The Name

Tonight's tale of weirdness:

While driving home from the grocery store I was suddenly struck with a series of images.

It's an unextraordinary morning.Calm weather.Just a typical day in the lives of the world.

Except for a random selection of individuals who wake that morning with a name on the tip of their tongue. Not written,mind you, but a name from nowhere that they all suddenly remember.And the name seems to burn with energy.

Except this name is not one they have ever heard before.They have no immediate memory attached to it's origins or in relation to their personal history.

Quick Google searches return not a single solitary result.No connection to  a long forgotten childhood story from a book or playground.No character on an old television show.No reference to the name at all,anywhere in history.

The ones with the Name can not seem to shake it.They ask family members if they or anyone in the family knew someone with the same name with no results.

The ones who did not wake with The Name brush it off,and even forget it later.Having to ask for The Name to be repeated.

Conversations continue amongst friends and coworkers.But it seems that no one directly in their lives has any knowledge to share.

 Slowly connections begin to be made. Those who are aware of The Name begin to discover each other.
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Conversations had while sitting in coffee houses are overheard by nearby customers and employees who turn to tell the other ..."I've heard that name before"

Online forums and social media sights find people asking "Have you heard The Name?" with no more information other than confirmation that they were not alone.

Small groups start to form.Meetings occur to discuss the significance of the name. Share ANY details that might be connected to its memory. But most can only express feelings of dread and not specifics. Each begins to suffer severe migraines at the thought of The Name.Soon,even the mention from another causes discomfort.

The world starts to join in on the conversation.To varied results as one would suspect. Compassion and mockery.Curiosity and condemnation.

And then an image starts to appear in the dreams of those who know The Name. A unfamiliar place on a map.

And that's when I pulled into the driveway and began unpacking the car of it's groceries.