Replay

• Josh De Alwis, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2020

So, there I was, hunched over my drink watching the news like normal. People chattered and laughed amongst each other whilst I stared at the light bouncing off my drink and bled into the background.
“Bit lonely, eh?”
He was a tall, blue-eyed man with messy, overgrown hair. He was quite young, maybe in his thirties. His face was smeared with black and his cheekbones were sharp. His eyebrows were furrowed, and he stared right at me. As if trying to peak into the depths of my soul.
“Hey,” I said. I was not a particularly sociable person.
His eyes rapidly looked me head to toe.
“Can I ask you something? Have you ever seen me before?” He said.
The man looked drunk. I raised my arm and began to call out to the bartender. The man slapped my arm and pointed his finger at my face.
“Answer my question. Have you ever seen me before?”
I ravaged my memories searching for this man.
“No,” I said.
“Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong.” He sat down. “I have a theory you see; I have seen you before, I’m positive. We have played out this scene many times before, like words on a page. But I think I found a glitch.” He hurriedly spoke in a low tone. Every now and then he would look behind his back as if someone were searching for him. “This time, my memories weren’t erased.” He looked up at the ceiling. “Isn’t that right, reader?”
“Hold up, What the hell are you talking about?” I said as I began to get up.
“Wait, don’t go. Please, hear me out.” He shouted. The people around us began to look and murmur.
“Just keep it down.”
“I have walked into this bar who knows how many times. Our circumstances keep repeating and we are forced to replay this scene. Each time we engage in some sort of argument and at the end, I storm off. We don’t have a will, everything is prewritten. But this time, things are different. I managed to find a glitch and was able to retrieve my thoughts from our last talk. All your thoughts that you think you have experienced, your whole life for that matter, is coded into you. None of it happened except for this scene and—“
I stepped out of my seat; I wasn’t going to listen to this delusional man any longer. He latched onto my arm.

“Wait!” He screamed.
The whole bar turned silent and stared at us.
“Please! Its going to repeat again and again! Please!” He screamed.
A security guard wearing all black grabbed him and threw him out while I found a new place to sit.
So, there I was, hunched over my drink watching the news like normal. People chattered and laughed amongst each other whilst I stared at the light bouncing off my drink and bled into the background.
“Bit lonely, eh?”