Fading

Everybody goes through a phase when imaginary friends are all we have. This is the story of what happens when we stop believing in them.

I had always known that this would happen. When we were assigned our children, we were told that we would start to fade as they grew older, that their imaginations would fade. I never thought that it would happen so soon.

Charlie was my project. I was assigned to Charlie when he was three. Since that time, I was his escape from the world around him. He was never like the other children. He was special. There was something about him that made me wonder if he would ever grow up. He’d always had the biggest imagination, what I assumed was his way of coping with what he was going through. Charlie’s parents divorced when he was five. He didn’t understand what was going on, so he clung to me more than ever. I would spend hours with him, and when I was there, he was happy. Together we conquered the world. He was the prince and I was the damsel in need of saving. He was the wizard, and I was his companion. Our times together were peaceful. Charlie was a part of my life, and I was a part of his.

Everything between us changed when he turned eight. I was right to think that he would be different than other children. I usually only worked with children until they were six. He’d won by a landslide. When Charlie was eight, his mother told him that his friends were only imaginary,  that I was nothing more than a picture in his head. We grew farther apart after that. He got more involved with what was going on in school, and I sat in his bedroom everyday, waiting for him to play with me again.

“Come play with me, Charlie.” I would say. He never looked at me. He kept his head low with his eyes focused on his book.

“I can’t play now. You’re not real. Go away.” My face dropped. I had never been so sad in my life. I knew what would happen next. Charlie was my last project.

We only got three children in our lifetime. That was just the way it was. Nobody questioned it, but I knew that it was wrong. Once our third and final child had grown up enough to let us go, we left forever. Nobody knew where. Those who had already finished their work never turned up again. I didn’t want that to happen to me. I wanted to stay with Charlie forever.

“Charlie, please. Don’t shut me out. I’m just as real as you are.” He shook his head.

“I’m the only one who thinks you’re real. I don’t even know if you ever were real anymore. I can’t tell what’s real and what’s all in my head.”

“Charlie, I’m real.” I said, tears streaming down my face. He shook his head one last time, and I was unable to move any closer to him. He had officially shut me out. There was a barrier between us now, and neither of us could break it. We were separated forever.

In that moment, I was taken back to the center. This was the end. My life was officially over. I was escorted to an empty white room, where I was left alone. The door locked behind me, and I was left there for two weeks, until my entire existence faded into nothing.