Before I Forget – A Short Story

Today, I’ve been working on some new articles and a few pieces of fiction but since I don’t have any finished work ready to show at the moment, I thought I’d post one of my old short stories. If you like horror/psychological thriller, you’ll enjoy this one! If you have any feedback, send me a message and let me know what you think.

Before I Forget

By Sophie McNaughton

I familiarised myself with Luna’s case file as I waited for her to arrive. The early morning sunlight crept through my office window, cascaded across the room and clung to the dust. I sipped my piping hot coffee as I skim read the file from Luna’s previous session with me.

Date and time of appointment: 25/05/1996 – 9.30 am.

Patient Name: Luna Imogen Butler.

Age: 19 years old.

Sex: Female.

Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual.

Occupation: Student of Fine Art at the Royal Filigree School of Art.

Suffering from: Severe anxiety including panic attacks, night terrors and nervous sweats.

Notes: Luna is particularly nervous today. Her hands are shaking profusely and she can barely hold eye-contact with me for longer than a few seconds at a time. I am very intrigued by her condition as I have yet to find the route of her anxiety. She has not suffered from any emotional trauma and appears to have a large and loving family. As a last resort, I have suggested my own specialised hypnosis therapy in an attempt to explore her subconscious to find the answer but she is reluctant. Today, she has spoken in great depth about her social anxiety, in particular, with trying to make friends at art school. She has repeatedly said, “Girls just don’t like me,” that she is intimidated by her female peers and that she finds it hard to bond with members of the same sex. This is something I feel needs further attention.

“Dr Fitzpatrick, your next patient is here,” Linda said as she popped her head through my office door.

“Send her in,” I replied.

A few moments later, Luna sheepishly tip-toed in and sat down on the leather chair opposite me. The pungent scent of hair dye stung my sinuses as I noticed Luna had coloured her thick and floppy bleach blonde hair with new flashes of purple and pink. Luna had also gotten her nose and bottom lip pierced since our last session.

“Hello, Luna. How are you today?” I asked.

“I’m great. Well, not great. I-I’m fine,” Luna stammered as she twiddled her earrings and stared at her shoes.

Throughout our session, to my surprise Luna opened up more than usual. She began to talk about a succession of childhood friends who she claimed would be friendly at first and then abruptly abandon or bully her for no good reason. She circled back to the problems she was having with other girls her age at art school but I still was finding it difficult to connect the dots.

“Luna, have you thought any more about the hypnosis therapy I suggested during our last session? I really think it could help me understand why you’re feeling this way,” I said.

“Eh, well I-I don’t know. It sounded quite d-different from usual hypnotism,” Luna said as she recoiled slightly in her chair.

“Admittedly, it is different from the method most doctors use but that’s because it is my own specialised therapy and in my experience it has been very effective,” I stressed.

“Hm, well I suppose we c-could give it a try. If you really think it’d help,” Luna said as she fiddled with her long sleeves.

*

As I intertwined my fingers with Luna’s and our palms touched, little blue sparks crossed over from my veins to hers.

“It will be quite uncomfortable,” I warned. “And once I have entered your system, you may feel quite an intense itching sensation inside your head. That’s how most of my patients have described it.”

“O-Okay,” Luna stuttered as she flinched and held her eyes tightly shut.

I closed my eyes and began to concentrate on looking inside Luna’s mind. Through my paper eyelids, I could still see the flashes of blue sparks zapping from our hands as my spirit moved deeper inside Luna’s.