Prompt #32

“Who’s the last person you would want to remember?”  I read the question and immediately knew what it meant.  Who in the world would I like to remember with my dying moments?  Who would I want to hold in my mind as I let go of my grasp on life?  It’s a romantic question, in the old sense of the word, and it evokes such mood.

Then I read the next line.  The teacher claims that there is more than one meaning to that question.  But what does he mean?  Then, the other meaning dawned on me.  In the whole world, who is the person that I don’t want to remember.  Who have I used all of my mental powers to rid from my mind?  Who has impressed me so badly with who they are and what they’ve done that I never, ever want to remember them.

Which begs the question.  Does the instructor enjoy my discomfort?  Does he really want me to remember the person I least want to remember?  Apparently so.  I knew college teachers weren’t human.

So I wracked my brain.  Who do I hate that badly?  Or who have I tried to forget?  Well everybody has someone like that.  But if I’ve tried and succeeded to forget him or her, then how am I supposed to remember this mystery person?  And why should I?  

Who does this teacher think he is, after all?  These questions all along have been dreadfully personal.  And I only trust the government with my darkest secrets.  Is this teacher some kind of stalker?  Is he building up enough information about me to steal my identity?  Then again, it would be a trick for my adult male teacher to take on my identity – a female college student.  But really, it could happen.

I guess it all comes down to privacy.  And maybe paranoia.  But mostly privacy.