Memory High

Liam's hands trembled as he arrived at the Dispenser. There were long lines at each counter. He did not know how long he'd be able to wait. He had three hours till the last memory he purchased faded, and he dreaded the return to his own. He joined one of the lines, trying to hide his shaky hands, but the man in front of him noticed. "About to crash, yeah? How long do you have?" he asked with a rueful smile on his face. "Three hours," Liam replied. "Ah, you're better than me. I have about 30 minutes before I lose it, and I've been here for a while. I'm Ryan." "Liam, pleasure." As the minutes passed, Liam noticed that Ryan's hands began to shake even more violently than his. "Have you tried using an Ephylator? It can buy you some time, but you can only use one dose per cycle. I used it to buy three hours I'm running on." "I c-can't afford it. I don't make enough," Ryan said. Liam still had three doses left. He had planned not to refill for the next three months, but he could not take his eyes off of Ryan's hands. "Ah, shit. Reserve this spot. I'll be back in a minute." He ran to his car as fast as he could, grabbed a round, brown tablet from the glove compartment, and rushed back to the line, handing the tablet to Ryan. He gulped it quickly and looked at the gauge embedded in his left wrist. The red meter fluid rose slowly, turning green as it did, and came to a stop at the three-hour mark. Ryan released the breath he'd been holding. "I owe you, man. Thank you" "Nah. It's alright." The line moved till Liam got to the counter. "Burnt through your supply again, Liam? You have to take it easy, so you don't lose your actual memories," said Tako, the cashier. "I don't care much for mine, T. They're not particularly pleasant," Liam replied. "Oh well, your usual supplier is on a break. Got any other memories you'd like?" "To vials of Sefas's latest, please, and another card of Ephylators. Thank you" "That'll be seventeen, two fifty." Liam paid, ran back to his car, and put two drops of the content of the first vial in each eye, just in time before his meter reached the 'Time Out' mark. (Cover image from Pinterest)