial for the child!

They provide comfort in times of stress, companionship when they're lonely, someone to boss around when they feel powerless, and someone to blame for the broken lamp in the living room. Most important, an imaginary companion is a tool young children use to help them make sense of the adult world.

And I immediately wondered, what would it be like to have an imaginary friend? It didn't seem so crazy. Its almost like having a diary, except one that you can talk to and will reply. What would my friend be like?
Well for starters, his name would be Benjamin. People would call him Ben, but I being his best friend would call him 'Benjy'. Me and only me. He'd be a happy person, smiling all the time, because I couldn't bear to be with someone whom I'd have to pamper and constantly mopes around. I can be fairly narcissistic sometimes. He'd make me laugh with his incredible sense of humor and when he smiles, he can out do the sun.
Benjy would have a mop of brown, unruly hair, amber colored eyes and freckles and would know me so well that he'd never have to ask questions. He'd just read my mind and know what I'm thinking. You could say that we'd communicate almost....telepathically. Sounds too ideal? Well if  I can't fashion a person who is just a figment of my imagination to be perfect, then what's the use I say? 
Benjy would be a genuine fan of the Lord of the Rings series. Not just someone who's seen all the movies and think they are 'awesome'. He'd truly appreciate the genius that is J.R.R Tolkien and the world that he has invented. Of course he'd have read Harry Potter and we'd discuss the ending to the series, until the late hours of the night. 
He'd walk me to work and pick me up later, while I babbled on about my day and all I did. We'd discuss films and tv serials. Since I'm not at home in the afternoon, he'd patiently fill me in on all that's happened on Grey's Anatomy.
But 'Benjy' who has gone from being the painting done on my t-shirt 16 years ago, to an imaginary friend is special and I'd never want to hurt him... ever. He's always been there for me and the truth is when I'm with him I can't be there for someone else. I know that if I want I can keep Benjy with me forever, but the truth is that I don't need to. Because I love Benjy, I must let him go. Out there somewhere in the world is a child who really needs him to be her companion. For the time being at least. And then when she's brave enough to face the world, she will, with a heavy heart let him go too. 
And so the memory of Benjy will be eternal.