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“I’m here; I’m still here… please. I’m still breathing; still hurting, still feeling, still tearing…I still exist”
A voice shouted so strong that you can feel it breaking. A voice so distressed, timid, shuddering, echoing through the streets, the houses, but it’s a voice unheard.



Part One
16 years old Hannah woke up from the same dream she had since her mother had died. Still dark outside, she hated waking up that late when everything is so quiet, everyone is deep asleep and having their own personal nightmares.
She tried to fall back asleep but her dream kept replaying in her mind’s eyes.
It starts when she’s in her room, her old room, in the house they used to live in before. She’s sitting on her bed staring at the statue outside from her window, although it doesn’t really exist, except in her dreams.
A stony white statue, a statue of a woman wearing a cloak and a hood covering her face. She’s stretching her hand forward like she’s waiting for someone to hold it. She gets up and walks out of her room. Downstairs, she stands in front of a set of family of pictures of her mom and her dad, but she disappeared from all of them. Empty slots replaced her. She calls for her father but there’s no one in the house. She walks out of the house; the streets are empty, she calls out, screams, only she gets no answer.
She sees the statue standing near. She feels drawn to it, strongly drawn. She approached it and stretches her hand to meet its. However she always wakes up before she can touch the statue’s hand.
This ends in either two ways, she falls back asleep or she stays up till her father wakes up.
That morning was like any other. She has breakfast with her dad, while he’s reading the newspaper. He is always in a hurry, he finishes his breakfast fast and drives her to school. Without a word, most days her first word in the day is at class.
Hannah doesn’t have many friends, if none at all. She has just moved in and she wasn’t a very social person like her dad.
The only person she knew was Jake and only because he made sure to be around her.
So she spends school time with Jake, then she goes home and stays in her room, has dinner. She mostly spends her time studying or drawing, if the later wasn’t taking all her time. Her father always comes home late from work. Days may pass without them having a real conversation. But she knew he was busy trying to provide her a suitable live, she didn’t mind much, she likes being alone.
She was stuck in that routine since the passing of her mom. But everything was about to change for Hannah.
It started when her dream became more frequent. She wondered about it but she never told it to anyone before.
Till that day at school. Hannah was drawing a bird. She liked drawing birds more than anything. When Jake asked “That’s beautiful, a sparrow right?”
She nodded.
“What color is it?” he asked.
She lifted up her pencil and said “I’m drawing with a pencil. It doesn’t have a color”
“But if you had crayons, what will it be?”
“Ammm, blue with lines of yellow around his eyes and some purple in his wings”
“Wow, it’ll look even more beautiful”
“Here” she folded the paper and gave it to him “Take it”
“No…I”
“Just take it. I have a million other in my room”
He took it smiling.
“Can I tell you something?” she asked.
“Yah sure anything”
“I have this dream every while…and I don’t know what it means”
“Well, I’m not an expert but go ahead”
Hannah told him her dream.
“Huh, maybe you just feel alone” he suggested.
“But I don’t mind being alone”
“No one likes being alone”
“Well, I do” she said then got up and started walking away.
He stopped her and said “Wait, Happy Birthday” and he gave her a wrapped blue box.
“It’s not today” she said.
“I know, it’s tomorrow…but I won’t see you tomorrow”
She took the box and said “Thanks Jake”
Her father wasn’t home when she got there, like always. She put the box on the table and went up to her room and stayed there till her father came home.
He saw the box “What’s that?”
“My friend gave it to me”
“Wait…your birthday…how could I forget?” he realized, upset.
“It’s tomorrow”
“Right…great, listen tomorrow I’ll come home early and take you anywhere you want to have dinner and take you to pick your present…ok?”
She smiled “Alright”
“So, be ready at……seven”
She nodded and turned to go back to her room.
“Wait, don’t forget your present”
She took the box with her “Goodnight dad”
She sat on her bed and opened the box. Inside, there was a locket with a silver bird spreading his wings. She smiled, and put it under the pillow. She fell asleep fast enough only to live in her mysterious dream once again.

Part Two
Next day time was moving very slowly, till it was six. She started getting ready and waited for her father.
At 7:15 he called her and told her that he’ll be late.
“Only one more hour” he said.
But it wasn’t, he called again and told her to wait for another and another.
She finally changed her clothes, got into her bed and fell asleep.
Next morning, she woke up and knew that her father was already at work. When she opened her door, she found a large box on the floor. She kicked it inside her room and went downstairs.
A couple of hours later, she was watching TV when she heard something… a faint voice. She turned the TV off and listened. First she couldn’t figure out what it was. But it became clearer “Alone…I’m still here” the voice whined.
Hannah was scared. She ran to her room and closed the door. She stayed there till her father came back. She rushed downstairs.
“Hannah, I want to say I’m sorry for last night…I got caught up at work and…” he said as soon as he saw her.
“It’s ok, dad…I know”
“So, you’re not mad?”
“No”
“I’ll make it up to you…I promise”
“Ok”
“So, did you open your present?”
“Not yet…”
“Why?”
“I was busy” she said then got back to her room.
That night for the first time something changed in her dream. It started the same but when she was in the street and saw the statue, there was a young boy standing near it, when she looked at him closely…the boy had no face, but she could tell that he was in pain.
Hannah woke up in the middle of the night; she heard a sound of scratching in her room. She got up, looked around and realized the sound was coming from her closet. She walked closer, grabbed the knot of the wooden door and opened it.
There was nothing different inside, her belongings lying still. She closed it back. But she noticed something; letters were carved on the door. She knelt down and read them.

Still breathing
Hurting
Feeling
Tearing
She backed away fast and went to her father’s room. She knocked.
But there was no answer. She opened the door quietly. He father was asleep. And she knew he never gets enough as he should. She closed the door again and went back to her room.
She switched on all the lights and sat on her bed. She was almost asleep again when she heard the same voice repeating “Still here…I still exist”
She got up and turned on music to a volume high enough to cover the frantic wail, till it was time for school.
“Do you believe in ghosts?” she asked Jake at school.
“Well, good morning to you too”
“I’m serious”
“I don’t…’cause I have no reason to…why are you asking?”
“Just asking”
“So how was your weekend?”
“I’ve to go” she said leaving. But he smiled because she was wearing the locket he gave her.
When she went home that day, she heard the voice again repeating “Alone…I still exist”
She followed it to the kitchen and there. She saw the boy from her dream…but that time she could see his green eyes which lost their glimmer, his pale face and that sad, scared expression on his face.
She rushed outside the house and called Jake “Jake I think my house is haunted”
In a café nearby, Hannah sat sipping her hot drink while Jake sat staring at her.
“Are you sure?”
“I saw the boy and heard him…I can’t be imaging this. If you don’t believe me, I’ll show the writing on my door, I took a photo”
She showed him the picture on her phone.
“Do you believe me now?”
“I don’t know Hannah…but I’ll still help you”
“What should we do?”
“Due to my vast experience I got from horror movies. The first thing we should do is research the history of the house”
They spent the rest of the day trying to find out about who used to live there. They only found out about the previous owner an old man who sold the house after his wife’s death.
“I doubt it…she died of a heart attack. It has to be a violent death” Jake said.
“Maybe we should go home. We’ll continue this tomorrow, ok?”
“Ok. See you”
That night she was sitting in her bed searching the web, when she saw the statue outside her window. She rushed to the window; the statue was across the street. She went outside the house and it was gone.
Next day Jake said “I’ve something; I found out that a family used to live in your house 30 years ago, they had a little boy who died when he was about 9.
They said he was sick but no one was really sure how he died”
“Do you have a picture of him?”
“Yes…”
He showed her the picture on his cell.
“Is it him?”
She waited for a few seconds and said “It’s not him”
He sighed and said “We’ll keep looking”
“I don’t understand…what about the statue?”
“What statue?”
“The one from my dream… I saw it last night”
He thought for a few seconds then looked down and said “Hannah, I think…maybe, it’s in your head”
“You think I’m crazy?”
“No, I just…”
She shook her head saying “I never should’ve told you about this”
She got up.
“Hannah…Wait”
“Just forget it Jake” she said and left.
While she was walking home she glimpsed the statue again then it disappeared. When she went home, she remembered her dad’s present. She looked for it everywhere and couldn’t find it.
Next morning at breakfast, Hannah said “Dad…”
“Yes, sweetie”
“There’s something….happening”
“Are you ok?”
“Yah, but…”
“Can’t it wait…I’m already late for work”
She nodded. He got up kissed her forehead and left.
At school she tried ignoring Jake.
“Hannah, Hannah please….” He called her while she was walking.
She stopped.
“I don’t want you to be mad at me”
“I’m not…”
“I can still help you”
“Thanks…I’ve got it” she said and left.
That night, she couldn’t sleep. The voice which became voices all moaning and crying the same words “I’m here, I’m still here…I still exist”
She put her pillow over her head trying to keep them out of her head till she fell asleep into her dream.
That time when she got closer to the statue and reached to touch her hand, she didn’t wake up. She touched the stony cold hand of the statue. Then the statue moved and closed its hand on hers then it moved his head and she saw it, she had no face.
“Forgotten” the statue said.
And then Hannah woke up.

Part Three
Hannah was walking in the corridor at her school, others pumping into her. She was lost, that she passed by Jake without looking at him.
At class, she tried to focus and drive everything else away.
“Can anyone else try solving this equation?” the teacher said.
Hannah raised her hand without being sure she even could.
“Anyone…” the teacher said.
Hannah stretched her hand trying to make it more visible.
“I know it’s a hard one…just try”
“Professor” Hannah finally called.
“Fine…concentrate with me to see how it’s done” the teacher said and turned to face the board.
There was nothing, completely empty. All of her things were gone, her room was vacant. He found it this way when she went home. She rushed down stairs, grabbed the phone and dialed her dad’s number.
“Hello” her dad answered.
“Dad, I think we were robbed”
“Hello, who is it?”
“Dad, it’s Hannah”
“Hello…hello”
“Dad, can’t you hear me?”
Her father hung up. She called him again and the same thing happened. She put down the phone, looked around trying to find out what to do. Until she glimpsed something, a picture of her as a baby with her mom, at least that’s how she remembered it. Because that time she was gone, only her mom was left holding the air.
She held the frame and gazed at it.
Shocked and scared she ran outside. A car almost ran her over, she fell on the ground. The car didn’t even stop.
She was gasping and her heart was racing.
Across the street she saw the boy but he wasn’t alone, many others were standing around him, boys and girls, young and old, Sad and cold faces all staring at her..
“Who are you? What do you want?” she screamed.
The people walking in the street didn’t seem to notice her or the others.
The boy walked to her and stretched her arm for her. She held it and he pulled her up.
“What’s going on?”
“You’re one of us now” he said.
“Who are you?”
“The Forgotten”
“What?”
“We’re those who were forgotten by the world…we’re alone and not alone, we exist but we don’t”
“I don’t understand”
“You disappeared, because people can no longer see you”
“No, that’s not possible”
“You’re gone…forgotten like all of us”
“I’m not forgotten…I’ve people who can’t forget me…my father” she stopped and remembered that he didn’t answer her.
“For someone to be forgotten, not only the people have to forget him…he has to forget himself first”
“How can someone forget himself?”
“When your present erases your past and abandons your future. It’s then when you lose yourself, when you forget yourself. And once this happens it’s no harder for others to forget you too”
She pulls her hand away and yells angrily “No…I’m not forgotten”
Hannah ran to the one who she knew can’t forget about her. She stopped in front of Jake’s house and started knocking. No one answered. The knocking got harder, her hand hurt and still the door was closed. She cried “Jake…anybody”
Jake opened the door but only to let his dog out.
She called out “Jake…Jake please answer me”
He didn’t look at her. he was about to close the door when she slipped in fast.
“Jake, please…I don’t want to be alone, I was lying…to myself” she said walking with him to his room.
“Jaaaaaake” she screamed.
“He can’t hear you” the boy appeared and said. She ran out.
She walked the streets trying to stop people passing by.
“Listen…look at me” she yelled and no one answered her or even looked at her. She fell on the ground crying.
“I’m here; I’m still here… please. I’m still breathing; still hurting, still feeling, still tearing…I still exist” A voice shouted so strong that you can feel it breaking. A voice so distressed, timid, shuddering, echoing through the streets, the houses, but it’s a voice unheard.
It was Hannah’s, the forgotten.

you made me Cry :'(
i love reading your Stories Dina Keep it up honey ;)
<3 <3

thanks baby <3 <3 <3 my no.1 fan and supporter...