The Forgotten City🔊

Once upon a time, in the farthest corner of the world, there was a place known as 'The Forgotten City'. Surrounded by thick, bright emerald forests and bordered by the azure-blue Mediterranean Sea, the settlement was named so because no one remembered how it was built, and every memory of its past seemed to have vanished like the wind.

The city was shaped like an amulet, adorned with structures built to perfection, and filled with dwellings of magnificent beauty. Their elegant simplicity and classical facades suggested that they were the product of an advanced ancient civilization. Streets were laid with cobblestones, lined with iridescent lamps that magically lit up every evening as if guided by some divine hand, making the city look like a constellation fallen from the sky.

The one peculiarity of the city was its people. In the Forgotten City, there lived people from different parts of the world, each having arrived there under mysterious circumstances, and having chosen to call it home. Some of them were shipwrecked sailors, some wanderers lost in the infinite sea, while others were just curious travelers. Yet, none of them had any recall of their past lives.

In spite of their loss of memory, they weren't disturbed or melancholic. In fact, they lived happily, in a way that no one in the outside world did. The city became their paradise. The city had a peculiar way of making everybody forget their regrets, anxieties, fears, and prejudices. All the citizens relished their new-found identities. They created their own world, their own society, their own culture, and their own customs.

While life was beautiful in the Forgotten City, one day, the tranquility was disrupted by the sudden appearance of an outsider. Dressed differently from the inhabitants of the city, the man had dark mysterious eyes and carried an aura of strangeness around him. The man was Aster, a scholar who had dedicated his life to finding the Forgotten City, based on ancient legends.

Unlike the residents, Aster hadn't lost his memories. He arrived with many questions but soon fell deeply in love with the city and its composure. Learning about their lack of memory but finding them still content, he was captivated by the resilience and spirit of the people.

Engrossed in the enigma of this paradox, one day, Aster found a hidden underground library in his exploration. It was a cornucopia of ancient scrolls, texts, and maps, all, unfortunately, unreadable. After months of relentless study, the scholar deciphered the city's strange amnesia. It was due to an elixir unknowingly ingested by the city inhabitants through the city waters, which erased all memories of the past but gave immense joy and peace in the present. However, an antidote existed, which could restore memory but would also bring back the anguish attached to their former lives.

Aster was thrown into a dilemma. To tell and restore their memories or let them live in ignorant bliss? The city walls, the sea, the streets were silent. Several sleepless nights later, Aster made his choice.

He burned the antidote recipe. The city didn't need it, he thought, they were content as they were. Aster then destroyed the information from the library about their pasts to protect their innocent happiness. Instead, he chose to live amongst them, adopted their lifestyle, and willingly drank the elixir to forget the turmoil of his past.

The story of the Forgotten City remains a testament to the power of starting anew. For in forgetting, they found a way to live the present fully and built a unique society where everyone lived as equals. Today, the Forgotten City, somewhere in the farthest corner of the world, continues to welcome anyone ready to leave their past, promising tranquility, serenity, and a sense of belonging.