He remembered feeling confused. And as he woke up, lifting his face
from the cold dirt, he saw others with that same expression, face
twisted and looking around. In seeing these faces, he felt a jolt of
familiarity he had not felt the morning before.

“Hey, can you
point me in the direction of those berries, again?” he asked a girl
who seemed to be wandering around aimlessly.

“I - I don’t
know you.” she said before she walked off, shaking her head.

“That’s odd.”
he thought. Yesterday, everyone was raving about these bushes of
berries, a couple of miles into the forrest. However, he just could
not find them. He went to bed hungry, but now the hunger was like a
beast inside of him, consantly taking bites out of his empty insides.
He needed to find that bush.

He
walked for hours in that forrest. He almost lost hope many times, an
easy thing to do when you’re completely surrounded by trees with no
way out in sight. Finally though, relying on tips from the lucky
people with full bellies, he found the bushes.

They
were beautiful, with lush leaves and crimson berries. A small crowd
had formed, but the berries were in no short supply. He ran ahead,
fueled more by his body then his mind. But as he reached the bushes,
his mind took over. Something felt… off. Was this really the only
food source? His body screamed that it didn’t matter, but he forced
his mind to stay in control.

He
pushed through the bushes, getting dozens of little cuts. What he
found was a beach, though at the time he didn’t know that word.
There were a couple of men and women in suits, standing there.

“What
do you remember?” a man asked. He had brown eyes and a straight
jaw, all businessas he crossed his arms.

“Wh
– of my whole life” he stuttered. “Yesterday was the first day
of my existence. I spent it hungry.”

“That
is wrong,” All-Business replyed. “Yesterday was not the
first day of your existence. You have been alive for seventeen years.
Your name is Xavier.”

Xavier.
Xavier felt the word wash over him like distant waves. Seventeen
years? He came into existence yestereday. If he had been alive for
longerhe would remember it. Right?

A
woman standing next to All-Business smiled knowingly as she stepped
forward. She handed him a fistful of berries, identical in shape and
size to the crimson ones, but vanta black, blacker than All-Business’
suit.

“These
will restore your memory,” the woman said. Xavier looked coubtful
so she popped a couple in her mouth.

“You
will remember everything,” All-Business reassured Xavier.

Xavier
tossed the berries in his mouth.

@Moon Wolf Can you please judge?

I am sincerely sorry for being late! I was a bit busy for the past few days, but anyways, here's the judging, and both these entries were really really good~

Second Place - Piano Man!

I really enjoyed how the beginning was constructed, with the detailed descriptions and thoughts. I especially liked, “Yesterday was not the first day of your existence. You have been alive for seventeen years. Your name is Xavier", which paints a sense of confusion for the reader, and builds suspense especially when at the end Xavier eats the berries to recall memories. Fabulously written! 

First Place - Lord Entropy!

I love the descriptions of the setting, and the main character's contrasting thoughts compared to those around them give a sense of dystopia/utopia. I love the ending where it says, "The cities are probably still about as unpopulated and dirty and dark as before, but I am okay. I am more than okay. I am going to be alright." Overall, amazing! Congrats! You are the next judge! 

sick, thanks! piano man, i really liked your piece! uhhh new prompt is waiting, ok

Thanks Moon Wolf and Lord Entropy! I loved your story, Lord Entropy. I could really picture the scenes. I'll try to enter this next contest.

Ok so I signed myself as anonymous, I hope that's not a problem.

Waiting room~ 

She takes a seat in one of the chairs. The chair is red velvet, soft. Some of the threads on it are frayed, and stuffing is coming out, but it seems to swallow her whole. She looks so small in the  chair, but she doesn’t let her guard down. The walls are a sickish beige. It looks freshly painted, but she knows she’s the only person who’s been in there for a while. She turns to her right, saying, Tick tock, little Angel. She faces her right for some time, then turns to her left. Secretly, little Angel. Tick tock. In her mind: ANGELS>CLOCK__TICKTOCKTICKTOCKTICK>STATIC*(DARK DARK RED BACK NO NO SECrET>

Zoom out.

Her mind is chaos.

It is the definition of panic.

It takes over your-*m*nd> BLank>--

sh–e*s w-a>iting

DARK DARK RED>

when's judging? I have a piece that is rapidly approaching being done.