Erasing a memory
Sarah woke up one morning remembering nothing. She had completely erased him from her life, as if he had never existed for her. She had wished so hard to forget him that, one day, she eventually did.
She recalled nothing. None of the romantic dates, the surprises, the laughter, the trips, the flowers, all the things they did together somehow never existed in her memory. It was a slate wiped blank. And together with it, so had all the heartbreak, the quarrels, the violent outbursts, the tears, they had all vanished.
She felt serene.
After all, how could something you did not remember affect you, let alone hurt you?
She decided to go for a walk in the park. Oblivious to the fact that it was right at that park lake where they first met.
Now, even if she saw him, he would mean nothing to her. He would simply be a stranger among the many strangers living their own lives around us.
Plus, what – really – were the odds that she would bump into him? Of all the hundreds, thousands of people we walk past every day?
She stopped to gaze at the small, delicately sculpted fountain in the middle of the lake. For some reason she was always mesmerised by it.
“You know it was created by an unfortunate father after his daughter drowned in this lake chasing a duck? He let her out of his sight for a moment and that’s when it happened. Sometimes that’s all it really takes. A moment”.
The voice sounded oddly familiar. But she couldn’t recall from where.
That was his conversation-starter that time too. But Sarah didn’t remember that.
Neither did Todd.
He was standing next to her in a khaki trousers and salmon-coloured shirt loosely hanging over it. His smile radiated the sunshine. He winked at her and her heart fluttered.
But something was holding her back. As if telling her “no”. It was an inexplicable restraint.
She smiled shyly and walked away, saying nothing. She hoped he wouldn’t follow her.
She was searching for a prince. And he wasn’t it.
MC's Whispers 