Decemystery (2024) 31: The Boy Who Lost His Memory of October

 

It’s New Year’s Eve. That time of the year when you can plan your New Year’s Resolution, only to abandon it a few days later because, let’s face it, old habits die hard. That’s why my resolution for 2025 is not to plan a single thing for this blog; I’ll just play it by ear.

But that’s for tomorrow. Today is the last day of Decemystery 2024, and I’d say we’ve had quite a unique ride. We’ve talked about tall aliens, a mummy, a talking cat, the Easter Bunny, and headless aliens!

And I can’t say I remember writing any of it.

No, that isn’t hyperbole. Just like last year, the fact I went from story to story without a real break in between means that everything feels like a blur at best. At worst, I straight-up can’t recall writing the article because I did it in a frenzied state where I was exhausted.

That’s what makes today’s case so interesting to me. It was one that I came across by pure chance, but it fits that feeling so well. In a way, it embodies what 2024 has been for me: A year that I cannot remember.

Serving as the capstone entry for Decemystery 2024 is the story of The Boy Who Lost His Memory of October. Where did the rest of the intro go? I lost it, along with my memory of 2024. Now, come along; let’s wrap this up so I can go back to playing Granblue Fantasy Relink.

44,640 Missing Minutes

I found this story on About; it was submitted in February of 2006 by someone named Severin. I have to admit that I’ve never heard of that name—at least, not a whole lot. I have no idea if it’s their surname or not, but I digress. I’ll refer to them by it since there’s no point in dedicating an hour or two to trying to make sense of a myopic detail. All I can say for certain is that it’s a male name—or so says Google.

Entitled “Missing October,” Severin said that he was in third grade when this occurred. He also said that he was an “eight grader now.” You know, I wanted to be an English teacher once, and it’s moments like this where I recall why. It’s spelled eighth, Severin. I hope you paid more attention in English class after you sent in this report. :)

What? Emoticons are totally a part of English. You can’t tell me otherwise; it’s not like English matters nowadays to most people! Have you seen slang terms? They’re absurd!

Setting aside my criticism of slang, Severin arrived at school on November 1, 2001, and “sat down to write the date in [his] journal.” However, he was shocked to see the just-mentioned date on the board. It remained there even after a double take. Evidently, dates do not change the more you look at them with the hope of time rewinding.

Halloween has to wait another 8,736 hours, buddy. Sorry. :(

In all seriousness, this bewildered Severin. He looked at the last date he’d written in his journal, only to find that it was October 8. There was nearly a month of time missing. I vaguely recall doing something different when I was in school, but I believe I threw out every notebook I had, and I’m not about to rummage around to see if I can find any.

Shocked that he’d lost so much time, Severin turned to the student next to him and asked what they’d learned the previous month. He added it wasn’t abnormal for him to ask for a summary of a curriculum because he was “a very disconnected student.” Interestingly, he used the present tense in his report. I hope that Severin found a way to become more engaged in school so he could achieve success in life.

The other student, who Severin believed was named Zach, stared back with a vacant expression. He proceeded to give “extremely vague descriptions” of what they’d been studying. Unfortunately for Severin, he couldn’t draw anything from them. Either he meant they didn’t ring any bells, or he was unable to understand what was being said. Don’t worry, Severin, I was the same way with algebra.

Upon returning home from school that day, Severin asked his mother “what the main points of October were.” This resulted in her staring blankly at her son. I can only imagine she thought Severin had started speaking in perfect Sumerian.

Whether or not Severin’s mom said anything isn’t said, but that’s beside the point. Severin theorizes that the reason “no one remembered October” was due to the events of September 11, 2001. Normally, I wouldn’t do this, but I’m inclined to believe the story occurred in the United States. While the 9/11 attacks shook the world in some way, shape, or form, I feel like it’s safest to guess that Severin is from the United States—or, at the absolute least, North America.

My assumption aside, I want to point out how I find it intriguing that Severin said nobody recalled the previous month. Up until now, it seemed like only he did. Prior to this, I figured that Zach and Severin’s mother were merely confused by Severin’s bizarre question. However, he makes it sound like two other people couldn’t recall most (if not all) of October.

Severin ended his report by saying the whole incident confuses him to this day. He also asked if anyone else had experienced this type of situation and pleaded with the staff from About to post his submission so people would know he wasn’t crazy. This leads me to suspect there was a forum of some sort where you could discuss things, but I digress. I’ll look into that next year.

With that, Severin’s case comes to a dumbfounding close. This is a weird—and I mean weird—story. The concept of missing time is by no means unnatural; there are a multitude of ways to forget things. It doesn’t need to be through amnesia, dementia, Alzheimer’s, or even a supposed alien abduction. Getting blackout drunk and various mental illnesses can cause it. I can attest to the latter as I’m bipolar, and I suffer from memory loss during episodes (especially hypomanic ones).

That said, a fair number of these (like dementia, Alzheimer’s, and getting blackout drunk) are highly unlikely in Severin’s case, but there are other possibilities to replace them. So, for the final time this month, let’s dive into the theories and discover what may have caused one lad to lose his memory for an entire month!

Theories

1. Severin forgot October… somehow

I say “somehow,” but there are actually three ways this story can make sense. Both require a fair bit to work in my favor, though, but I digress. Let’s get to work discussing them.

The first way is that Severin forgot it because he didn’t pay attention in class. As he himself said, he’s “a very disconnected student.” I wouldn’t be shocked if he zoned out for most of his classes and didn’t remember anything because he was in lala land.

I understand that this may come across as an attack on Severin, and I fully admit that I could be gentler, but I’d also argue that it’s by his admission. He said he was disconnected. When I’m disconnected from something, be it a movie, conversation, or something else, I don’t register a whole lot. I think that goes for most people if not all of them. When you’re uninterested, you’re not going to pay much attention.

Likewise, if Severin wasn’t engaged in his classes, I don’t see why he’d care enough to pay much attention. Odds are, he didn’t even realize that it was November. Sure, Halloween may have been the previous day, but there’s nothing to indicate he celebrated it. Not every 8-year-old is going to go trick-or-treating. Heck, some people don’t even celebrate it. I grew out of it by the time I was in, I think, second or third grade. So, around the age of Severin, amusingly enough.

Of course, this possibility wouldn’t explain why Severin made it sound like his classmate, along with his own mom, both didn’t recall anything. However, this could’ve just been poor wording on Severin’s end.

As a brief aside, this possibility would explain why Severin didn’t approach his teacher for assistance. If he had a history of being a less-than-excellent student, he may have been afraid about asking for help. This would be a rather depressing thing, but I had a teacher in fourth grade (an English/History teacher) who was incredibly rude. She was also older than the pyramids, I swear. Maybe that’s how they taught classes in 2,700 BC.

The second possibility relates to the 9/11 attacks. My recollection of them is fuzzy, but I recall seeing part of one news broadcast on the nightly news. At the time, I had no idea what was going on. All I knew was that school was canceled, and I was disappointed (I’d started kindergarten a few days prior).

Given that Severin was a few years older than me, it would stand to reason that he’d have a better understanding of what was going on—at least, I think he would. Admittedly, I don’t recall much from when I was his age, much less when I was five. So, for all I know, he was as lost as I was when 9/11 happened.

That said, not things in the wake of the most devastating attack on United States soil (assuming he lived in the United States) wouldn’t be shocking. Odds are, Severin and many others around him were paranoid as hell about every little thing, and I wouldn’t be shocked if his parents were extra cautious about doing a lot in the immediate wake of the attacks.

This would explain why his mother had a blank look on her face. Yeah, I don’t know if she did a whole lot the previous month. From what I remember, I sure as heck didn’t. Then again, I recall a lot of screaming on the television and George W. Bush talking a lot. That’s not a joke, either; that’s all I remember. It was a surreal time, and it’s fascinating how disconnected I was from the event as a whole at that point in my life.

In fact, if that disconnection applied to Severin, I wonder if that would’ve led him to forget October. I wish I could say more, but I genuinely don’t recall enough to make an educated guess.

It’s also possible that the overall mood of the school was a lot more somber. It’s possible that some faculty members and students lost friends or family members (or both) on 9/11. If this were the case, it would stand to reason that Severin didn’t recall much because the overall atmosphere of the school wasn’t lively. Instead, it was melancholic and sorrowful.

I also know that some schools (or at least some teachers) taught their students what happened that day. There’s a chance that the footage scared (and subsequently scarred) Severin enough that he tried to block out the lesson (or lessons) from October. I’d argue that this is a bit less likely, though, because he could have told his mom, and she could’ve complained to the school about that. I don’t know how many teachers did this, though.

The third and final possibility is that Severin misremembered things. Unless he kept his old school notebook and noticed that there were days he didn’t take notes, it’s possible Severin thought he didn’t remember October of that year when, in reality, he did.

This possibility is further backed up by the oh-so-wonderful thing that is human memory. More precisely, the woeful imperfection of it. I’ve discussed this numerous times this month, and I have no desire to do it yet again. However, I will say that five years is more than enough time to forget what happened the month after a horrific tragedy. Hell, I can’t remember what I did a few months ago. What makes you think I can remember five years ago?

Ultimately, I think that these three possibilities are the most likely explanations for Severin’s bizarre lapse in memory. I’m sure there are other explanations, like a traumatic incident that he repressed, but I don’t know. All three are highly convincing to me, and I’ll maintain that stance because, quite frankly, I can’t think of anything else. I’m sure I could try, but after writing nonstop for five months, I think I should refrain from that lest I suffer an aneurysm.

2. A hoax

For the final time this month, we have the hoax theory. Oddly enough, it’s incredibly lackluster and only has one thing going for it: Why didn’t Severin ask his mom if she recalled him asking the question before submitting his report?

That question can easily be answered by him being nervous because, yeah, I’d say that not remembering an entire month would be something you’d hide from people. It’s embarrassing at best and scary at worst. I doubt there are people lining up to tell their loved ones, “Hey, I can’t remember anything that happened as of late! How weird, eh?”

Nevertheless, I think it might have helped if he’d tried. Unless, of course, Severin’s relationship with his family is strained. However, I’d rather not assume such a thing because it’s not only a depressing prospect, but there’s no proof to back it up.

Beyond that, this theory is just… weightless, really. I’m sorry, but there’s virtually nothing that’s going for it. I won’t repeat every single talking point I’ve made this month, but I can’t fathom someone making up a story this benign.

Perhaps I’m looking at this too much from a modern-day perspective, but if this were a hoax, why wouldn’t Severin go the extra mile and try to be edgy or offensive by mocking 9/11? You know, something that I think one would expect from a mid-2000s edgelord.

Alternatively, if this had been a writer who was trying to weave a detailed mystery story, they did a terrible job because the report itself is three paragraphs and totals 199 words. This is hardly H.G. Wells’ 35,483-word novella, The Time Machine, but it’s also not a good micropasta (also known as a short creepypasta) like New Cell Phone.

I digress, though. There is still the possibility that this was a hoax solely because none of us know Severin. As I’ve said numerous times before, and I will continue to say it because I believe it to be the unvarnished truth, we have to take the word of strangers on the Internet with a grain of salt. This is especially true on a website like About; I have no way to get in contact with Severin, so I’m not about to blindly believe what he said.

But it’s the final Decemystery write-up, so I’ll take it easy. After all, I want to end this year off by not being a buzzkill. ;)

There, I used three emoticons in one write-up. Why three? Because I had to Raise Hell, Praise Dale. Now, let’s move on to the final meme theory of the month!

3. Severin forgot to pay his monthly Interdimensional subscription fee

At the start of every month, we must pay $15.00 to have access to remember what happened the previous month. Severin forgot to pay, so he forgot October. Let this be a friendly reminder to pay up, dear reader!

I also did it; I included a variation of the interdimensional theory in all 32 write-ups this month. I am never doing this again.

My Take

Truth be told, I don’t know which possibility I think holds more weight: The idea that the 9/11 terrorist attacks resulted in Severin forgetting the month of October or his memory failing him. Both strike me as highly probable and logical.

That said, I want to have some definitiveness in this take, so I lean toward the former. Given the unprecedented nature of 9/11 and the fallout of the event, I think it stands to reason that the adults around Severin weren’t in the best of spirits. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Halloween season as a whole was noticeably absent, thereby taking away the one “fun” thing most children look forward to that year.

That, coupled with Severin already being a disconnected student, and you have a recipe for someone who likely tuned out massively throughout the month, thus not recalling anything.

As for why Severin’s mom, along with his classmate, maybe didn’t recall anything, I’d say the same thing. The attacks shook them—heavily. I could sit here and speculate for hours about the numerous possibilities, but I don’t want to use 9/11 as an excuse to pick apart someone’s brain for fun.

Of course, there is the possibility that this was all a hoax. I cannot rule that out because this is the Internet. People make up stuff all the time for one reason or another. There’s a very real chance that Severin happened to be feeling bored and wanted to see if he could get something posted to About.

Heck, I’ve sometimes wanted to try that on a few sites to see if I could prove my theory correct that certain Fortean-centric websites will accept anything. Despite my own personal beliefs in the paranormal, it’s hard to deny that some places will accept anything and everything without a second thought.

But that’s beside the point. For the time being, I think Severin was being honest. I merely believe he didn’t have a weird time slip where he ended up falling into the future. If he did, though, maybe he can slip ahead a few years in the future and tell me if Kingdom Hearts IV releases before 2046.

Conclusion

And so, with that, our write-up comes to an end—and with it, Decemystery 2024 comes to a close.

Somehow, in some inconceivable way, this year’s edition was over 260,000 words in total—a little under last year’s duology. In half the number of write-ups, I nearly matched the same number of words. I’m sure that if I’d had more time, I would have exceeded it since I would have added a lot more meat to the write-up. Unfortunately, life had other plans for me.

But whatever; I’m not here to boast about the number of words I wrote. No, I want to absorb the fact I managed to complete this once again while racing the clock. Unfortunately, just like last year, that’s resulted in me becoming exhausted beyond belief; I want to take a long break and unwind because I feel like breaking down into tears from stress and pent-up frustration.

Normally, I wouldn’t be opposed to that, but last year, I had the following to say:

Anyway, I digress. Now that I’m finally done with all of this writing, I am going to take a break—a very long one. No, I won’t abandon the blog like I did last year; God willing, that will never happen again. If it does, I’ll be heartbroken like never before. 2022 was an absolute nightmare of a year for me, and I don’t want to have another year like it ever again.

Now, for what I intend to do to start my 2024. For the next few weeks—maybe two or three—I’m going to just relax. I’m going to take it easy; I’m going to recharge and, as God is my witness, make 2024 the biggest and best year for this little blog.

That, of course, didn’t come to pass. This blog was as desolate as can be, and a part of me is deeply concerned that if I try to take another break, I’ll end up repeating the sins of 2022, 2023, and 2024.

At the same time, I can’t deny that if I keep writing, I’ll inevitably crash and burn—if not collapse from exhaustion. So, what am I going to do? Well, I’ll attempt to balance the two in some capacity. I’ll take a break while also writing here and there so I don’t lose all motivation. If that happens, though, I’ll be sure to post an update and not leave everyone in the dark like I’ve done.

I’m sure that it’ll all be done by July or August, though. That’s how it’s been since last year! I fail to see why next year would be any different!

Anyway, I’m done rambling. I’m not making any promises for 2025. I’m not going to hope for anything, either. I’ll just play it by ear and pray that I can have a somewhat worthwhile output so you guys can continue to join me on these adventures into the realm of the Fortean and unknown. That’s all I want, and that’s all I’ll ever want. I just wish that I wasn’t hamstrung by bipolar.

At least I have my friends, family, and you, dear reader.

Okay, now I’m done rambling for real. I’d love to know what you, dear reader, think happened to Severin. Do you believe he forgot October of 2001 due to something explainable? Or was it a hoax? Or was there something more paranormal at play that I didn’t bring up? Let me know in the comments, and, as always, stay happy, stay healthy, and thank you for reading!

And stay optimistic for the future; I can attest that, no matter how dark it may seem, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel!