I awake with a groan. “Ugh my head hurts” I look around trying to work out where I was, but nothing seemed familiar. I raised my head and felt that I was by an unfamiliar roadside. Immediately passing out.

The next time I awoke, I was in the hospital, head wrapped in bandages covering what I now realised was a bleeding head. I tried to sit up and found that the monitors started beeping, making the nearby nurses run to my room. “He’s awake” one of them excitedly exclaimed, coming to my side. The nurse was male, a bit on the shorter side. He looked at my vitals and said everything seemed to be ok and that I needed to answer some routine questions. I noticed the badge saying ‘Hikaru’ and realised that was his name. “So, what’s your name?” It wasn’t until then I noticed something that I hadn’t noticed before, I couldn’t remember who I was.

During the next few weeks, I went back and forth to the hospital for appointments, where I was diagnosed with Severe Amnesia. I had been staying with Hikaru, who was kind enough to let me stay with him as I had no idea who I was and where I had come from. I had been given the temporary name of Sam and placed a report with the local police unit.

This went on for a year, my head had well and truly healed by now, however, my memories were still gone. Nobody could identify me and nobody came forth to look for me, so I continued to stay with Hikaru.

Today was my first day at my new job, as a Prison guard. This was my first full-time job since the accident. I had been hired after a friend of Hikaru’s had suggested that I come to work with him. Wearing the uniform, I looked at myself in the mirror and smiled, feeling proud that I was contributing to something again.

It wasn’t until I arrived at the prison that things started to get weird. Firstly, I had this strange feeling that this place felt familiar, which was strange. Secondly, the guards seemed to look at me a bit strangely, but I brushed that off. Lastly, however, was the strangest of all.

I walked past the cells and heard one of the prisoners call out to me.

“Boss?”

I stopped, turning to the owner of the voice.

“Where you been?" he exclaimed, “I thought you were dead!”

“You know me?”

“Huh? Yeah, you’re our boss. Why you on that side of the bars?”

Confused, I kept walking and went about my day. However, my thoughts kept going back to that prison weirdo who seemed to know me. Why would a prisoner know me, and why would they think I was their boss? Surely they mistook me for someone. It wasn’t until the next day that I realised they probably weren’t confused. That maybe I was this Boss person.

“Reports say that missing crime boss Kyle is still at large. However, his activities have allegedly come to a halt over the past year.”

I listened to the news report, which had been talking about a gang boss from the neighbouring town. What really got my attention was the next sentence.

“Right-hand man ‘Cal’ is currently in Jade Penitentiary serving his sentence”

Jade Penitentiary, was where I worked, and Cal was the person convinced I was his boss. Sighing, I decided that at work the next day I was going to talk to Cal and find out what was happening.

Over the next week I found out lots of information about this ‘Kyle’ person and unfortunately for me, it felt vaguely familiar. But it was only after searching for him online that I realised that we were the same person. There on my screen was a picture from a news article, and although he looked different, I could tell that we were the same person.

I didn’t want to be him.

Although my memories had started to return, I still hated the idea that I had done those kinds of things. I talked to Hikaru, and we decided the best course of action was probably to turn myself in. I didn’t want to, but how could I stop the guilt I was feeling otherwise?

The next time I arrived at Jade Penitentiary, instead of being a prison guard, I was a prisoner. I was going to pay for the crimes I had committed before losing my memory. My sentence was going to be long, but It needed to be done.

Four years later, I was ready to leave the prison. I had recovered all my memories and despite that, I was ready to go back into the community. In a sense, I felt glad I had lost my memories as it gave me a chance to be a better person in the future.

I was never going to commit a crime again.

[LAST YEAR, YOU WOKE UP ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD WITH A FRACTURED SKULL AND SEVERE AMNESIA. SINCE THEN, YOUR HEAD HAS HEALED, BUT YOUR MEMORIES NEVER RETURNED. TODAY, YOU START YOUR FIRST SHIFT AS A PRISON GUARD. AS YOU WALK ONTO THE UNIT, ONE OF THE INMATES PRESSES UP AGAINST THE BARS. "BOSS! WHERE YOU BEEN? WE ALL THOUGHT YOU WAS DEAD."]