The Fear of Oblivion

Oblivion
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Many of us have a fear of death or dying. Death is the instance from which all the living power leaves our bodies until our bodies become one with the soil while dying is the process by which our bodies, either gradually or suddenly, take the form of earth. When I think about it, I was never afraid of death or dying. What I feared was oblivion—the moment when I leave this austerely inconsiderate yet captivating world without leaving a footprint behind that will be remembered for generations to come.
One might ask how I came to the conclusion that I fear oblivion instead of death or dying. When I was eleven years old, I was a total nobody wherever I went. I was afraid of the world’s outrage. Hence, I made myself a wallflower, observing the people’s reactions to the world’s actions and vice-versa. My observation skills were superior, and I probably competed with the best scientists worldwide, or at least that was what I thought at the time. Apart from this, I was a no-brainer—not an honor student, no talents of any kind, and even trash in our home. However, this one-night experience changed my perspective on life.
I thought of this the first time I experienced sleep paralysis or the phenomenon when a person is asleep, but his consciousness is awake, and his muscles cannot move despite commanding his body to do so when I was around eleven years old. I had a bad dream about inconspicuous people who suddenly chased me with knives in their hands, ready to stab their way inside me as if I were livestock. I ran as fast and as far as I could and furiously screamed my lungs even when no one was watching or hearing me. I knew this time that I must wake up, but I coul...