Purpose Rewritten

The alien looked ugly, dying in the dirt, trying to remain human.

It looked like her when she screamed about my room, again. Face twisting like I wasn’t supposed to be there. I screamed back, she slapped me. I laughed.

Actually, she looked like it when I left. Ugly and dying.

I found the alien later and sat with it. It gave me its memories, stories of broken kids.

I let it.

It’s dead now, but I’m not. I found the others.

We got ourselves a space, chairs, tables, where we share the alien’s memories, and rewrite our futures.

© 2021 Rebecca Glaessner

September 23: Flash Fiction Challenge « Carrot Ranch
In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about an author’s chair. It can belong to any author. Where is it located and why? Does it have special meaning? Go where the prompt leads!

Submissions now closed. Find the full collection here.

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19 thoughts on “Purpose Rewritten”

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  1. Oddly enough there is a running comic with an alien in it… One of the characters ask if it can communicate. ‘It’ says Duuuude’. The guy who was ‘up’ in the craft says that he taught the alien the basics ;)

    Sometimes I think our past is somewhat alien to us especially when we don’t want to remember particular incidents. I’m not sure when those lines get drawn. Graduation from schools, marriage, having children, then grandchildren. Jobs, retirement… all different stages.

    I enjoyed your story. Thanks.

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    1. Thanks Jules. I’ve found the same thing. I barely remember my childhood, whereas most others I’ve known remember so much. Holidays, traditions, good times. I think if there’s a considerable amount of stress, the brain struggles to retain those memories. Which is strange, because our brains are wired to focus on things that pose a threat more so than those that are safe. But the stress hormones (ie. messenger chemicals) interrupt the rest phase, when memories are formed, so I think that’s where they get lost. It’s why I like that people now share a saying that goes something like, “yes, diamonds are formed under pressure, but I’m human and I’ll still thrive with gentleness and support instead”. The mind is fascinating and there’s still so much to learn. And that sounds like a fantastic comic 😂

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      1. I’ll have to see how it continues on Monday.
        The Sunday comics for that author are always different than the weekly theme.

        I liken myself to an Opal. Only beautiful because of its flaws :D

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  2. Pingback: Draft Collection « Carrot Ranch Literary Community

    1. Thank you, Gloria! I do imagine their stories would be inspiring, especially after they discard the weight of the broken adults in their lives (i.e. children in grown up bodies) and allow themselves to move forward. I’m grateful for your thoughts on this piece, thanks for stopping by 😊

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      1. Scientists says they could record our memories, if this gets transferred, it is no more a sci-fi material 😍. Our days of turning SciFi to reality is close… not everything, but something 🥰 is still awesome 😀

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