Have you ever heard of the Mandela Effect? If not then let me explain what it is.The Mandela Effect is when multiple people share the same false memories, for example, many people believed that Curious George had a tail and they were very sure of it but in all reality Curious George never had a tail. I bring up this because I have a story of my own where I have experienced a very cruel case of this or rather a very cruel case of the universe's wrongdoing.

     I was in my last day of my college semester and usually very few individuals attend the lecture hall so when i walked in there were only about 7 other people that attended the lecture hall. The professor walked in and said “I see that very few of you have decided to come today, no worries as I have an interesting topic today that some of you may find very intriguing. Today we are going to be talking about the Mandela Effect. The Mandela Effect is a very intriguing topic if you really dive down deep into the thought of it. The Mandela Effect is when multiple individuals have the same false memories.” Todd said “What's so cool about that?” I threw my elbow into Todd's side. The professor said, “As I was saying, the Mandela Effect is a very mysterious phenomenon and we are going to speak a little bit about it today.”

    After the Lecture Hall me and Todd went to the cafeteria and ate lunch. I said “Hey Todd, do you remember the whole class we had at that church school we used to be in?” Todd replied with “Yeah there were seven of us in total.” I said “No, there were eight of us, Me, you, Jonathan, Ruby, Ayden, Violet, Sarah, and Samantha.” Todd said “Samantha? Who is Samantha?” I said “You know, the shy girl with the blonde hair and pigtails.” Todd said “Are you okay dude? I clearly remember there were only seven of us.” I said “Yes, I vividly remember there being 8 of us.” Todd said “I think you need a break from school because you're starting to go crazy.” I said “Maybe you're right, I have been stressing myself out lately.” In the back of my mind I was sure of her existence but there was no way I could prove it to Todd so I took his advice and took a break from school and went back home. 

    I went back home with my mom and asked her about Samantha “I have a couple of photos of your class, I'll send them over to you.” she said. I sighed in relief as I thought I would finally have proof of Samantha being in our class. I opened the message that my mom sent me and I looked at the photo, I saw everyone, but Samantha. A wave of panic hit me and I frantically looked around the image and I saw that there was a blank space between me and Todd, Samantha’s spot. I looked at the empty spot and wondered what the blank spot could be other than Samantha’s spot. My brain felt lied to by the thought of false memories but at the same time I had hope that there was still proof of her being in that class or rather, ever existing.

   I went to everyone's Facebook and asked for a get together to see how everyone is and reflect on old memories but in all reality, i just wanted to make sure i wasn't crazy. Everyone came but I was disappointed when Samantha didn't come. Seeing everyone then after seeing them as kids I was shocked at how they still looked the same. Everyone was having a good time but I was still waiting for a “Where's Samantha?” but my ears were disappointed to not hear anyone say that or any correlation to that question. Towards the end of the get together i was very uneasy and thinking about if i was crazy or not for me only remembering Samantha. I couldn't contain myself and asked out loud “Does anyone know where Samantha is?” I looked around the living room and saw nothing but blank faces and a face of disappointment from Todd. “Samantha? Who is Samantha?” Ayden asked. “Yeah I don't know who Samantha is.” Ruby said. “You don’t remember the quiet girl that had blonde hair and pigtails and we always thought her mom was so cool because she had a nice car?” I said. Everyone stood there with blank minds, I sat there on the couch thinking if I was crazy. “I remember her.” a voice said from the back of the room. It was Jonathan. “I used to have a crush on her.” he said shyly. A wave of relief hit me and I looked up at the ceiling thinking about all the memories of her that I have knowing that they were all  true and rather not false memories. Everyone looked at me and Jonathan wondering what we were talking about talking about all the memories we had of her, the emotions I felt talking about the memories made me happy knowing i'm not alone with these memories.

   After everyone left I went and looked for her through Facebook finding no sign of her, I looked through every social media platform and asked around to find out where she was at now but there was no trace of her anywhere. I started feeling scared thinking about the thought of her never Existing. I went and looked through my mom’s storage unit and I started losing hope after not being able to find any proof of her ever existing, but I found one more box labeled “clear croak elementary” I quickly shuffled through the box and found a book of photos. I opened the book and went through it and I got to the last page. There was a class photo, Me, Todd, Ayden, Jonathan, Sarah, Violet, Ruby, and Samantha. I cried as I held the photo in my hands, staring at it. A wave of fear hit me all at once. I sat there on my knees shaking, wondering if I too will mercilessly get snapped away by the universe as Samantha did. I am now in my room writing this, still fearing I will get the same fate as Samantha knowing one of the universe's darkest secrets.