Drabble 102 – Algomnemonesis

I somehow missed drabble number 102 when I was numbering them, which is actually perfect because algomnemnesis is a neologism (another fun new word–and that’s no joke) related to memory. Painful memory, specifically. My missing the correct number is not a particularly painful memory, but I’m addressing it all the same. Without it, my list of drabbles won’t be complete.

I’m sure the ground of painful memories has been tread at least a billion times, and I don’t have much to add to that that hasn’t been said by others. If I could jar up my bad memories but keep them on a shelf, I would. I don’t want them gone, because, unfortunately, they are as much a part of me as all the good ones. But how much of a relief would it be to excise them like a malignant growth and preserve them for study?

Anyway, here’s a drabble.

ALGOMNEMONESIS

(n.) from Greek algos, pain, and mneme, memory

Painful memories.

There are so many ways to handle a problem. Anna keeps hers in a jar.

It’s something she learned on her own. Early experiments resulted in lost memories; she knows there are gaps in her memory where things used to be, but she can’t get them back. She mostly doesn’t mind.

Containing a memory is difficult and painful and troubling, but the spell works. Anna casts the painful things she carries into jars—empty pickle jars, salsa jars, jam jars—and sets them on a shelf to be studied and analyzed. She dusts them weekly and the memories wink out at her like so many fireflies.