Memories

It was considered a breakthrough when scientists found out where memories were stored in the brain. There were many tests to be run, which often required human experiments. Brenda decided to volunteer when she discovered that the amount they offered would pay her entire college tuition with some left over. It was a little scary when they told her they would be exchanging all her memories with another volunteer. Of course, after the procedure, she remembered none of this, or rather, she remembered it a little differently. She didn’t have any memory of “Brenda.” She thought of herself as Sal, a 42-year-old electric engineer who was doing this for the cash to take care of his family. She had to be told who she really was, her name, where she lived, every aspect of her life that seemed important. She even tried telling herself that she was this Brenda person instead of being Sal. It was weird, since all she could remember was being a slightly overweight middle-aged man, but when she looked down and saw the body of a beautiful college aged woman, she knew those memories were wrong. She felt disjointed as she walked home. It felt so unfamiliar, and she felt so awkwardly uncomfortable in her own body and clothes. She told herself that she must have walked this way countless times before, that she just could no longer remember, but it didn’t help. Telling herself she should be able to remember something was far different from actually remembering.