Proclamation

“Itona, please remember. Just yesterday, we got taken away for fighting with the guards.”

Grabbing her shoulders, my fingers dig onto her shirt.

“Okay, please get away from me. I don’t know you.”

Itona pushes me away, catching the attention of the other guards and other kids there.

“Hey!” The guard yells.

Hearing that voice, it sounds familiar. My mind quickly flashes to that day; I threw a punch.

Turning around, my hand slightly shakes seeing the same guy. The one that made me and Itona put to sleep.

“It’s you. What did you do to us?”

“What in the hell are you talking about?”

“You knocked us out, and I can’t stop seeing things. But what did you do to Itona?!”

The entire room faced me, but I ignored them. All I see is the guard reaching for his injector.

“First off, I knocked you out. That’s it. Secondly, if you don’t stop, I’m going to make sure Doctor Tanaka isolates you for good.”

“What do you mean?! You and Doctor Tanaka knocked both of us out!”

Every one of the other kids starts to murmur behind me. I don’t even care if I’m causing a scene anymore.

“Look, I don’t know who this girl is but please don’t include me.”

Itona looked at me uncomfortably, she gets up with her food and sits tables away.

“Itona, please we talked for a bit, but you must remember me or something?”

“I’ve just had about enough of you! You’re going to have another evaluation!”

The guard pulls out his injector and aims it for my throat.

“That won’t be necessary, Takashi.”

From the doors near us, Doctor Tanaka steps in between us.

“Doctor Tanaka, you know what happens when kids like her get out of line. She needs to…”

“I already know but it’s still everyone’s first week and we’ve had enough from the incident yesterday. Put it away, Takashi.”

His eyes scowl at me, enough for me to sense his unhuman presence.

“I don’t want anybody to act like this anymore. You all got it?!” Takashi yells out.

Looking around, everyone turns their heads away or tries to talk about something else. It was something I now understand what they use on us, fear. The guard goes by the wall again and just looks away angrily.

“Listen Amaya, you’ve had a very bad day yesterday. Your evaluation went smoothly and just know that you’re on our priority list to get better.”

Doctor Tanaka smiles at me, but the comfort isn’t there.

“Doctor Tanaka, can you at least tell me what happened with Itona? Why can’t she remember me?”

“Oh sweetie, I probably should have told you. Itona’s mind resets.”

I just look at her, confused.

“That doesn’t make sense, why did the guard lie saying he only took down me? She was there too.”

“Amaya, Itona is a special case. She has Post Traumatic Amnesia.”

“What does that mean?”

“You see Amaya, something traumatic happened to her and we don’t know what. The guard is doing his best to not cause her to go through more issues like yesterday as the stress seems to make her mind reset.”

“I…I just don’t know what’s real anymore. This place is just horrible.”

Covering my eyes, I wipe any strand of tear going to my cheeks. In a split second, I felt something new yet out of nowhere. Uncovering my eyes, Doctor Tanaka gave me a light hug.

“There, there Amaya. You and the rest of the kids just need our help, alright?”

Looking to the side for a bit, Itona is eating all alone. My eyes look back at Tanaka, seeing nothing else but her dark brown eyes. Slowly but surely, I just nod.

“Good. Besides, you and everyone here need some fresh air.”

Lightly pushing me aside, Doctor Tanaka walks over to the middle of the room.

Phweee

That noise she made from her mouth hurt my ears, enough to make me rub them. Even everyone else does the same, Itona too.

“Sorry for the loud whistle everyone, but I have a massive announcement to make. Seems that you all have been having it rough for the past week and to be honest, you need some fresh air.”

“Wait, we can go outside?!” A blonde-haired girl asks.

“Can we please go on some field trip?” Some young kid got up from his chair ready to jump.

“Can I visit my parents…”

Phweee

Doctor Tanaka gave another horrible whistle, annoying enough to stop Itona from asking her question.

“I know you’re all excited but just know it’s for only an hour and you’re still all going to remain on the grounds of this hospital. As for your parents, you still can’t meet or talk to any of them. We made a promise to help you first and not disrupt them.”

In an instant, everyone mutters in their voices with phrases like “what” or “why”. Doctor Tanaka waves her arms down, calming everyone’s voices.

“Our main priority is for all of you to get better and feel safe. In the meantime, I want everyone to line up please so we can show your outside court area. If you have any food, please finish it now or throw it away.”

Like a stampede, everyone either throws away their food or gulps theirs down. As for me, I force down any porridge from my bowl, even if the way it feels is off. All of the kids beside me stand in line in front of Tanaka. Just ahead is Itona, she looks back at me awkwardly, so do I.

Marching together, she leads the way with going through the doors to the bathroom hall. I have to say, the more we walked further from this area, the more it felt nice. Just some steps ahead of the bathrooms was another pair of doors she opens. Some of the windows at the side let the sunshine through, enough to make my skin feel comfy.

“Alright everyone, up ahead is some fresh air.”

You know, I think fresh air is what I need from this place. Something to give me some kind of genuine warmth.