FORGOTTEN

FORGOTTEN

About 5 years prior to the events I'm about to describe, I took a job as a store clerk at best buy. My job was to stock the shelves with games, and I enjoyed this because I got major nostalgia waves from seeing the old games I had to stock. On July 7th, 2010, I got up and started getting ready for work. I got in my car, and drove to work. When I got there, my manager greeted me and told me there was a batch of used games to stock on the shelves in the used game category.

Most of the games were GBA games, but there were a few DS titles and two N64 cartidges, which were Mario Kart and Banjo Kazooie. As I started sorting the games on the shelves I again felt the nostalgia of seeing old games, especially with Banjo Kazooie. At the bottom of the pile I spotted something unusual, an old gameboy game: Metroid 2. I was curious, as I had never played this game. I was also surprised because this was a really old game, and I was pretty sure no-one would want it so I put it at the back of the shelf.

A few months later, I had completely forgotten about it until I noticed it, at the back of the shelf, right where I had put it. Alot of the games around it had been bought, but for some reason people didn't want it. I assumed this was because it was for the original gameboy and most people don't have those. Except me. My curiosity spiking, I took the game off the shelf and took it to the back of the store, where I showed my manager. He said he didn't remember the game, and that I could have it since it hadn't sold. I thanked him and pocketed the cartridge. Feeling happy, I returned to my shift and finished up work.

11:07 PM, Friday

By the time I got back to my house, (I had gone for a few drinks with my friends after work.) I was feeling tired and had had several drinks. I flopped down on the couch, and, remembering the gameboy game, I pulled it out of my pocket. I left it on the table, and walked down the hall to the ladder to my attic. I pulled down the trapdoor and climbed up. Rummaging through the contents of the attic, I found a box which had my old NES in it, and above it: My old gameboy.

I walked back downstairs, plugged the cartridge in, and started it up. The game screen came up, with a normal title and dull background music. I pressed start and selected save 1, then started it. It turned out there was already a save on that slot, no doubt from the previous owner. At first the save started up normally, with music playing and graphics fully loaded, except for one thing. Samus was missing from the screen, and the camera was focused on thin air. It was a bit wierd, and I grew worried that maybe the cartridge was corrupted. Then Samus appeared. She was stuck in the wall to the right of the camera, and her health was draining rapidly.

Before I could do anything, Samus's health drained completely and Samus disintegrated. Then the game crashed. I restarted the gameboy, and the game started up normally. I selected save 1 again, but this time I cleared the data and then started it. Samus appeared at her spaceship, strangely enough I had one energy tank and the plasma beam. I assumed the plasma beam was the beam you started with in the game, having never played it before. The game proceeded normally, and I had been playing for a good half hour when the game crashed completely unexpectedly. "Crap!" I exclaimed, restarting the gameboy in frustration. The game took a lot longer to load this time, and I was definitely starting to think that the game cartridge was corrupted. Suddenly the start menu loaded, and the game emitted a loud screeching noise. I started, then proceeded to launch the game on save 1 and the screeching stopped.

I was pretty sure that the cartridge was just broken, and considered just throwing it away. The game loaded, and I had lost all my progress. I was back at the spaceship, and I didn't have any energy tanks or weapons, and I couldn't use the morph ball. The metroid counter was also at 0. I decided to try playing again, but I couldn't move Samus. Instead, she crouched and the music stopped. It was eerie. Suddenly the game started screaming, and Samus's arms exploded into blood. And it was red. Blood was pouring everywhere. I was shocked. I couldn't believe it, it was impossible for the game to have color. After a few more seconds Samus appeared on the floor, dead. No more blood, just her eerie body. The music resumed, but it was different. It sounded twisted, demonic. After a few more seconds in which I tried to turn the power off to no avail, Samus appeared again. She was standing over the body of Samus, and she was in full color. She turned and ran off the screen to the right. The screen suddenly flashed up a picture.

It was samus, looking straight at me, with her visor removed. Her eye sockets were empty, as if looking into the void. Text appeared: "I am Aran. Forgotten, but not alone. At least I have YOU!" The game flashed between the picture and red. I screamed and dropped the gameboy. My clock struck midnight. I ran towards my kitchen, but blacked out at the doorway.

When I woke up, I was in my bed, staring up at the ceiling. I sat up, and looking at my bedside table, saw my gameboy and the cartridge. The cartridge was smashed, like it was hit with a sledgehammer. The game title was busted up, and now just read: "Metroid 2: Return" I took the cartridge, walked outside, and chucked it in my garbage bin. I quit my job at Best Buy, and tried to forget about the game. I still get nightmares though...