Strange Day

A man wakes up with no memory of who he is and why he has ended up at the place he has been at. He soon begins to unravel secrets of his past.

Strange Day

Author’s Note: I based this short story off of Jonathan Nolan’s (Christopher Nolan’s  brother) story Memento Mori and Christopher’s film Memento. I also got the idea from a creative writing club I attend every two weeks. I hope you enjoy. 

I remember very little of what happened the previous night but I do remember waking up on the side of the road. Some homeless people gave me the stink eye as I woke up and looked around. Cars were speeding around and I was very confused on who I was and how I got here. I looked around and saw I was wearing a trench coat and a shirt with a bulletproof vest on it, with four bullet holes on it. I decided not to take off the bulletproof vest. I couldn’t remember my name or why I was where I was or anything for the matter. I got up and looked around, I saw the cars moving fast and I wasn’t about to stop them. I saw that the homeless people gave me some strange looks as well. I wasn’t planning on staying as some of the homeless folk looked at me lustfully. I wasn’t about to fulfill their needs as I ran up the road and then I stopped and decided to get a rest and see if there was anything in my pockets of use. I looked around and saw that I had a wallet on me. I opened it and saw that it had about 1,000 dollars in it and I saw an ID on the back with my face and a name on it. The name was Alex Smith and the birthday was March 9, 1994. As I examined the wallet I heard a small ringtone. I found the source of the ringing in my pocket and saw that I was getting a call from a person by the name of Richard Smith. I hesitated but then I finally answered the phone. 

“ hello. “ I said, cautiously 

“ hey bro. “ the man on the other line answered “ what’s up? “ 

“ who is this? “ I asked, still cautious 

he laughed, “ funny bro it’s your brother Richard. “ 

“ I have a brother, “ I thought “ this’ll be interesting. “ 

“ whats up. “ I said 

“ what’s up? “ Richard said “ I called you four times last night! I thought you were dead! “ 

“ Dead? “ I asked “ what do you mean? “ 

“ you said that you were going to get a car with the money we took in it. “ Richard said “ a white truck, with a blue cover on it. The license plate you said says 8OK5712. It’s in a warehouse on 27th and Brick End. “ 

I remembered where it was. I walked all the way there. As I did I began to remember, rather distantly, to the warehouse. The heat was so bad I could barely stand it. I walked for about 15 minutes until I finally arrived at said warehouse. I walked inside and I found the white truck with the blue cover on it. I walked over to the truck and I saw that it had a keypad and I remembered the code. I was about to type it in when I heard a voice

“ hey bro. “ the man said “ what are you doing here? “ 

He had a gun in his hand. A second man stood beside him with an axe in hand. 

“ getting a package. “ I said calmly 

“ well it’s ours now because we found it. “ the first man said, gun aimed at me “ now step away. “ 

“ no. “ I said, defiant 

“ Don’t you… “ the man began, I grabbed his arm and we struggled for several minutes. The other man watched us as we struggled. We struggled for a while until I heard a gunshot. The man attacking me then crumpled to the ground, dead. The second man looked at me in shock and dropped his axe. I walked over and pointed the gun at him. 

“ hand it over. “ I demanded 

The second man obediently did so as I took the axe and broke the window to the car. I saw a black duffel bag sitting there. I took it and then walked over to the second man and then knocked him out. I then disposed of the axe in my hand and as I was leaving, knocked the second man out, and I then left the warehouse. As I walked from the warehouse I came across a grotesque scene. There were two bodies were on the ground, deceased. I looked around in curiosity and right then I began to remember that I had run through here and a shootout between myself and the two men who were currently dead. I remember that I was shot about 4 times in the back, but the bulletproof vest on me saved my life. As I was remembering. I took my bulletproof vest off of my body and saw that there were indeed 4 bullet holes in the back of the vest but there were no bullets inside. 

“ must’ve pulled them out. “ I thought 

I walked with the money outside. I intended to retrace my steps on what happened to me and how I got to where I was from there. I walked from the warehouse and I began to walk on the road and I began to remember that I had driven, albeit very fast. My walking became running as I began remembering that I had crashed my car near where I woke up. I ran for about 45 minutes before I found a completely crashed vehicle. I saw that I was indeed crashed below where I found myself. As I was remembering, I got a call from Richard again. I answered 

“ hello. “ I said 

“ where are you? “ Richard asked 

“ I’m down the road. “ I said 

“ ok stay there, we’ll be there in a second. “ Richard said 

“ We’ll? He must have people with him. “ I thought 

I waited for about 5 minutes before a van sped over to my direction and then stopped right by me. A blond haired man and two other men wearing suits were in the car. 

“ come on in, bro. “ the blond man said, I assumed him to be Richard. 

I walked over and got in the van. 

The van then drove for about 17 miles, Richard looked agitated. 

“ do you have it? “ Richard asked 

I was hesitant to give it to him, he was my ‘brother’ but I didn’t exactly remember having one. Then again I wasn’t remembering a lot of things except for what I had learned as I was running. 

We drove for about 45 minutes when we finally stopped, we were in a dark parking lot. Richard had said that some men would come to collect the bag that I had in my hand. I was suspicious of my "brother's" intentions as we pulled up to the lot. We waited in the car for about 15 minutes when suddenly out of the blue, two men dressed in ski masks and blue getup. They both had machine guns in their hands. They then began to fire. Both men in the drivers and side seat both were shot immediately. 

" Get down!! " Richard yelled 

I got down as Richard pulled out a gun and began looking around. The first man began to walk and fire at us. 

" we need to get out of the car!! " Richard yelled 

We both managed to crawl to the side of the car when the first man with the machine gun came to our door. Richard suddenly pulled his gun and shot him in the chest area two times. 

" No! " the second man yelled 

The second man began to fire at us. 

" Other side! Other side! " Richard demanded 

Richard and I then went to the other side and then we then got out of the car before the second man could reach us. We then hid at the side of the car. The second man began to walk around but Richard then turned and shot him. The second man then fell down to the ground, not moving for several minutes. Richard looked around and then got up and walked over to the other man and then shot him as well. Richard then looked at me and said " we need to leave. " 

Richard and I then left and we ran towards another part of the parking lot until we both stopped by a car. I began to walk ahead of him. 

“ wait. “ he said 

I stopped, as I did and began to say something as I began to remember that my actual brother looked very similar to me and the “brother” I was speaking to had blond hair and looked nothing like me. As I came back from the memory I heard my “brother” say 

“ look I want to let you know that this isn’t personal. “ he said 

Right then I saw through the rearview mirror that my “brother” had a gun pointed at me. I managed to turn around and attack and take the gun and knock him out with it. Two other men were there, one with a silenced sniper rifle and one with an automatic pistol. When the first man came around I managed to knock him down and kill him with my pistol that I acquired. When I got up to check out the place a sniper shot managed to disorient, but not hit, me. I got up and I saw the second man begin to walk over and shoot at the car with his sniper rifle. I grabbed my pistol and then shot him as he got really close. With both of them, I walked over to the brother impostor. He looked at me in fear as I pointed the gun at him. 

“ what happened to my real brother? “ I asked 

The impostor looked at me “ he was shot, in a drive by shooting. “ 

I began to look vaguely distressed as I remembered when my real brother died in a drive by shooting. 

“ you really don’t remember do you? “ the impostor said 

I suddenly shot him, he slumped to the ground dead. I then grabbed the money and left the impostor there, bleeding out. 

I still don’t exactly remember everything that happened that day, I can tell you that it was a very strange day. I’ve been alright financially, the money I had was enough  for me to lead a normal life. I still do wonder who the money belonged too, or if I even had a real brother, or anything of the matter. I’m hoping that the people who did originally own the money I acquired come back to get it. If they do than they’ll know that I’ll be prepared. 

Author's Note

I'm a big fan of Memento by Christopher Nolan and this is an obvious homage to the film. I think this story is better than some of my other ones.