The Arc of Prometheus

Memento mori/memento vivere...Remember you have to die/ Remember you have to live. I have been considering this ideology for as long as I can remember, which in actuality has not been very long considering I only have memories from the last two days.. For you to understand I think I have to start from the beginning or at least my beginning.

I awoke to a blinding light from above and the inability to understand my current position. Once my eyes had acclimated to my surroundings, I realized the light was coming from the fluorescent bulbs emanating from the ceiling, a ceiling I didn't recognize. As I took a look around the room, nothing was recognizable, everything felt foreign. Fear began to creep in, where was I? How did I get here? And on a more pressing note, why was I naked? I wore nothing besides a gown draped over my body in an unflattering manner. I could hear movement coming from the hallway. I yelled, ‘ Help!!! Is anybody out there?”. Suddenly the door flew open, and a woman entered the room with a gleaming smile on her face, and the demeanor of a mother hen. “Hey, sleepyhead!! I’m glad you’re awake, you had quite the ordeal”, she exclaimed. She apparently took a cue from my confused expression and continued, “ I’m Nurse Jackie, I was on shift when they brought you in. Do you know where you are?”. “ A hospital, I believe”, I whispered back. “Yes. Do you know which hospital?”, she inquired. I shook my head. “ That's alright. You’re at St Michael. Do you know what day it is?”, she continued. I shook my head yet again. She continued, “ Do you know your name”. As I opened my mouth to answer I realized, nothing was coming to mind. Oh shit, what the hell is my name???. I stared at her with utter confusion, and yet again she took the cue from face and answered, “ That’s alright, we can circle back to that”. She asked two follow-up questions, both of which I had no answer to. As she tried to console me by saying it was all normal, I could sense some apprehension in her tone regarding my inability to answer the questions. “ Okay, that’s all I need, for now, I will let the doctor know you’re awake, he should be in to see you in a bit. Just relax, are you hungry? I can have them bring something from the kitchen?”, she urged. Suddenly I realized I was famished. ”Yes, Could I please get some food?” I asked. She nodded and proceeded to ask if I knew of any food allergies, to which I stared blankly. “Oh, don’t worry hon,I will figure something out.,” she replied as she left. How is it possible I have no memory of anything? “Who am I?” I questioned sadly as I slowly fell asleep.

As I looked ahead, I could make out a figure standing with their back to me. I felt a sudden urgency to reach them. I ran towards the person who began to speak,” You have to get up!” he said as he slowly began to turn to me, “Come find me”, he requested. As I was about to make out his face, suddenly, ”Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith, you have to wake up”, said a mysterious voice. I slowly began to open my eyes and realized there was someone standing at the foot of my bed.” Good Evening. I’m Doctor Kovac, Head of Neurology at this hospital.” he proclaimed. ”Evening Doc, I would introduce myself but I, unfortunately, have no idea who that is”, I replied, “Wait, did you say, Mr. Smith, is that my name?” I begged.” That’s what we assume. You were found with only a library card on your person...as well as this”, he replies while pulling out a black notebook from a bag.” Do you recognize it?”, he asks. I glared at the book, but no answer came to mind.” No, I don’t,” I said sadly. “There was only one word written”, he says opening the notebook. Written on the front page was Προμηθεύς, which was Greek for Prometheus. “Do you know that word”, he asked. “No, I don't,” I lied. “Okay, I understand. When you were brought in, you had what is called Cerebral edema. This is the swelling of the brain caused by a traumatic brain injury”, he explained. “Is this the reason I have no memory of any past events in my life?” I requested. “ There have been instances of memory loss in such injuries, the degree of which varies between patients “ he explained. “Will I get my memory back?” I asked. “ Like I said, it varies between patients. You may get it back today, tomorrow or in a week, it really can’t be determined by anything,” he responded. I nodded, feeling barely reassured by his explanation. “ I’m going to allow you to go back to sleep and will check on you in the morning”, he assured me. As he began to exit the room, I remembered the notebook. “ Excuse me Doc, but do you mind if I keep the notebook. Something about it might jog my memory,” I begged. “Sure, here you go. But do try to get some rest, Doctor’s orders,” he joked as he handed me the book. “ I will. Thank you!!!”, I replied. The doctor proceeded to exit the room, and I turned my attention to the notebook. How was I able to translate the Greek word written, did I happen to speak Greek without my knowledge, how bizarre. Okay, the word was Prometheus, what does that mean?, I pondered. “Okay, Prometheus was the Greek god who brought fire to the humans”, I recalled. Well apparently I can’t recall my name but I’m versed in ancient Greek mythology. “Curiouser and curiouser”. I uttered. I stood up from my bed and began to pace around the room. “ Okay, Prometheus...he brought fire...he betrayed the king of the Gods Zeus,” I muttered to myself. “ Okay, fire..betrayal...what the hell does any of this mean??” I continued, lost in my thoughts. I looked up as I began to pour a cup of water from a jug next to the lamp next to my bed. It suddenly dawned on me, “ Wait, not only did Prometheus bring fire, he brought heat and light”, I continued excitedly. Without knowing what I was doing, I opened one of the pages and hung it over the light. At first, nothing happened, and then suddenly words began to pour onto the page, evidently activated by the heat from the light. “I GOT IT,” I yelled, completely forgetting where I was. I peered through the window into the hallway to make sure I hadn’t aroused suspicion. The coast was clear, so I opened the first page of the diary over the light and began to read what was inscribed. It was a diary written by someone who I presumed to be me. It was a recollection of an affair...a secret love affair. Based on the entries, an affair that began a couple of months ago. The more I read, the more lost I felt. “ Even though I had loved before, I had never known love until J,” I read aloud. How could I have forgotten loving someone as much as I did J, it makes no sense. I buried myself in the rest of the diary, completely disregarding the food brought to me. I was entranced by what I was reading, I had to know them...I had to know J.

The rest of the night went by swiftly as I eventually fell asleep with the diary clenched tightly within my arms. I awoke to the sound of knocking on the door. The doctor entered to begin examining me.” Well, I will be conducting some tests to understand the degree of your memory loss”, he assured me. Half an hour was spent with testing by Doctor Kovac, bombarding me with questions to discover what I have retained. In the end, he surmised that my memory was not completely gone, my narrative memory appears to have been greatly affected but my procedural memory was intact, explaining how I was able to retain the information of Greek mythology.

“ The information of your life may reveal themselves as you perform certain acts that are familiar to you. We will continue the rest of this tomorrow, you must be exhausted. Oh, and did you find anything familiar regarding the notebook?, he politely asked. “No, unfortunately, I haven’t,” I said side-eyeing the book. “That’s alright, thought I would ask. I will see you tomorrow,” he replied. As soon as he left, I grabbed the notebook, hoping it would reveal more things to me. As I read on, the more love I felt whelm up within me, for someone I had never met. I finally reached the end of the entries, which I did with a hint of sadness in my eyes. As I heated up the last page, I stared in anticipation of what was to come. At first, it appeared like there was nothing written, until the middle of the page, which read, ” Find me”, and the bottom an address of a rendezvous point. I closed the diary, with the excitement of a kid at Christmas. As I wondered how to get myself to J, in a world I didn’t recognize, with no means of traveling, with literally no clothes on my back, my heart began to sink. In a fit of frustration, I threw the notebook on the floor. I sat on the bed, defeated by my current circumstance. I peered through the slits in my fingers and saw the notebook, and as I bent over to pick it up, I realized I had torn the hardcover of the back. “ Dammit, did I really just ruin my only possession?”I gasped. As I lifted the notebook and opened the back cover, I saw an envelope nestled in plastic beneath the covering. As I slid the envelope out and unwrapped the plastic, my heartbeat at a million miles per minute. I opened the letter. Out fell two things accompanied by the letter. I began to read the letter which was a short paragraph saying

“ Hey O,

Sorry I had to jet. You know I would never leave you unless I had to.

They found out about me at the organization. I couldn't risk them finding out about you, so I zipped you. It's a drug that erases memories but don't worry, there's a cure, I have it.

I snuck the diary on your person before the ambulance came. I need you to come find me, remember our place hidden by Prometheus... I have enclosed means for you to reach me.

Until we meet again, you will now and forever be my lightning rod.

Yours, J

I sat astounded at what I had just read, completely forgetting the other objects that fell out. As I lifted the objects one was a check of $20 000,00 made to Oberyn Smith ( ‘i guess Smith was right”, I joked to myself), and with it was a photo booth picture of me with a smile to beat all smiles, with a handsome individual planting a kiss on my cheek. On the back of the picture was written, “ All my love, Jasper”. I sat completely dumbfounded at what I had just read and seen, with tears burning behind my eyes. And that brings us to today, I decided to give myself early release from the hospital, cashed the check ( which wasn’t an easy feat mind you, but that's a story for another day), and now I'm on a train to Maine, with the only thought in mind being Jasper. I'm coming J, I'm on my way to you.