Realising reality

‘How did you find yourself here Morris?’ Charles asked.

      ‘I was a spy… I can’t remember exactly which agency I worked for,’ Morris, his roommate said, somewhat hesitant. ‘Man, I knew there was something wrong with those tablets they’re giving us. Every time I take some, I loose more of my past memories,’ he apprehensively said, getting out of his bed. 

      ‘I don’t understand,’ Charles concernedly said. ‘If the government brought you here to keep you quiet and this is not a mental hospital, why am I here? I mean, I’m just a regular guy.’

      ‘That’s the point; you don’t know why you’re here because they’ve managed to erase your memory with that medication.’

      ‘What!’ Charles exclaimed. 

      They heard footsteps in the passage and Morris swiftly jumped back into his bed.

      ‘Shush,’ Morris whisperingly said.

      They both pretended to be asleep when the security personnel peeped through a small window on the door to check on them.

      They heard him continue down the hallway, switching off the lights as he did. 

      ‘Don’t swallow those tablets when they give them to you, hide them under your tongue and then secretly spit them afterwards. Goodnight Charles,’ Morris whisperingly said and closed his eyes.

      Charles sadly looked up at the sealing, wishing he could remember anything about himself.

      Then suddenly, some memory when he was in the high school restaurant with some beautiful girl surfaced on his mind. 

      ‘Do you see it?’ The girl, having turned herself on her seat and had lifted up her back hair to show him the big black spot at the back of her neck asked.

Charles timidly failed to look at her beautiful neck because of the glares from the people around.

‘It’s like a big black button, go ahead touch it,’ she said to him.  

However, he was scared, wondering what everyone was thinking about them.

She swiftly looked back at him after waiting and not feeling his fingers on the back of her neck.

‘You’re scared!’ She exclaimed.

‘No, I ha…’ he panicked.

She looked at him shortly and then got up and sat on his laps backwards. She lifted up her back hair.

‘Touch it!’ She said to him… 

Sited by himself in the dining hall, he stared at his breakfast thoughtfully, wanting to remember who that girl he had thought about the previous night was but could not.

‘Hey there, are you alright?’ Morris, with his breakfast plate, asked as he joined him.

      ‘Um, yah, I’m just thinking about something,’ Charles said, picking up a spoon to begin eating.

      ‘Something important?’ Morris asked, helping himself to some mashed potatoes first.

      Charles looked around to make sure no one was near enough to get their conversation and then leaned towards Morris. 

      ‘I had this memory last night about this wonderful girl from my past. I don’t really remember who she was but I think we shared a special bond,’ he said and then sadly shook his head. ‘I think if I continue living here I’ll lose this last precious memory I have of my past,’ he said. 

      ‘You’re wrong, you’re not going to loose that precious memory because I have a plan to get us out of this filthy place,’ Morris said. ‘After we eat, meet me outside, behind the bathrooms, I have something that I need to show you,’ he said, now having some oatmeal bread with chocolate milk.

      The ever-serious administrative officer soldierly entered the dinning hall.

‘Attention every one!’ He commandingly said. ‘The following people will be having their interviews today,’ he said and read out a list, calling out ten names amongst which Morris and Charles were mentioned. 

‘Well,’ Morris said to Charles after the officer was done. ‘We meet after the interview,’ he said and he and Charles ate in silence.

‘How many fingers am I holding up Charles?’ The doctor asked him, holding up his thumb, forefinger and middle finger.

      ‘Two,’ Charles said, feeling confident about his answer.

      ‘What about this? Is this not a finger?’ The doctor asked, shaking his thumb.

      ‘That’s a thumb,’ he said, this time very excited, thinking that he had this. 

      ‘So you’re saying you have eight fingers in total?’

      ‘Six, the small ones are pinkies.’

‘Hey there, have you been here long?’ Morris asked Charles as he joined him behind the bathrooms.

      ‘No,’ Charles excitedly responded, jumping up and down. ‘How did your interview go? Mine went very well; I think they’ll release me. I’m leaving this place soon,’ he happily said.

      ‘Shush, calm down. Somebody will hear us,’ Morris whisperingly said. ‘Do want to get us caught?’ 

      Charles calmed himself down though unable to control his smile.

      ‘Look,’ Morris began. ‘I told you that we are not mad. They brought us to this mental facility to brainwash us because there’re secrets we know about the government that they don’t want us to reveal to the public. That interview is intended for them to see that they’ve managed to turn us into vegetables and not because they want to see that we’ve become normal so that they can release us.’

Charles was demoralised to here that.

      ‘I don’t believe you!’ He suddenly snapped and stormed off. 

      ‘Hey! Where are you going?’ Morris called after him.

For the next two days, they did not talk to each other. While Charles hopingly waited for someone from the administration to come and tell him that he was being released, he would observe Morris sneak behind the bathrooms to do something. 

Then after four days of waiting in vain, Charles realised that Morris was right; they were not going to release him.

      ‘May I join you?’ He sadly asked Morris who had been assembling some planks, almost freaking him out, having had followed him secretly behind the bathrooms.

      ‘What’s wrong? Why the wrong face?’ Morris asked.

      ‘You were right Morris. They are liars; they’ll never let us leave.’

      ‘Uh, don’t mind them,’ Morris said. ‘Come see what I have.’

      ‘Planks?’ Charles confusedly said, coming closer. 

      ‘Yes, for making a ladder. We’re going to climb this fence and leave. And since no one comes around here, they won’t notice that we’re gone,’ Morris proudly said.

      ‘I’m in, what do I do?’ Charles excitedly said.

      ‘I’ll make the ladder; you’ll be on the look out. We’ll be exchanging from time to time,’ Morris said. 

For the next two weeks, they sneaked to the backyard of the bathrooms to make the ladder and successfully managed to construct it without raising any suspicions.

‘I’m supposed to feel exited that we’re escaping, but I don’t. I feel rather strange,’ Charles said to Morris as they were having breakfast.

      ‘I feel strange too, it’s probably because we’re nervous,’ Morris said.

      ‘Yah,’ Charles said. 

After breakfast, they sneaked behind the bathrooms to escape. However, after picking up the ladder to climb the fence and escape, they realised that there was actually no fence anywhere; the whole hospital premises was open.

      Realising this, they returned to their room convinced that they were actually mad.