Unforgettable Truth

My mind wanders to why the world is how it is. Why adventure and curiosity are prohibited. These things should be a part of everyone’s lives. Everyone overlooks them, these simple minds, not wanting to know more and experience more.

The ring of my doorbell pulls me away from the dishes I was washing. At the door, I peek quickly through the peephole to see my best friend, Ian, who I was expecting to arrive five minutes earlier. The door swings open and I rush him into the house.

“Alina, what the heck!”

“Shh!” I hiss. I pull the curtains shut and pull Ian into the kitchen.

“Thank you for coming,” I whisper.

“You better thank me, this is dangerous for both of us.”

“I know, I know. But I found it.”

“You actually found the location?” He leans forward with a hand on my shoulder, “Alina, you went through with this? We talked about it and we both agreed it wasn’t a good idea.”

“Yes, I know. I couldn’t help myself, I have to know.”

He sighs. Before he can say another word, I pull out my notes and shove them into his hands. He squints to read my shaky handwriting. The knot in my stomach desperately needs him to be on my side.

“These are hunches, Alina. There is no proof here.” He hands back the notebook after he runs through it.

“But there could be!” My voice a harsh whisper, “If you would just help me!”

His glare hits my heart like a bullet. His eyes scan me like they do when he’s debating something. I’m suddenly a little self-conscious of my frizzled blonde hair and unwashed clothes, which staying up half the night three nights in a row will do that.

“Ugh, fine. But you have to promise me you will be careful,” he declares, his eyes only watching mine now. 

My gentle nod sends him off. Back to his desk in that cruelty-loving building. He doesn’t want his job, I don’t blame him for having it. It pays well and he finds out cool information. Information I will use to my advantage. 

I take the rest of the day to prepare for the next task. Once Ian gets me pure proof my suspicions are true, I can reveal it to the world and perhaps we can make it better with new knowledge we should have the right to know anyway.

By the time I’ve had my third cup of coffee—around midnight—Ian calls. 

“You're right,” is the first thing he says when I answer the phone, “there is a covered spot on the map where you were talking about.”

“I knew it! I told you!” My excitement may have gotten out of hand.

“Alright, well here’s the problem…there are lots of covered spots all over the globe. Some are completely normal places people visit every day. There’s not much you can say about this one spot on the map in Sweden.”

“You're right,” I agree, “I’ll have to go see for myself.”

“What?! You can’t go see it! You’ll be found out and they will arrest you! You're not even allowed to travel to Sweden!” The phone in my ear yells. He has a point, but I have to try. I have to try to make our world better. 

I hang up and find flights to take me to Sweden. You always have to give a good enough reason to travel. I lie, saying that I have a very sick relative and need to go help them. They believe me and grant me the flights. 

The time it takes to travel to my destination is abundant, but the loss of sleep and the uncomfortable seats I’ve had to sit in don’t waver my excitement to finally see what I’ve been working towards the past year. I’ve always wanted to discover something big, but this could be bigger than I thought, it could help the whole world if we all knew what they were hiding from us. Maybe we would be allowed to go on adventures and see what else is out there, on land or in the sea. Maybe even outer space. 

The taxi driver begins to slow his car down. He says a couple of words I don’t understand and I thank him for the ride with a tip. Now it’s time for the sneaky part of the plan. I begin my trek through trees and brush up a hill where I’m hoping I’ll be able to see what’s really happening where they tried to cover on the map. Things have been happening in this part of Sweden that haven’t been and can’t be explained. That is unless someone like me takes action and solves the mystery. There are too many weird things that happen around here to count, the most known stories I’ve read and been captivated by are crazy. One story from townsfolk in the town nearby say there is a strange whistling noise people will hear at random times. From three towns in the vicinity, people talk of a low hum of the ground every Tuesday at 3:00 PM, and just after that, smoke floats into the sky. Though, the pest is hardly a story someone could tell. People go missing. From everywhere. This may sound stupid as people go missing every day. They run away, are kidnapped, or are just involved in an everyday accident. But this is calculated and strategic. And most people never get found. At least one hundred people a day go missing and aren’t found. Whatever is happening there, it needs to be answered. 

Almost over the ridge. There’s a gross stench in the air I can’t ignore. I may need to climb a tree to get a good view. Alas, there’s a clear spot where I can see…clearly. I take my binoculars out of my backpack to get a better view of what surely can’t be what I’m seeing. It just…can’t be. 

It might as well be a graveyard. Death is written all over it. People lay in filth, either dead or dying. Others who wear bright yellow suits with helmets and oxygen tanks haul the dead into what looks like a pit. Over and over these bodies are thrown in the gigantic hole. Desperate to look away from the horror, my focus turns to the buildings. There are two rather large, black buildings, one labeled Lab, and the other Quarantine, both connected by a small black tunnel between them. A truck pulls up by the Lab. People are helped out of the back of it, and gently guided into the building. From the Quarantine building, people are brought outside the filth and left there to die, soon to be thrown into the pit. 

“What could possibly be going on here?” I ask myself. Then it clicks. The pandemic. The sickness that has gone around killing everyone it touches that no one knows how to cure. Everyone thought it was ending soon. The number of people infected with the virus had dwindled. Now we know why. Every time a person was tested and it came back positive…they must have been brought…here. Who knows how many more places like this exists?

There’s a soft whistle coming from the Lab. A green light pops up on the side of the Lab above the Tunnel. Then the same happens on the Quarantine side. Not before long, both lights cut off and the whistling stops. I glance at my watch. Almost 3:00 PM on a Tuesday. The hum begins. Steadily building, louder and louder. Then in the pit, fire emerges from the ground, burning all the bodies left there to rot. That’s how they keep the number of corpses down…it’s tragic, horrific. 

No. No, I can’t tell the public this. This can’t be something explained to billions of people who had their hopes up about the pandemic. Who thought it was almost over…this isn’t something anyone should know…and I wish I didn’t know it.

I have to leave. I have to leave and never speak of this to anyone. I understand now. Why no one long for the answers to their curious thoughts. Why no one venture to find new things? Why we are prohibited from doing so…the truth hurts. It’s dangerous. It’s a tool. I no longer want anything to do with any of it.

*One week later*

“No one knows what I was doing?” I ask for the second time. 

Ian smiles, “No, you’re alright.”

I sigh, grateful for not having to take on another burden.

“So, what happened? Did you find anything?” Ian asks as we eat the cookies I made 

“Nothing, it was like you said. Completely normal.” I can lie to anyone. Anyone but him. He knows immediately I’m hiding something.

“Alina, just tell me. It couldn’t have been that bad.”

“Fine.” I give in and explain everything to him, the only person I would ever consider telling. It takes me a while to finish as I break into tears halfway through.

“Ian, it was terrible. I—I could hardly look…I wish I ha—hadn’t looked at all,” I say between sobs. His vacant expression worries me. I expected some sort of disgust.  “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have to—.” He stops me by grabbing my hand. He looks directly into my eyes.

“It’s okay,” he whispers. “I’m sorry you had to watch that.” He pulls me into the most endearing hug. 

“I wish I didn’t see it at all,” I cry into his shoulder.

“Hey,” he pulls me back so I’m looking into his eyes, “this can be a good thing. You know. You know what they are doing, you know this isn’t over…and you can plan accordingly now that you have this information.” I nod, and though the “bright side” of things aren’t very bright at all, he’s still gonna be here to give me one.

We sit here for hours. He cheers me up and we watch movies to take our minds off of the horror. Though, who are we kidding? It will take a long time for us to let that be. But we will get through it together. We will carry the burden together. We will live with it…

Together