2020

"Alright. It's almost midnight, 2020 is almost over", You exclaimed with a hearty smile. "Good!" said Tyler. "Yeah, it's been one of the worst years EVER" said Charlie, who was relaxing on the couch. You look back at the clock and start counting down the final seconds of this accursed year. [[Three!]]

[[Two!]]

[[One!]]

As you make a little "hah!" sound to accompany the time changing, it provides a different number than you expected. The clock reads 11:60. You raise your eyebrows at the clock and rub your eyes, but nothing changes. [[Huh!?]]

You turn to your friends and say, "Why does the clock say 11:60?" Tyler and Charlie look at you with confused faces as they try to figure it out as well, but are interrupted by a message on the TV. [[Welcome to 2020 Version 2.]]

The TV reads out in a monotone voice. "We recognize the failures of the first trail of 2020 and we want to do better. We ask for your forgiveness and to allow us a chance to try again. Thank you for your patience and our most sincere apologies for delaying 2021." You think this is some joke that some news station did or some prank your friends pull on you, but one more message pops up at the screen that makes your stomach sink into a black hole. [[Yours truly...]]

"The Creators, Project Mandela. Stage one begins now. Good luck!" The TV turns off with a loud static and you scoff trying to play off that this is a huge prank. "What the hell wa-" As you turn to your friends after the chilling message you got, you notice something. [[Your friends are gone.]]

The two places where your friends have gone are empty and you start breathing heavier then usual. You are forgetting things and can't remember what has happened. You can forget or remember. Which will you choose? [[Remember.]] [[Forget.]]

You can't recall a single moment that has happened in 2020. Not a single thing. You are remembering 2019 as if it was yesterday, your head starts to throb and you lie down on the couch. Tears start to well up in your eyes as you feel like something is wrong with you, but you know that nothing is. You can't tell what is real anymore. Something is supposed to be in your head, but there is nothing. Suddenly, everything fades to black. [[...]]]

As you make that conscious decision, more static comes from the TV and the same monotone voice plays. "We can grant you that request, but only for as long as we see fit. Do you agree under our terms?" [[Yes.]] [[No.]]

"Then I am afraid that your little game is over." After the ominous message is said, you only feel fatigue, and exhaustion beyond anything you can ever imagine being put onto your body. You lay on the floor, tetering the line going conscious and unconscious. You hear a final message. "Never bite the hand that feeds you." [[...]]

You feel like this has already happened, but you know it hasn't. The clock still says 11:59. You start to ponder if the thing you just remembered was real or not, then you remember that there is a name for this type of thing. The Mandela Effect. Your friends have counted down and you decide to join in on the last second. [[One!]]

This is only the beginning.