Conner opened his eyes, taking a deep breath of cold air. It was a cold fall night and the night sky was cloudless and full of stars. He gazed up at the shining stars peeking through the massive trees that surrounded him. The wind blew the beautiful orange leaves from the trees, sending them flying overhead. For a moment, a leaf flew in front of a star, its shining brilliance illuminating the orange leaf. It was the most beautiful thing he'd seen in a long while. Bree climbed out of their tent, tossing her messy hair over her shoulder.

Well, the leaf would have to settle for the second most beautiful thing he'd seen.

"Conner, did you pack the bug spray?" Bree asked, rummaging through a nearby bag.

He looked down, seeing the silver can of bug spray next to his leg. He picked it up and tossed the can to Bree. She sprayed herself down, then threw the can into her bag. She walked over and sat down next to Conner, staring into their campfire.

"You know, the smoke from the campfire is a natural bug repellent." Conner said.

"Of course you'd know that." Bree chuckled, resting her head on his shoulder.

The campfire flickered in the breeze, embers sparking into the leaves that covered the ground, only to fizzle out on contact with the dirt. The wooden log crackled, a sure sign that it was a green branch, not yet dried out like the other logs in the campfire. Bree noticed that Conner was blankly staring off into the distance.

"Conner, what's wrong?" Bree asked.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Conner said, grinning.

Bree looked up at the shimmering stars, nudging Conner's shoulder.

"Look." Bree said, pointing to a shooting star streaking across the sky.

Conner gazed at the shooting star, watching it soar through the air until it was out of sight. Bree rested her head on his shoulder, still looking at the sights the night sky had to hold.

"I could die here. I'm just... happy. I've never really felt complete, always like there was something I was missing. I'm just... exactly where I want to be." Conner said.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the fresh mountain air. He took in the sights of the forest of pine trees, filled with life. Conner gazed down at Bree, who was looking up at him. The campfire flickered, making her hair practically glow in the warm light. She smiled her classic mischievous grin. Conner tenderly brushed the hair out of her eyes.

"I'm so sorry." Conner said, awaiting the inevitable.

Just as he'd feared, the loud crash sounded in the distance, shaking the forest, sending trees flying into the white void. The forest life grew quiet and Bree froze in place.

"Please let me keep this memory. Just the one." Conner pleaded, the raw desperation apparent in his voice.

He closed his eyes as tightly as he could, trying to wake up, trying to escape this incessant nightmare. He heard the rumble of the void come closer and closer, filling his heart with despair.

"Can you hear me? I don't want this anymore! I want to call it off! Can you hear me?" Conner bellowed, his throat raw from his desperate screams.

The rumble stopped. Conner looked up, a tiny spark of hope igniting inside him. He stared in wonder at the white void, which had stopped at the limits of the campsite. Conner's eyes widened in disbelief. A single dry chuckle escaped him, followed by another, until he was laughing out of pure elation and relief. He got to his feet and gazed into the white void.

"Thank you." Conner said with a grin.

The white nothingness absorbed him whole.

━━━━━━━━━▲━━━━━━━━━

Conner never quite knew what to make of the term his life flashed before his eyes. At times it had seemed only logical, at others it seemed completely ridiculous. What parts of your life would you even see? Would it last a second or would it seem like years to you? Well, all of Conner's questions were being answered now. This would be the closest he would ever get to having his life flash before his eyes.

Various memories soared past him, destroyed by the white void as soon as he had entered. He saw his graduation, his prom, his homecoming, all be consumed by the white nothingness, the fog of time. He had a hard time staying focused enough to remain in a memory he chose for longer than a second or two. Perhaps it was longer, closer to a day, a week, a month, a minute. There was no way of knowing. Conner closed his eyes as tightly as he could, focusing on holding back the white void for as long as he could.

He opened his eyes, finding himself in a grassy field. Children were running through the grassy meadows, not a care in the world. Conner watched them play, a bittersweet sense of longing running through him. If only the world was as simple as it was for them. Instead, he was doomed to be alone, not even with his memories intact. He supposed he'd brought this onto himself. He laughed a cold, humorless laugh. If he'd just paid more attention, if he'd just listened, if he'd just thought about someone other than himself for once, he might be with Bree somewhere instead of trapped in his subconscious, slowly losing his memories. He looked down at his hands, inspecting them. They were smaller than he remembered. He looked down at his feet, realizing he was sitting on a checkered picnic blanket. He looked closely at the signs on the boulevard. They were in German, meaning he was in...

"Hey, Conner. Is everything okay?" Bree asked, her blond hair blowing in the wind.

They were in Munich, Germany. The giant Neuschwanstein Castle towered over them and the small village they were staying in. They had grabbed some lunch from a local sandwich shop. Conner had chosen a Cuban sandwich and she'd gotten a panini. Bree had made sure to tease him to no end for choosing a Cuban sandwich from a German sandwich shop.

Conner sighed wistfully, looking around the picturesque landscape one last time. The dreaded crash sounded in the distance. He watched as the white walls of nothingness closed in on him. This time, Conner got up and jumped into the void, accepting his fate. As he fell, he could still see a speck of the grassy hills. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.