Sacha Wunsch - Lies My Memory Told Me

Lies My Memory Told Me

Sacha Wunsch

Sacha Wunsch grew up dividing her time between the family farm in Canada and traveling to numerous fictional worlds. She was a bookseller before she discovered her love of writing mind-twisty novelswhich has proved an excellent job, since she gets to blame all the TV she watches on her love of storytelling. She now splits her time between the city and the lake and still travels to made-up worlds as often as she can.

sachawunsch.com

To Tammythanks for the spark!

Contents

T he platform was a hundred and fifty feet up.

I tried not to look down.

I hadnt even known I was afraid of heights until the moment I stood up there.

The stranger came up to me, grinning. Youre going to love it, he said.

I swallowed.

My entire body was sweating, most notably my palms, slipping as I tried to grip the safety harness.

Was I really going to do this?

No. I was going to get unclipped, turn around, and simply climb back down what felt like the millions of stairs stretching below me.

And then, just as I started to turn, someone pushed me off the platform.

I screamed as I dropped, nothing but air beneath me.

And then...I started to glide.

The scream kept coming a few seconds more, but my heart did a flip before it could reach my mind. I was soaring. Over the treetops. Whizzing along the zip line at high speeds. It was the best thing I had ever felt.

I had never been this free. Which made sense, I was essentially flying, after all.

Giggling was very much not in my nature, but there I was, giggling anyway. I closed my eyes to get a better sense of the wind on my face, but when the sweet scent of fresh-blooming flowers greeted me, I opened them again. Sure enough, the trees several yards below my feet were blooming some kind of large purple flower.

I sucked in a breath, wishing I could inhale the whole scene, wanting to appreciate it as much as I couldsavor itknowing it wouldnt last forever, and landed gently on the other side.

I did not have to be pushed off the second platformbarely able to wait my turn to jump again. I soared from platform to platform, wishing nothing more than for this to go on forever, grinning all the way, and realizing only at the last second that the final landing platform wasnt a platform at all, but a deep, cooling pool.

I sucked in a breath, and with a final burst of adrenaline, I splashed into the crystal clear water.

Come on, open it, Mom said, beaming.

I held the small, beautifully wrapped box, unable to imagine what it was. My parents knew I wasnt really that into jewelry, and neither were they really, but what else could be in such a tiny box?

I tore into it and flipped the lid open.

Which confused me even more. It wasnt a ring or a pendant, just a small metal disk.

Dad sensed my confusion. Give it a second, he said, beaming even brighter than Mom.

In a blink, a form emerged, a hologram above the disk. There was no sound, but it looked like the person in the hologram was gliding through the tops of trees high in the air.

This is...really cool, I said, and meant it, but couldnt help but feel like I was missing something.

Mom was practically bouncing. We wanted to do something special for your birthday.

Thank you, was all I could really think to say. The disk was pretty cool, but what the hell was with their enthusiasm?

Youre welcome, Nova, Dad said. But this isnt the whole thing. Its the experience of it thats the real gift.

The experience of it?

Mom had gotten up and gone to the desk by the front door. She picked up another box, this one unwrapped, and pulled something from inside.

Here, you put this on, she said, handing me a clunky set of headphones plugged into a small handheld device about the size of a phone.

The disk goes in there, Dad said, and showed me how to open it, setting my new present inside.

And then I experienced my first ever zip line.

As the experience ended, I blinked my eyes open, a hundred percent sure Id be soaking wet, but I was sitting right back in my living room. The sensation was a bit disorienting but my parents were staring at me like they were about to explode.

What was that? I asked, grabbing the hem of my shirt, which I couldnt quite comprehend being dry.

That was Enhanced Memory, Dad said, but the look on his face said so much morelike if hed had feathers, theyd be plumaged out like the most badass peacock of the bunch.

What did you think? Mom asked, clasping her hands like she had so much energy whizzing through her body she had to do something to hold it in.

Well, obviously it was amazing, but by the way you two are acting, you already know that. I couldnt help but grin. They were just so cute sitting there all proud of themselves. But seriously, what is this? What is Enhanced Memory?

Id seen 3D movies and had even tried virtual reality once, but this was way beyond either of those. This was next level.

Its simple, Dad said. The headphones are equipped with dozens of...well, lets call them electrodes for sake of ease, though really, theyre more advanced than that.

Okay, I said, mostly with him still, although knowing Dad it wouldnt be long until the science-y droning took hold and steered him right off the laymans term trail.

And these, he said, taking the disk out of the machine and holding it up, are Memories.

Memories.

Mom nodded. We discovered a way to extract memories and reproduce them.

Wait, you guys created this?

Mom nodded, her smile huge and eyes wide. This is what weve been working toward all these years.

My mouth dropped open. I knew my parents had been working on some kind of project for a long time, but I guess I hadnt really been that interested in what it was.

Mom laughed at my stunned expression while Dad came over to give me one of his signature kisses on the top of my head.

Happy birthday, sweetheart, Mom said, beaming.

I mean, they were scientists and science was basically the last thing I wanted to pay attention to, so I never really asked many questions.

But this was way beyond science. This was...actually kind of awesome.

A smile crept across my face. I couldnt wait to try it again.

TWO YEARS LATER

T he last bell rang and I hurried out, hoping to avoid the after-school rush to the lockers, but as always I was hit by a surge of peoplesome of them backing out of the way as I passed. Most of the time I felt like I had three heads when I walked through the halls. In a smallish place like Marinville, I guess the new girl will always be the new girl. Especially the new girl whose parents invented the coolest thing on earthat least thats what Id been told approximately one hundred and thirty million times, anyway. I swear, I knew exactly what it was like to be a fish in a fishbowl.

I glanced up and accidentally made eye contact with one of them.

Hey, Chase Mason said, with a sideways grin and a slow gaze up my bodyhis deodorant body spray a strangling, pulsing entity invading my personal space. He was known for being a player.

I shot him an ultraquick smile as I hurried past, trying to make it clear it was for courtesy purposes only. Still, I could feel him watching me as I sped away, tucking my books closer to my chest.

You could do worse than Chase Mason, Andie said as she slid up beside me, clearly having seen the whole display. Ive heard hes a lot of fun. She grinned, turning to walk backward and giving Chase a little tip of her imaginary hat for his attempt, before turning back around to walk with me, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She was the only person I knew who could wear her hair short in the back, long in the front, color it a deep, rich maroon and not only get away with it, but look like she was born to wear it that way, striking against her pale, almost translucent skin. She definitely had a look all her own, unlike me who was all basic brown hair, gray eyes, average white skindefinitely not the kind anyone would ever comment on like they did Andies. She was also one of those people who could be friends with anybody. I dont know how she did it when it was a miracle I had even one friend in this place.