I live out in the middle of nowhere. In Idaho. If you follow a dirt road that seemingly goes nowhere, in about five minutes, you will find a row of townhomes. That is where I live. We don’t have any city folk here. We don’t like people from the city. They are always trying to take advantage or scam. We have found that they cannot be trusted. So, we stay to ourselves, out in the woods, out in the middle of nowhere, down a dirt road, and we have our peace.

Long ago, I decided that I would stray and go get an education. Leave the quiet farming town of Coomington, Idaho and find a new passion for life. I decided not to move but rather I commute an hour to the nearest city, where they have schools and city jobs. Ever since then, the strangest things have happened. I usually see the same ol’ country folks day in and day out. Now, all of a sudden, every day I see a new face and I learn something I didn’t know before. I have found that life outside of a small town isn’t as bad as I was led to believe.

As soon as I was enjoying my new life, a strange and bewildering occurrence happened. I walked out my backdoor and locked it behind me. The key always jams. I have to pull the door tight and hold it and then turn the key or else the key won’t turn. I hate fumbling with this door. I finally get it locked. I turn around and a smile comes over me. I feel hopeful and the birds are chirping. Suddenly, I remember that I live next door to a horse and cow farm. The wind brought in a whiff of what cows and horses leave behind as they toil about grazing the fields. My smile runs away from me like a thief after they do their robbin’. You never do get used to those smells.

Somberly, I walk toward my truck, the large rocks and gravel crunch under my feet. The dogs are barking, and the cows are mooing. The horses are galloping, the children are playing in the creek. The chickens are chickening. Everything seems in place and usual. Nothing is out of the ordinary and all is well in the world. Just another day in Coomington, Idaho. Suddenly a sound assaults my ears. This sound is unusual. It’s barking but the barking doesn’t sound at all like ol’ Pearson’s hunting beagles. This sound I hear is a smaller breed of dog. One of those yappy city dogs that are all groomed and prissy.

As I round the corner to get to my truck, the barking gets louder. I love my pickup. Her name is Dolly. She’s built tough but rides smooth like a kitten purrs. They don’t often see a woman driving a pickup truck in the city. I get a lot of stares and glib comments. I guess that’s expected. The city women have never killed their own dinner and they only haul groceries. They’re more concerned with primpin’ than hoggin’. If they saw a bore running down the city sidewalk they wouldn’t know what to do, they would probably run and scream. They can’t drive a stick or a dirt bike. They don’t know how much fun four wheelin’ is. They would rather go to a wine tasting and eat cheese cabobs.

My mind does wander sometimes but the yapping is getting louder. I turn the corner and see a city man holding a white primped up mini poodle. The man is dressed in a fancy trench coat with expensive dress shoes and a city hat that the businessmen often wear as they go to and fro in the city streets. The man is standing next to my Dolly. He is looking at my face with a longing and relief. The dog is barking at me like she is trying to say something. I get nervous when strangers are around here down that long dirt road. What business could he possibly have here?

“Can I help you, sir?”

“Do you recognize me?”

I said no.

“I don’t look at all familiar to you?”

“I’m quite sure I know who I know, and I don’t know who I don’t, and I have never met you before.”

“Oh no, they got you too. What about Darlene? This dog, do you know this dog?”

“I don’t know that dog. My dog Buggo died years ago, and he was a mutt. Dogs like these belong to prissy city women who primp and polish.” I lean into the dog while saying this and she licks my nose.

“Oh no. They wiped you. They wiped your memory.”

“Who is they, and what are you talking about, sir? You must be on those city drugs. You must be in need of a doctor because I can’t help you. You have clearly come a long way and for nothing because you got the wrong lady”

“Look at these,” he said while holding one of those fancy electronic tablets in my face. I see plenty of pictures. My jaw drops and my world becomes dark and suddenly I can’t hear the birds chirping or the horses galloping. The chickens I can’t hear chickening, and the splashes of the children playing in the creek slowly fade away. The yapping is gone, like when you turn down the volume of a song until you can’t hear it anymore. It’s just me and these pictures.

“That’s me.”

“Yes, Jessie,” he says emphatically. “That is you. You are my wife. See, these are our marriage photos,” he scrolls down, “and these were taken during our honeymoon. This is our dog, Darlene. You named her that. We have been married 276 days now. We live together in the city. You have been attacked. The secret agency wiped your memory.”

“Secret agency, what secret agency?”

“They are only called the secret agency. They do experiments on everyday people, and you were one of their guinea pigs. They have powers that no one in this world knows about or could even understand. We are both in danger. I know too much. We have a deep love, and now it seems that they have taken our love forever.”

I begin to run back toward my backdoor. He runs behind me, gravel crunching under our feet.

“Where are you going, honey?”

“I can’t handle this; I have no idea what is going on. I should have never ventured out to the city. Now I have no idea what is happening. I was warned that I can’t trust city folks.”

“Give me a chance to talk more to you and show you more pictures.”

I grab my key and try to force it in the keyhole. I hate fumbling with this thing.

“That key won’t work. You don’t live here anymore. This is not your home. Listen to me!” He grabs my arm.

I look at him and say, “I just came out of this door a few minutes ago,” as my eyes flood with tears.

Just then the door opens, and a sweet but startled elderly woman peeks out and asks what is going on at her back door. My heart drops. I am aghast at this situation that is rearing its ugly head, mocking me as thoughts race through my mind echoing the question, “What is happening?” Suddenly, everything goes black, and I pass out with a thud as my limp body awkwardly hits the ground.

“Good morning, Jessie. How are you doing today?”

“Where am I? Who are you?”

“You are in your bed on the beautiful purple planet of Higum, and I am your life assistant, here for any need you may have, as usual.”

“I can’t remember anything. I feel weird, like I don’t know where I come from or what I’m doing here”

“This isn’t the first time this has happened. I am here for you, and I will help you remember who you are”

“I am not supposed to be here; something feels off.”

The assistant then turns and draws up a clear liquid out of a vial into a syringe.

She says, “You are where you belong.”

Jessie sits up and is about to run when the assistant lifts her hand in front of Jessie, which paralyzes her. Jessie is scared and in shock but can’t move or talk. The assistant places her hand back up in front of Jessie. She feels herself laying back, and her head rests on the pillow.

She feels the stabbing pain of the needle going into her upper arm muscle, then stinging as the serum enters her muscle fibers. Everything went black slowly over thirty seconds time. Jessie goes into a deep sleep. The assistant is alone in the room with Jessie. The room is all white and sterile looking. It is cold and smells like chemicals. She begins to speak.

“Where are we sending her next?”

An image appears floating before the assistant. It is the indescribable face of the leader. He is not appearing via projector or an other-worldly device, but in his own power. His voice sounds like many voices speaking in harmony.

“We’ll send her back to Earth momentarily while we prepare for the next expedition. We must fulfill Earth’s postulation for level two in the Book of Arcs. Send her back to the city to continue her training. She has not given up yet. She is still fighting. Wipe her again. Do a total depletion, then fill her memory with M1V2. We will continue the breaking process.”

“Understood. Implementation will begin immediately,” she says with a smile. He winks and says, “I will see you later, I have something for you.”

He disappears, and she again is alone in the room with Jessie. She begins implementing the given protocol.