Day 16: When Energy Touches Lost Memories

“Sally,” Said said in a calm tone. “Let’s begin.”

“How much time has passed since we talked?” Sally asked.
“One day,” he answered.

For Sally, however, that span of time felt different.

It felt like years had passed… she thought with a quiet internal sigh. Staying calm in this state is such a challenge.

Well then… where do we start?

“I want to know how much you remember,” Said said.
“Apart from the light… do you remember anything?
Or do you feel something bothering you when you try to recall?”

There was a small mental silence.

“Yes… my parents,” Sally replied.

Said increased the flow of energy.
The current passed gently through Sally’s motionless body, seeking to stimulate the release of her own energy… and thereby activate her blocked memories.

Sally felt a sharp pain in her brain.
Lights appeared inside her mind, one after another, like disordered flashes.

“Try to remember, Sally,” Said asked.

“My parents…” she repeated.
“My… parents…”

The lights stopped.
From within the mental darkness, something appeared—
A small light.
Far away.
Trembling.

Sally moved toward it slowly.

“I… I remember now,” she whispered.
“I… I don’t have parents.”

“Describe what you see, Sally,” Said asked calmly.

The small light opened like a window into her memory.

“I was three years old…” Sally began.
“When we moved to Kyoto.
My mother and I.”

Her inner voice trembled.

“I don’t know anything about my father.
What little I knew was what my mother said… but she always spoke badly of him.
And well… what could a three-year-old understand?”

The light grew a little larger.
The memory progressed.

“At first everything was normal… but over time things got worse.
From the age of five she began to neglect me.
Sometimes I ate… other times I didn’t.
She kept me alive with whatever there was.”

The scenes were blurry, but the feelings were clear.

“At school, the teachers knew about my situation.
They reported everything to child protective services… but whenever they came to the house, my mother pretended.
When they asked me how she treated me… I didn’t know what to say.
I was afraid she would get angry with me.”

Sally took a deep breath inside her own thought.
The memory moved forward beyond her control.

“When I was eight… she began to abuse me.
I didn’t understand why…
She only said I looked like my father.
My eyes, my hair, my expression…”

The light flickered.
Sally stepped back slightly.

“Every time she saw me she found some excuse to hit me.
The whites of my eyes would redden—
They bled after every blow.
She said I looked ‘better that way’ than resembling the ‘bastard of my father.’”

Sally trembled.

“My hair…
She bleached it again and again so it would stop looking like his.
So many times… that it eventually changed color.
From violet… to white.”

The light of the memory began to dim.
Access to that memory closed little by little.

“That’s as far as the memory goes…” Sally whispered.

A small amount of energy flowed from her body, almost imperceptible.
Very little, compared to previous days.

Said spoke softly.

“It’s okay.
Relax a little, Sally.”

A pause.
A warm vibration wrapped around her mind.

“We’ll continue tomorrow.”

Said’s presence faded…
And Sally was left alone again, floating in that empty space, holding the fragments she had just recovered of her own story.