Today's A Day To Remember

It’s 10 am, the irritation of a new day is beginning all over again. The blaring on my phone wakes me from a deep sleep. I frown, the screen says “Saturday”. My head hurts, I close my eyes before a second alarm wakes me.

I smile for a moment, thinking that today might not be so bad after all. I think of the girl my friend has been trying to set me up with, Connie. She will be off work in 2 hours and I’m going to ask her out for a coffee date this time…. If I get ready fast enough.

You see, I’ve been living in this small and stinky apartment on the 5th floor by myself for months now, to pursue my studies away from family to become a veterinarian, which was a huge disappointment to my parents. “Why don’t you study to become a doctor! You are so smart!”. The frustration and disappointment are evident, even in a memory. I sigh. I pet my sweet cat ginger. She’s a red tabby and I rescued her when I heard her meowling 5 years ago in a trash can. People can be so heartless sometimes.

I look out the window wistfully, seeing the skyline of New York. I have not talked to my parents in months after I pursued an ‘unworthy career’, according to them. And I am barely making enough money to keep going. For some reason, I cannot picture their faces or names…

In fact, I can’t remember the last person I actually talked to. Add the never-ending flow of schoolwork while trying to prove them wrong, and the fact that I work at a fast-food restaurant… That’s why I’m a loner.

A letter pops partially underneath the mail slot and falls to the ground. I ignore it as I get ready to go out. “God this place is such a mess.”, I say to myself, and start cleaning. On my desk I see a letter addressed to me, where does this come from?

*You have got mail – the notification pops up on the computer.

I get distracted and then clean my desk.

*You have a new message.

I look at the phone, the text message says ‘Open the letter ‘.

That’s weird… who would send that? Must be a prank by my friend down the hall.

I hum a tune, a melody that reminds me of Connie, ‘Für Elise’.

I try to turn away from the letter, but I feel as if I am possessed, my hands forcing themselves on it. I fight the urge for a moment, but a splitting headache makes me relent.

“Dear Richard, you have earned “$20,000” as compensatory damage. Have a nice day…

A check for $20,000 is in my hands… Where did this come from, and why?

*Another intense blinding headache, and the blaring of an alarm wakes me.

I wake up… it was just a dream.

I smile for a moment, thinking that today might not be so bad after all… But I cannot remember why.

I've been living in this small apartment by myself for months now, to pursue my studies to become a veterinarian. I sigh. I pet my sweet cat ginger. She’s a red tabby and I rescued her when I heard her mewling 5 years ago in a trash can. People can be so heartless sometimes. Ginger though she makes me happy. I’ve loved taking care of her, and she takes care of me….

A letter pops out of the mail slot hard. I have a bad feeling about it. God, what is wrong with me. Why am I terrified of this letter? I back away…

*You have got mail – the notification pops up on the computer.

I back up further…

*You have a new message.

I toss the phone away after seeing the message, ‘Open the letter ‘ .

“No.” … A blinding headache…”NO”…, another blinding headache….. “NOOOOOO!!!!”

I try to hum a tune, a melody that reminds me of something, ‘Für Elise’.

I try to run from the letter, but I feel as if I am possessed, my hands forcing themselves on it. I fight the urge for a moment, but a blinding headache makes me relent.

“Dear Richard, you have earned “$20,000” as compensatory damage. Have a nice day…

A check for $20,000 is in my hands… Where did this come from, and why? “What is going on!!!!”

*Another blinding headache, and the blaring of an alarm wakes me.

“God… I’m so tired. Please god, just stop, just stop… just let it end…

“I look around… I am alone in this apartment. Terrified, crying, I don’t know why.” I just hold myself, my anxiety skyrockets.

*You have got mail – the notification pops up on the computer.

A letter pops out of the mail slot.

*A notification pops up on my phone. “Open the letter.”

“No!”, a blinding headache, “NOOOO!!!!!”, another blinding headache, it subsides, I take the letter, and as it starts to open, I collapse. I smile, and relax, as the last words I see are, “You’ve earned…”, before everything goes blank.

A week prior, a man is strapped down on a table wearing a ‘dreamscape’ helmet device surrounded by a group of researchers. Among the group, an old man is taking notes after attentively observing his subject.

“Subject 0042, Richard Perks, failed experiment, April 5, 2025.” As he is writing on his little black book, he looks at his fellow researchers. “The subject during their sleep is locked in. As we can see, a simple reminder for him to open a letter instructs the subject to read the subliminal command and triggers a memory which allows us, when we choose, to cut the neuronal connection, thereby erasing the link memories of the affected person. We are only able to do this in a limited capacity before the person notices then becomes anxious and afraid of the commands triggering the memory. Side effects can include insanity, loss of motor functions, unwanted memory loss, personality changes. Though what you have seen here today may be harsh, it is another step towards being able to influence people either for good or not. Useful for dealing with traumas, altering key life events, political affiliations, the possibilities are endless but limited to a few specific changes per client.”

“What about the damage we've caused?”, asked a fellow researcher.

“Oh, each participant has volunteered to be part of this experiment. The main offer being that they will receive up to $5,000 for each set of experiments they participated in. If the experiment fails and the damage caused is beyond our knowledge and power, we offer them more money as compensation, it also keeps them quiet. Richard here is our first case of extreme failure. He is being compensated $20,000 due to the neurological damage and side effects caused by our experiment, although he might have an hard spending his check in these conditions. The side effects can last days, weeks, months or for the rest of his life. I honestly doubt that he will remember these past few hours with us later on.”

“We went too far, we destroyed a man’s life today.”

“No. Today science made progress thanks to this man. He came and volunteered to us, out of his own free will. He deserves to be commended for his sacrifice, although he paid quite a price in return.”

“And his memories?” Another researcher shouted. “What was the purpose of going as far as touching his own memories, his childhood, his experiences, his life…”

“We needed to push, to see where the mind breaks, and in his case, it broke because of some small miscalculations of our own. Adjustments will be made. That concludes tonight’s session. Today’s a day to remember, I will see all of you next Friday for subject 43, Meredith.”

“We’ll be seeing you again for sure too Mr. Herzog”, mutters a colleague to another within the small group of dreamscape researchers. “After all, you can't help but wonder what comes next, can you?”