It’s called a Purpose Line. It’s a line on the ground in front of you and only you can see your line. My line is blue, it’s my favorite color. When the line is followed and you don’t stray from it, you will live a meaningful life. They often lead you to lovers, new jobs or new friends. It’s a good tool, but I feel like I can’t make my own choices. Either follow the path or don’t. No one knows what happens when you step off the line because everyone’s been too afraid or just wanted to have a good life. No one’s ever heard of anyone who left their line. 

But I don’t like it. It decides my future whether I like it or not. I want to make my own choices, and live life to my accord. So one fateful day, I took a breath and stepped out of line. Everyone around me froze like they glitched out. They stopped midstep, mid-conversation, they completely froze. The world around me flickered, it changed seasons, then times of day, then years and then it disappeared completely. 

I was now standing on a large plate, just big enough to hold me. I looked around and I was surrounded by windows and people staring at me. Some faces looked familiar. I looked at one man and thought for a moment. Nick. Why do I know that name? That’s Nick. The doors opened and a man stepped through. He looked at me and said, “Welcome to the lab.” 

I slowly stepped off the plate and followed him through the door. He led me to an office and sat me down, he laid down a file and sat in front of me. 

“So, you’re Daniel Sinclar?” He asked.

I nodded, “What’s happening?” 

“You stepped out of the purpose line. People in that world no longer remember you. That boy, Nick, was your best friend awhile ago. But he stepped out, so you forgot him.” 

“I’m forgotten?”

He leaned forward and opened the file, “These are your stats. You got 76% happiness, 24% sadness. Your memories are 62% happy and 38% sad.” 

I thought about it for a moment to recall the happy memories, then in front of me, two buttons appeared. I looked to the tired man in front of me, he’s done this before.

“You have a choice. You may have another shot at life and try again. Or you can quit and work here and monitor the Purpose Lines and the people following them.” 

I looked at the buttons and back at the man, half to see if he’d give me the correct answer. His face was stone, he didn’t care what I chose.

“Will I remember anything?” My voice shook a little.

“No, you’ll remember nothing.”

I thought for a moment and my finger hesitated over the ‘quit’ button. Then, I got a spark of courage and pushed the ‘Continue’ button. The man nodded and he handed me a blue pill, “Take this.”