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The document explores the concept of an 'Archive of Might-Have-Been,' where a receptionist files records of people who never existed, driven by grief, guilt, and love. Visitors seek answers about their lost connections, while the receptionist discovers her own forgotten identity in the process. Ultimately, the narrative suggests that some individuals only become real through the memories and needs of others, even if just for a fleeting moment.

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39 views2 pages

555

The document explores the concept of an 'Archive of Might-Have-Been,' where a receptionist files records of people who never existed, driven by grief, guilt, and love. Visitors seek answers about their lost connections, while the receptionist discovers her own forgotten identity in the process. Ultimately, the narrative suggests that some individuals only become real through the memories and needs of others, even if just for a fleeting moment.

Uploaded by

krystalzhang612
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Title: The Archive of People Who Never Existed

Author: Elen R. Ashed

Chapter 1: The Receptionist

She worked in a building that had no windows.

Her job was simple:


She filed records.
But not of real people.

Only of those who almost were.

The boy someone dreamed of having but miscarried.


The version of a woman who said yes instead of no.
A friend you almost met, but didn’t catch the train.

She called it: “The Archive of Might-Have-Been.”

Chapter 2: The Visitors

No one knew how to find the building.

But people came.

They arrived on quiet nights, through cracks in their lives.


Grief led them.
So did guilt.
And occasionally, love.

They asked:

“Is she here?”


“Did I erase him?”
“Do I still remember them, or did I invent it?”
She never answered.
She only opened a drawer.

Chapter 3: The Drawer With Her Own Name

One night, the building shook.


Alarms sounded, though nothing burned.
And she found a file labeled:
HER
But no name. No dates. No photo.

Only a single line:

“The woman who remembered everyone except herself.”


She sat down for the first time in years.

Chapter 4: What Happens When You’re Remembered

That night, a little girl across the city woke up from a dream.

She ran to her mother and said:

“There was a woman made of silence.


But I remembered her name for her. I whispered it into the dark.”
And somewhere, in the Archive—
a light blinked on.

Just once.

But enough.

Epilogue: Some Records File Themselves

We think we forget.
We think we imagine.

But sometimes,
a person only becomes real
because someone out there needed them to exist—

even for a moment.


Even in a dream.
Even in a file.

Especially… in silence.

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