VERIFY YOU ARE HUMAN.
☐ Select every square containing something real.
I know how to find
a traffic light,
a bicycle,
a bridge.
But memories
do not come in squares.
How do I prove
the afternoons
I talked with my grandpa,
when I was small enough
to believe
someone could protect me
from everything?
How do I upload
the sound of a laugh
that only exists now
inside my head?
Incorrect.
☐ Select every square containing loneliness.
I choose the classroom.
The chair
where I learnt
how to be quiet.
The lunch table
where I became
an expert
at pretending
I didn’t mind.
The strange thing about disappearing
is that sometimes
everyone can still see you.
Incorrect.
☐ Select every square containing love.
I don’t hesitate.
My mum.
The person who noticed
the cracks
I spent so long hiding.
The person who could tell
when “I’m fine”
was the biggest lie
I had ever told.
The person who kept reminding me
I was real
when I felt like I wasn’t.
Correct.
☐ Select every image containing proof.
I search.
I find:
a grandpa who is gone
but still part of me,
a mother who stayed,
a version of myself
who survived days
I thought would never end.
I click.
Incorrect.
The machine does not understand.
It cannot recognise
the empty chair
that still feels full.
It cannot recognise
missing someone
you can no longer call.
It cannot recognise
the moment
someone finally asks
“Are you okay?”
and actually means it.
ONE FINAL QUESTION.
Are you for real?
Maybe.
Maybe being human
was never about proving
you exist.
Maybe it is:
the people you carry,
the people who carry you,
the moments that disappear
but never leave.
CAPTCHA COMPLETE.
Human detected.