Joys of Forgotten Memories
Really rather randomly, I began sorting through my house. Perhaps it was a pre-Christmas Clean-out, or it was spring-cleaning – really early or really late! I know a lot of what’s in my house, so there shouldn’t really have been any discoveries, except I have a lot of forgotten things.
See, I’m a hoarder. Of the worst kind.
I found a box full of floppy disks. Anyone remember those? Before CDs, before DVDs, before memory sticks and cards there were 3.5 floppy disks. I found at least 50 of them, all filled with random stuff from a decade ago.
In my youth, I got into writing by using characters and scenarios from television shows – it was long before I had access to the internet and even longer before I knew the term fanfiction. I found a load of all stories, mainly written before I turned 18, most of which have never seen the light of day. I knew that they were there though.
What I never expected to find were random poems that I wrote long before anything that has ever appeared online, stories that I wrote for friends and stories that I wrote with friends. I found diary entries, copies of emails and random short stories about heartbreak and pain. There was all of my university work and old family photos.
Most of the writing I found was unfinished, or too short and sweet to be ready for human consumption, but it might only take a bit of work to be ready. I guess I should have other priorities as there’s a novella I should be working on and some geekish work I really should finish, but the scent of something new (or old) has a very strong allure.
It just feels so nice to have found all these files that I put time, energy and creative thoughts into years ago and the possibility that I could utilise those long forgotten ideas. Not only are there the short, heartbroken stories, but there’s also the alien universes I created and the backstory to characters and their relationships. There was a series of stories I wrote (when very young) with a huge background and future mapped out before them.
Maybe my in depth future planning of fictional creations of my mind was foretelling how much I now plan my own life and assume there’s a future already written for me. All of these characters that I spent my youth with and there’s now a chance that I could finish what I started with these people I know better than anyone could ever know me.
More than those long forgotten creations, I found the beginnings of online friendships, some of which still exist today and I can’t wait to email that person with copies of our early conversations. There’s also the story I wrote a friend for her birthday over a decade ago and now, if I decide to, I can give her a new copy next year for her birthday.
Oh, to be immersed in the past! What perfect timing for the first blog in my new category of Monday Memories.
~ Persephone M
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