[ OT ] Sunday Free Write : Leave A Story , Leave A Comment - Another Call for Moderators Edition

A woman reaches out to you on reddit, complimenting your writing and suggesting you could collaborate on a short story together. You graciously accept, but as you read her submissions over the coming weeks you begin to frequently feel woozy and lightheaded, even occasionally having the sensation your thoughts are not your own. These thoughts begin as sporadic, but gradually become more disruptive, frantic, almost like they're overflow from some other alien consciousness encroaching on your own. Your friends, family, and co-workers variously describe your behavior with words such as `` distant'', `` trance-like'', and `` depressed''. Sometimes it feels like you're having memories that are n't even from your own life; your thoughts seem invasive, programmed by someone else, your identity rapidly being erased day by day. You reach out to the woman as a courtesy and let her know you have to pull out of the project as you're taking some time off and seeking psychological help. She replies, “ I ’ m sorry, I shouldn ’ t have chosen you, I didn ’ t even do it on purpose, I just scrolled down until a name stood out to me. I should have chosen someone foreign, maybe from Lebanon, or China, or someone who deserved it, a criminal. Now that I ’ m thinking more clearly again I can see how poor my choices have been but I was desperate to stop the thoughts and I couldn ’ t control myself. Psychiatric care isn ’ t going to help you, in fact if they confine you and start controlling you, limiting your behaviors, it could just make things much worse. Start writing down everything you “ think ”, the “ hearing ” in your mind, including, ESPECIALLY INCLUDING the symbols and signs! I left them out to keep you from becoming suspicious, maybe that ’ s why you ’ ve been so deeply afflicted so quickly. I ’ m sorry, I ’ m really, truly, terribly sorry and I regret all of this and what I ’ ve done but I felt like I had no choice, I held out for as long as possible. ”
