During December, we focused on Flash Fictions or Short Storys in English class. Our assignment was to create an original short story.
Since second grade I went to school with a boy named Damien. I knew nothing about him, other than the fact that everyday at lunch he would sit alone in the corner of the classroom. He would never do anything; he just sat there. Once or twice I tried to talk to him, only to receive a blank stare in return. He had no friends, unless you counted the wall. I passed by him everyday on my way home from school, waiting for a smile or a casual greeting, but he seemed to have his head down every time I saw him. I often wondered about his life at home. Was that why he acted the way he did? Nobody ever talked about him. It was as if he didn't even exist. On the last day of sixth grade, while everyone was happily playing games, I decided to try one last time to talk to him. "Hey Damien, wanna play checkers?", I said. He replied with the same blank stare I was used to. I proceeded to set up the game of checkers with the slight hope that he might open up and talk to me. To my surprise he began to show his emotions rather quickly - probably no more than after 30 seconds. After beating me in the game, Damien smiled at me and quietly said thank you. Before I had the chance to say anything he turned around and took his usual position. Confused and disappointed, I returned to the regular class activity. It was only afterwards that my teacher explained to me that Damien had short term memory; he could not remember anything beyond a few minutes. I saw Damien on my way home that day, but this time he said hello to me.
