The Game

Everyone has a dark past.

Most people have one or two painful memories from the past that make them bolt upright in their sleep, clutch their heads, mutter curses to themselves, and berate themselves.

But surely few people go so far as to seal away those memories in some corner of the abyss because they cannot bear to recall them even for a moment.

..... No, that's not right.

On second thought, I suppose that could happen.

Maybe other people besides me are living with at least one such horrible memory.

It's just that, lacking the courage to face it, they dismiss it as though it never happened.

‘Hey. Want to play our game?’

But the box containing the memory I had sealed away for so long was opening.

That forbidden memory I had forcibly shoved back whenever it surfaced was now unfolding vividly before me...