Reliving Memories

Reliving Memories

Stan, a 51-year-old purchasing agent for a midwest manufacturing company, pulls into the same parking spot everyday. Stan walks the same path through the front door and says the usual “good morning” to Emily the young receptionist. Walking down the hall Stan smiles at Donna the HR manager who is always engaged in a meeting or phone call. Turing the corner Stan predictably says “good morning Linda” to the always smiling accounting manager before reaching the back of the office and his gray cubical to start yet another day. Stan has a repetitive job sitting in the featureless cubical, staring at a computer monitor while he processes what seems like the same paperwork day after day. The divorce from years ago destroyed his plans for an exciting future and has left him on the hamster wheel of life. Each day the same as the last with nothing to look forward to.

The day is mostly smooth with the usual two or three crisis which make one question ones career path.

As the work day concludes, Stan closes the files on the computer and reverses his path back to his car. Driving home from another day at the office, Stan passes a bank and remembers years ago when it was the trendy restaurant in town: a seafood themed, reasonably priced restaurant providing an enjoyable experience.

Stan recalls taking a girl to the restaurant for a first date and smiles as he remembers the excitement of the evening and the start of a months-long relationship. It was a great time to be in your twenties and dating.

Being in your mid-twenties meant your collage chapter was complete as well as finding the first job. Dating was simple, there were no constraints, you were free to find someone that you were attracted to and build a relationship on a completely blank piece of paper. No children, no strong opinions of current events, no blending of families and finances.

Another feature about this time is that there were no cell phones. Sitting with your date in a restaurant or park bench allowed one hundred percent engagement; the world could be falling apart and it did not affect your time together. From the start of the date to the end you were essentially cut off from the world, and it wasn’t until you got home that you could check the answering machine or call friends. No one shared opinions or pictures of their food with the internet because there was no mobile internet access.

Sitting in the recliner, Stan can’t get the memory of that first date out of his mind and would love to relive the evening. Scrolling through his phone he sees an app called “Re-Live” for reliving past events. Curious, Stan downloads the app to his phone. The app ask for a brief description of the event and the first names of the people present. After entering the information Stan stares at the spinning symbol while his eyes get heavy from the long day.

Suddenly Stan is back in his new 1995 car on the way to pick up Amy for their first date. Stan was set up with Amy by a mutual friend who was sure that the two would be a good match. Stan drives into Amy’s parents driveway and eagerly walks to the front door to pick up his date and start the evening. Amy looks fantastic, Stan could not be happier as they head off to the restaurant. Everything goes well at dinner, afterwards they stop at a park to take a walk and enjoy some pleasant conversation. Stan and Amy discuss parents, siblings, high school, college and jobs, excited to learn as much about the other as possible.

The night ends back at Amy’s parents’ home with a pleasant kiss and the mutual desire to do this again. Stan could not be happier as he drives off into the night.

Suddenly the phone goes dark and Stan looks around the completely dark room from his recliner and realizes that he is back in his house and needs to go to bed so he can put in another day tomorrow.

The next day while working he periodically smiles as he remembers the Re-Live app from the previous night. Suddenly Stan gets a notice that Amy has accepted his Facebook friend request which is odd because he did not initiate a friend request. Thinking back Stan finds it strange that the Re-Live app did not ask for Amy’s last name so how did she get a friend request? Stan does not communicate further to not seem like a stalker because Amy is married.

Back in the recliner Stan looks at the app and still a little shaken about the friend request, Stan decides to delete the Re-Live app and forget this ever happened.

Its Saturday and Stan is running errands as he passes a city park and he remembers a particular night in the park with a girl named Tina. Stan smiles as he recalls the warm embrace and amazing make out session in the park. Later that night while on the recliner Stan looks in the App Store for the Re-Live app but it is not there. Stan is relieved because the app somehow contacted Amy, seemingly on its own. As the evening grew to a close and Stan’s eyes were getting heavy he notices the Re-Live app is back on his phone. Stan cannot get the memory of the park out of his mind so he goes to the Re-Live app, enters the information but this time he makes up a fake name for Tina. As the spinning symbol goes round and round Stan’s eyes get heavy. Suddenly Stan is back in his car, the sun is setting and he and Tina are driving into the park. Stan and Tina are walking through the park hand in hand under a cool fall full moon. Every moment of the embrace and make out session is played out again in real time. The passion is incredible just as he experienced it the first time. The Re-Live app went dark and Stan was again looking around the dimly lit, quiet room of his house.

The following day Stan gets a message from Tina, “Why did you contact me four times on Saturday night? I am happily married, DO NOT do this again.” Stan’s entire body goes numb. Stan thought, “how could this happen, I did not use her real name!” Again, Stan deletes the Re-Live app from his phone, powers off the phone and stares at it in disbelief. Stan realizes that this app is making real-world connections that could brand him as a stalker.

Weeks pass and Stan is out driving and takes a wrong turn into a neighborhood. Something looks familiar Stan thinks when one particular house jumps out at him. Stan slowly remembers this house and the young lady who lived inside. This is where Susan lived, this is where Susan and Stan had a deeply passionate, spectacular evening. Stan smiled as the memories flashed through his head.

The day ends as every day ends, Stan is on the recliner scrolling through his phone when he sees the Re-Live app back on his phone. Chills go down his spine as he recalls the stern message from Tina “DO NOT do this again”. Stan would love to upload the Re-Live app one more time for the night in that house with Susan but he cannot deal with the backlash of the app. Even if he uses a different name the Re-Live app makes the connection, its way too risky. Alone in the dark quiet house he searches for a way to use the app but not make the connection to Susan. The quietness of the house is deafening, the darkness is consuming. Then it hits him, Airplane Mode. Will the Re-Live app work if the phone is offline? Certainly not so what is the harm in trying? Stan enters the information and uses an extreme fake name, “Consuelo,” for Susan. After hitting “Enter,” the spinning symbol appears. Stan is confused, this should not be happening. Stan cannot take his eyes off the app as it spins for what seems like an eternity.

The warm summer air covers Stan’s body as he waits for “Consuelo” to open the door. The door opens and he knows that he should not go in but the temptation is just too much. Stan goes in and the night again repeats in real time. Stan’s memories play out just as they did that night so long ago. Every bit of the passion is as real as it was on that incredible evening.

As Stan crosses the threshold to exit the house the summer moonlight goes dark and Stan is back in the recliner with the deafening quiet and consuming darkness. Stan smiles just as he did the night he left Susan’s house. Stan decides to leave the phone in airplane mode as he goes to bed.

The next morning Stan is back in the gray cubical staring at the computer monitor when he remembers that his phone is still in airplane mode. Taking the phone off airplane mode, Stan is slightly apprehensive but everything was done offline so it should not be a problem. The day ends in the gray cubical and Stan leaves the office to go home.

Three days pass as Stan periodically recalls the excitement of the last Re-Live app adventure when he finds a certified letter in the mail box from a lawyer. Stan trembles as he reads the No Contact court order and the description of the penalties if he contacts Susan in any way. Stan makes his way into his house and collapses in the nearest chair. “How is this possible?” Stan wonders, “The phone was offline, I used a fake name. This Re-Live app is going to destroy my life!” Stan quickly picks up the phone and searches for the app. It is not on the phone; it is not in the App Store. This is getting very dangerous.

Over the next month Stan only gets online to check email, banking information and an occasional news story. Everything seems to be quiet but Stan still cannot understand how the Re-Live app pulls information from his brain and finds the people involved. The excitement of reliving his past is amazing but it comes with a price, a price proportional to the intensity of the adventure.

Stan’s life is stagnant, the day to day drone of the job in the gray cubical seems to suck the soul right out of his body. Dating at age 51 is full of complications; everyone is opinionated and easily insulted. Guys need to be cautious when making the first move. Guys need to be dressed fashionably but not overly flashy. Guys need to always be on the lookout for gold diggers. Dating at Stan’s age is exhausting, and it’s much easier to relax in the recliner and live vicariously through YouTube videos.

Stan looks to his phone for excitement when an idea hits him. What if he makes up the girl, the memory, the city, the car, and the restaurant, with absolutely no connection to any living person? The time of the memory is recent so it cannot connect to anyone from the past. What could go wrong? Stan starts taking notes to make sure everything is perfect. All of the details for the Re-Live app are complete. Now to see if the app is available, again with trembling hands he searches the phone, slowly, page after page and there it is, last page, last app.

Stan opens the Re-Live app, sighs, and starts entering every detail of the fabricated memory. As he finishes the details he looks around the now dark room and slowly pushes the start button.

At first nothing, Stan’s eyes get heavy as he waits, everything goes black. Stan is suddenly snapped back into consciousness as he is driving down a road. The GPS tells him where to turn as it directs him to the driveway of a pleasant house. Stan calmly approaches the door as if it were a dream, because it is a dream. Everything plays out exactly as the notes he entered into the Re-Live app. Dinner was wonderful, the concert was fantastic and the kiss and embrace at the door was perfect. Driving home things went dark and Stan woke in his recliner in the dark room once again.

The next day, Sunday, Stan finds himself back on his recliner. One minute he is joyfully recalling the previous night, the next minute he is terrified of what may happen. Suddenly his phone breaks the silence, he looks at the screen, the caller ID reviles the name Linda, the accounting manager from the office, Stan answers with a hesitant hello. “Hello Stan, I have been hoping to hear from you so I decided to call. I really enjoyed our evening.”