Post by Sirius on Aug 1, 2014 15:36:36 GMT
Chapter 1: Beginning
What…Where am I.
That was the first thought that crossed my mind as my eyes slowly fluttered open. Since I was sprawled on my back for some reason, I saw nothing but a gray sky, with no unique factors. There wasn’t any sun or moon. No coloration. No clouds. Just, a monotone gray. I craned my head forward, and I glanced at the various trees in front of me. They, too, seemed to be completely drained of their color. I raised my eyebrows at this odd development, and I sat upright. As my hands grasped the ground below, I felt grass. However, as I glanced down, the grass was the same as everything else. Looking at my hand, it too had no unique features.
“This is too weird…” I muttered to myself to nobody in particular. There wasn’t anybody here anyway for me to talk to.
My body felt heavy, tired. As if I had been lying here and sleeping for a long time. It took everything I had to stand upright, and cracks of joints that had stayed in the same spot for a long period of time filled my eardrums. Other than that, I was only met with complete silence. I turned my head to the right, and there was playground equipment all over. Monkey bars, slides, the works. What was odd was the lack of children playing on it. To the right of the playground was a large and ongoing field. It was likely a place for people to have barbeques for special occasions.
I turned my head the opposite direction and saw a city street in the distance. Buildings and street lights accompanied it, like any city. The thing that caused me to be curious was the fact that there was nobody, and I mean nobody, walking the streets, and no vehicles driving by. It was at this point that I realized I was by myself. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this lonely before.
Wait, have I ever felt this lonely?
I had no idea. Quite frankly, I couldn’t remember anything past the age of twenty. It was like everything else had been wiped clean. I knew my was John Blanco. I remembered all of my childhood, and some of my adulthood. But after a certain date, I just didn’t remember anything. It was peculiar, to say the least. I was alone, and had lost the most recent of my memories. What the fuck was going on with me?
I turned around 180 degrees, deciding I might as well walk around the area and see if I could look for some civilization, people to ask what was going on. However, I stopped as my eyes caught the attention of a piece of paper haphazardly ripped from what seemed to be a small looking notebook, lying on the ground at my feet. I bent down and grasped the monotone-colored piece of paper in my hand, lifting it to my eyes and looking at it closely.
Brandy- 845-232-1782 xoxo
It was a phone number, and it didn’t look like it was in my handwriting. A girl named Brandy…
I blinked rapidly as the memory rushed back into my brain. This…Item, opened up the proverbial vault to my mind. Something I was repressing.
***
The world was colorful once again. The sky was blue, with the bright yellow sun boring on the lush, green grass. It was obviously summer, based on the clothes I was in and the humidity of the day. I saw myself, a bit younger than I am now. Two or three years younger, it had to be. I was talking to a beautiful woman. Long, lush dark brown hair that reached to the middle of her back. Light, delicate blue eyes that I could look at for hours. Her face was unblemished, with a smile that could make any sane person stop and stare. She was in a loose tank top and a pair of short-shorts, and as she spoke to my past self, her finger twisted a strand and she bit her soft pink lip.
I watched as I spoke to her, cracked jokes, and she laughed at every single one, no matter how corny it was. Slowly, I began to notice that her and I were in the same park that I was in right now, except it was filled with lush colors, and various children in the background, running around on the playground. The goddess-like female and I sat on the grass underneath a tree full of leaves, and it seemed like we talked for hours. About our lives, about what we liked to do. Eventually, she pulled out a small purple notebook from her back pocket, and ripped out a page. She pulled out a pen and wrote down her number, placing it in my hand while simultaneously holding it for a few moments. She smiled. A genuine smile.
“Call me.” She said simply, before kissing my cheek and standing up straight. I waved as she walked away, and love danced around in both of our eyes. It was the beginning of something. That was all I knew.
***
The memory was folded up, and placed back in my brain, however now I remembered it clearly. I was brought back to the monotone park, and I let out a heavy sigh. I continued to stare at the torn piece of paper. The phone number Brandy had given me. She was so beautiful…
I could not just let this go. There had to be something more. More factors, memories that were still tucked away in my subconscious. I needed to figure out what happened next in this relationship. Maybe it would bring some light to the situation I was in right now.
I decidedly placed the piece of paper in my pocket, and looked out to the park. There were more memories here.
I had to find them.
Chapter 2: Rising Action
I stuffed my hands in my pockets, and walked closer to the playground that were filled with children in my memory. I felt drawn to that area, and I didn’t quite know why that was. The only sound that broke the silence was my faint breathing and the clomping of my feet against the ground. It was an overbearing silence, that was slowly beginning to cripple me. No human could bear this amount of utter silence for too long before losing their sanity.
I stopped a few feet in front of the mulch area the playground was set in, and took a long look at it. The metal walkways and the slides were all new, and only showed a couple of scratches and dents. The same went for the swings, and the monkey bars. It was if it had been built not too long ago, only a couple of years before the last memory. I began to wonder how it looked now. Probably not much different.
I turned to the right and glanced down at the metal bench beside me. The bench seemed a bit older, showing signs of rust and dents, but it still held together well. At first glance, I saw nothing on the colorless bench. But as I narrowed my eyes, I noticed a small item.
Lipstick.
I bent down and grasped it, picking it up and reading the label. Apparently, it was strawberry flavored, and I could only assume that it had been used before. A feeling of warmth coursed through my body as I was engulfed in yet another memory.
****
“Hey, you’re on time.”
I heard the smooth voice of Brandy as she walked down the steps from her home . It wasn’t daylight this time. It had seemed like the sun had only just set, based on a bit of light still left in the sky. It was only partly cloudy, not enough to hide the beautiful full moon that the night beheld. She walked down to my car. The car was used, but it still looked presentable. I was nervous, obviously, because this seemed like it was the first date. I was relieved that she hadn’t worn anything special on this cool summer night, only a pair of jeans ripped at the knees and a band T-shirt. I was in a sleeveless shirt and faded jeans. She seemed to like the way I looked.
“Well, yeah, did you expect me not to come?” My past self responded.
Her lips curved upwards into yet another of her beautiful smiles that constantly swooned me. “I don’t know, people have done it before.” I opened the passenger side door for her, and she stepped inside.
I walked around the front of the car and to the driver’s side, sitting down and starting it. As I glanced to the left, I noticed the park, once again in full color, illuminated by the night sky. Surprising, she lived only across the street. There was that bench, seemingly the most illuminated of them all.
“Well, I wouldn’t do that to you.” I said smoothly.
“Thank you,” She replied, “You really are a true gentleman.”
I smiled to myself and drove off from the neighborhood and in town. We had gone to see a movie at the local theatre, and I made sure to pay for everything. From the tickets to drinks to popcorn, she didn’t have to pay a single dime. We had gone to see a comedy, and whispered to each other and laughed throughout the entire movie. It didn’t matter when the others told us to be quiet, we still continued to talk, albeit in lower voices. This was when I started to come to the realization that we just…clicked. We had chemistry that I hadn’t had with any of my previous relationships.
Once the movie was over, I drove her back to her house. Initially, she wanted to walk in her home and go to bed. However, once she looked at the park, she smiled at me and grabbed my hand. She kept telling me to follow her, pulling my hand as we both ran onto the lush grass. She took me all the way to the bench, and sat down, motioning for me to plop myself next to her. So, that was what I did. I scooted closer to her, and her and I both glanced up at the clear night sky. Through the trees next to the playground, the stars were in clear site. The constellations shone down on us both.
“It’s beautiful…” She said, mostly to herself, but she seemed to be talking to me as well.
I nodded slowly, and glanced over to her. She was still looking up at the sky, and the full moon illuminated her unblemished complexion in the most perfect way. Her blue hues glimmered. “Yeah…The skies not the only thing that’s beautiful…”
The smile on her face grew as she looked away from the stars and into my eyes. My heart began pounding against my chest, and my breathing got shallow. She lifted her hands up and placed them on my face, and my eyes widened in both fear and excitement.
“And the way you get nervous around me is downright adorable,“ She said before leaning in and pressing her soft lips against my own. We stayed like that for what felt like an eternity, but for what was only a few seconds in reality. She pulled away, and I tasted the lipstick that was now smudged on my mouth.
“Now, take me home so I can go to bed.”
We stood up, and as I walked her back to her house just across the street, I continuously racked my brain, trying to figure out what exactly the taste in my mouth was. As I gave her a peck on the lips, as a goodnight, and watched her walk back in her home, I stood there for a moment, as I finally realized what the taste was. I smiled.
“Strawberries.”
***
Just like that, I was thrust back into the depressing reality that I was in. The warmth drained from my body, only to be replaced by the cold loneliness I have felt ever since I woke up in this hell hole.
“I have these memories of her….But…Where is she.” I said to myself, still staring at the lipstick I was holding.
As I had garnered more and more clues to the memories I had lost, and to my relationship with this woman, it only increased my curiosity as to what had happened to this amazing love that had begun to blossom between me and Brandy. Where did she go? Why am I here? So many questions continued to course through my mind as I placed the lipstick in the same pocket as the piece of paper. That was what continued to fuel me to figure out the truth. All of the questions, that needed to be answered.
Chapter 3: Climax
After standing next to the bench and carefully looking through the playground equipment for an allotted amount of time, I decided there wasn’t anything else in this area of the park that I needed to find. I glanced to the right of me. To the empty field that seemed to go on for at least a quarter-mile. It still was odd to me how the entire field was void of any children, or grills, or any signs of a party.
The silence continued to slowly drain me of any positive energy I still had. I was all alone, in a world of gray. What if I never got out of here? What if I was stuck, by myself, for the rest of my life? What if…
As I continued to look at the field, I stopped, and I could swear I saw the glint of a sparkling item, dropped somewhere among the grass.
Assuming that whatever item was down there would further jog my memory, I broke into a sprint, my feet stomping hard against the dirt as I barreled towards the glimmering item on the ground. It’s a wonder to me how I managed to remember exactly where I saw the glint and find it. I bent over and picked it up off of the ground, dusting it off.
It was an engagement ring. A band with a gargantuan diamond on top of it. I couldn’t tell the color of the band based on the colors being completely gone from it, but it definitely looked like an engagement ring to me. Had I…proposed to her?
****
My mind was quickly overtaken with another memory, the warmth coursing through me stronger than before.
I saw myself, holding hands with my beautiful girlfriend Brandy, and walking around in the park. I watched as couples hid under the trees to kiss, or just talk. As children played with their parents watching on the benches. As barbeques and birthday parties were held in the quarter-mile field to the side of it. There were a few spots that were free of the parties, and were also shaded by varying trees, while still being around the majority of the commotion. For one reason or another, I decided I wanted to be there.
By looking Brandy and I, I could just tell this was much farther into the future than the last memory. As this large memory continued to go on in my head, other, warm but small memories danced around in my head. The time Brandy and I first made love to one another. We were both each other’s best partners to date. The time I had first told Brandy I loved her, with my body shaking and my facial expression noting how much of a nervous wreck I was. It was shortly after that I had packed up all of my stuff and moved into her house. We shared a bed, of course. It was amazing, waking up next to her every single day.
Based on the smaller memories accompanying this one, it had to be around a year since the very first date we had went on.
Here we were, talking and joking around with one another, as we walked underneath the tree tops and into the boring afternoon sun. It was like the rest of the world around the two of us was nothing. We only cared about one another. God, what an amazing feeling it was to be in love. Especially to somebody as beautiful as her.
We made our eventual stop underneath an old oak tree. All around us were the noises of children playing, and adults joking around as the smells of various meats cooking on the grill filled my nostrils.
I didn’t care though. The only thing I heard was the sound of my beautiful girlfriend talking to me about how her day was. We would walk along the park every day after she and I got home from our jobs, telling each other what happened. I would listen to every complaint she had, and vice versa. Everybody had told me the honeymoon phase would be over for us within the first six months, and yet here I was, still as infatuated with her as I was the first time I met her.
That was it. I had to tell her. I had to ask her.
“Wait, I’m sorry to interrupt Honey, but can you stand up for me?”
I made her stand up as a confused expression formed on her face, and then rummaged in my pocket. I had bought the engagement ring a month before, with the entirety of my bonus that I had gotten at my job as a thanks for everything I had done for the company. My face was flushed as if the summer sun had been on me the whole day. I had been trying to find the right time to propose to her, but couldn’t find it.
But today, right here, right now, was the perfect time. In front of all of these people, so they could see just how much I was in love with this woman. Coming to the revelation that this honeymoon phase would never end, that I would always love her. That was enough to make me pull the box out and get down on one knee.
Her confused expression twisted quickly as her eyes widened, and her mouth hung agape.
“Brandy Mason…” I began, my heart pounding.
“Y-Yes?” She stuttered, as her open mouth curved into a toothy smile. Her blue eyes danced with excitement and anticipation. Some of the adults stopped talking to look at the two of us, others didn’t. However, no matter what they were saying, I couldn’t hear them.
“I’ve loved you since I first laid my eyes on you. You are easily the most beautiful woman I have ever had the privelege to meet in my entire life. You have an amazing personality. A sense of humor. You listen to me, to all of my problems. You always pick me up when I feel down, and I’ve done the same for you. You don’t know how much you mean to me. So…”
She squealed in glee as I flipped open the red velvet encased box to reveal the ring. A golden band with a shiny chunk of diamond placed atop of it. Even in the shade, it glimmered against the distant sun. “I thought…since you’ve done so much for me, that maybe…I would do something for you. Will you marry me?”
Tears of joy were now running down her face, to the point that she couldn’t even speak the words. She looked so very adorable when she cried. She only nodded fast, and held out her hand as I slowly slipped the ring on her finger. I then stood up and wrapped my arms around her body, pulling her in for a gentle and loving kiss. Adults and children alike clapped and cheered for the young couple that were officially set to be married. Even though I didn’t remember the rest of my memories, I knew that this was the happiest moment in my life.
****
The feeling of the warmth being drained as I was thrown back into reality was worse than before. There was so much warmth in my body, that I felt almost as if this was the reality, and I had woken up from a bad dream. Coming back to this was like having the air knocked out of me. I lost my breath for a brief moment, but never dropped the engagement ring. I instead thrust it into the pocket opposite to the rest of the items I had found.
Tears welled in my eyes as I attempted to calm down. To keep going. Even though I wanted to believe that this was my most recent memory, and there was nothing else, that couldn’t be. I began to realize that this wasn’t real. This was…a limbo. A way to bring back the rest of my memories. Once I remembered everything, I would wake up from wherever I was. But since I haven’t woken up yet, I still needed to remember more.
God dammit.
What…Where am I.
That was the first thought that crossed my mind as my eyes slowly fluttered open. Since I was sprawled on my back for some reason, I saw nothing but a gray sky, with no unique factors. There wasn’t any sun or moon. No coloration. No clouds. Just, a monotone gray. I craned my head forward, and I glanced at the various trees in front of me. They, too, seemed to be completely drained of their color. I raised my eyebrows at this odd development, and I sat upright. As my hands grasped the ground below, I felt grass. However, as I glanced down, the grass was the same as everything else. Looking at my hand, it too had no unique features.
“This is too weird…” I muttered to myself to nobody in particular. There wasn’t anybody here anyway for me to talk to.
My body felt heavy, tired. As if I had been lying here and sleeping for a long time. It took everything I had to stand upright, and cracks of joints that had stayed in the same spot for a long period of time filled my eardrums. Other than that, I was only met with complete silence. I turned my head to the right, and there was playground equipment all over. Monkey bars, slides, the works. What was odd was the lack of children playing on it. To the right of the playground was a large and ongoing field. It was likely a place for people to have barbeques for special occasions.
I turned my head the opposite direction and saw a city street in the distance. Buildings and street lights accompanied it, like any city. The thing that caused me to be curious was the fact that there was nobody, and I mean nobody, walking the streets, and no vehicles driving by. It was at this point that I realized I was by myself. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this lonely before.
Wait, have I ever felt this lonely?
I had no idea. Quite frankly, I couldn’t remember anything past the age of twenty. It was like everything else had been wiped clean. I knew my was John Blanco. I remembered all of my childhood, and some of my adulthood. But after a certain date, I just didn’t remember anything. It was peculiar, to say the least. I was alone, and had lost the most recent of my memories. What the fuck was going on with me?
I turned around 180 degrees, deciding I might as well walk around the area and see if I could look for some civilization, people to ask what was going on. However, I stopped as my eyes caught the attention of a piece of paper haphazardly ripped from what seemed to be a small looking notebook, lying on the ground at my feet. I bent down and grasped the monotone-colored piece of paper in my hand, lifting it to my eyes and looking at it closely.
Brandy- 845-232-1782 xoxo
It was a phone number, and it didn’t look like it was in my handwriting. A girl named Brandy…
I blinked rapidly as the memory rushed back into my brain. This…Item, opened up the proverbial vault to my mind. Something I was repressing.
***
The world was colorful once again. The sky was blue, with the bright yellow sun boring on the lush, green grass. It was obviously summer, based on the clothes I was in and the humidity of the day. I saw myself, a bit younger than I am now. Two or three years younger, it had to be. I was talking to a beautiful woman. Long, lush dark brown hair that reached to the middle of her back. Light, delicate blue eyes that I could look at for hours. Her face was unblemished, with a smile that could make any sane person stop and stare. She was in a loose tank top and a pair of short-shorts, and as she spoke to my past self, her finger twisted a strand and she bit her soft pink lip.
I watched as I spoke to her, cracked jokes, and she laughed at every single one, no matter how corny it was. Slowly, I began to notice that her and I were in the same park that I was in right now, except it was filled with lush colors, and various children in the background, running around on the playground. The goddess-like female and I sat on the grass underneath a tree full of leaves, and it seemed like we talked for hours. About our lives, about what we liked to do. Eventually, she pulled out a small purple notebook from her back pocket, and ripped out a page. She pulled out a pen and wrote down her number, placing it in my hand while simultaneously holding it for a few moments. She smiled. A genuine smile.
“Call me.” She said simply, before kissing my cheek and standing up straight. I waved as she walked away, and love danced around in both of our eyes. It was the beginning of something. That was all I knew.
***
The memory was folded up, and placed back in my brain, however now I remembered it clearly. I was brought back to the monotone park, and I let out a heavy sigh. I continued to stare at the torn piece of paper. The phone number Brandy had given me. She was so beautiful…
I could not just let this go. There had to be something more. More factors, memories that were still tucked away in my subconscious. I needed to figure out what happened next in this relationship. Maybe it would bring some light to the situation I was in right now.
I decidedly placed the piece of paper in my pocket, and looked out to the park. There were more memories here.
I had to find them.
Chapter 2: Rising Action
I stuffed my hands in my pockets, and walked closer to the playground that were filled with children in my memory. I felt drawn to that area, and I didn’t quite know why that was. The only sound that broke the silence was my faint breathing and the clomping of my feet against the ground. It was an overbearing silence, that was slowly beginning to cripple me. No human could bear this amount of utter silence for too long before losing their sanity.
I stopped a few feet in front of the mulch area the playground was set in, and took a long look at it. The metal walkways and the slides were all new, and only showed a couple of scratches and dents. The same went for the swings, and the monkey bars. It was if it had been built not too long ago, only a couple of years before the last memory. I began to wonder how it looked now. Probably not much different.
I turned to the right and glanced down at the metal bench beside me. The bench seemed a bit older, showing signs of rust and dents, but it still held together well. At first glance, I saw nothing on the colorless bench. But as I narrowed my eyes, I noticed a small item.
Lipstick.
I bent down and grasped it, picking it up and reading the label. Apparently, it was strawberry flavored, and I could only assume that it had been used before. A feeling of warmth coursed through my body as I was engulfed in yet another memory.
****
“Hey, you’re on time.”
I heard the smooth voice of Brandy as she walked down the steps from her home . It wasn’t daylight this time. It had seemed like the sun had only just set, based on a bit of light still left in the sky. It was only partly cloudy, not enough to hide the beautiful full moon that the night beheld. She walked down to my car. The car was used, but it still looked presentable. I was nervous, obviously, because this seemed like it was the first date. I was relieved that she hadn’t worn anything special on this cool summer night, only a pair of jeans ripped at the knees and a band T-shirt. I was in a sleeveless shirt and faded jeans. She seemed to like the way I looked.
“Well, yeah, did you expect me not to come?” My past self responded.
Her lips curved upwards into yet another of her beautiful smiles that constantly swooned me. “I don’t know, people have done it before.” I opened the passenger side door for her, and she stepped inside.
I walked around the front of the car and to the driver’s side, sitting down and starting it. As I glanced to the left, I noticed the park, once again in full color, illuminated by the night sky. Surprising, she lived only across the street. There was that bench, seemingly the most illuminated of them all.
“Well, I wouldn’t do that to you.” I said smoothly.
“Thank you,” She replied, “You really are a true gentleman.”
I smiled to myself and drove off from the neighborhood and in town. We had gone to see a movie at the local theatre, and I made sure to pay for everything. From the tickets to drinks to popcorn, she didn’t have to pay a single dime. We had gone to see a comedy, and whispered to each other and laughed throughout the entire movie. It didn’t matter when the others told us to be quiet, we still continued to talk, albeit in lower voices. This was when I started to come to the realization that we just…clicked. We had chemistry that I hadn’t had with any of my previous relationships.
Once the movie was over, I drove her back to her house. Initially, she wanted to walk in her home and go to bed. However, once she looked at the park, she smiled at me and grabbed my hand. She kept telling me to follow her, pulling my hand as we both ran onto the lush grass. She took me all the way to the bench, and sat down, motioning for me to plop myself next to her. So, that was what I did. I scooted closer to her, and her and I both glanced up at the clear night sky. Through the trees next to the playground, the stars were in clear site. The constellations shone down on us both.
“It’s beautiful…” She said, mostly to herself, but she seemed to be talking to me as well.
I nodded slowly, and glanced over to her. She was still looking up at the sky, and the full moon illuminated her unblemished complexion in the most perfect way. Her blue hues glimmered. “Yeah…The skies not the only thing that’s beautiful…”
The smile on her face grew as she looked away from the stars and into my eyes. My heart began pounding against my chest, and my breathing got shallow. She lifted her hands up and placed them on my face, and my eyes widened in both fear and excitement.
“And the way you get nervous around me is downright adorable,“ She said before leaning in and pressing her soft lips against my own. We stayed like that for what felt like an eternity, but for what was only a few seconds in reality. She pulled away, and I tasted the lipstick that was now smudged on my mouth.
“Now, take me home so I can go to bed.”
We stood up, and as I walked her back to her house just across the street, I continuously racked my brain, trying to figure out what exactly the taste in my mouth was. As I gave her a peck on the lips, as a goodnight, and watched her walk back in her home, I stood there for a moment, as I finally realized what the taste was. I smiled.
“Strawberries.”
***
Just like that, I was thrust back into the depressing reality that I was in. The warmth drained from my body, only to be replaced by the cold loneliness I have felt ever since I woke up in this hell hole.
“I have these memories of her….But…Where is she.” I said to myself, still staring at the lipstick I was holding.
As I had garnered more and more clues to the memories I had lost, and to my relationship with this woman, it only increased my curiosity as to what had happened to this amazing love that had begun to blossom between me and Brandy. Where did she go? Why am I here? So many questions continued to course through my mind as I placed the lipstick in the same pocket as the piece of paper. That was what continued to fuel me to figure out the truth. All of the questions, that needed to be answered.
Chapter 3: Climax
After standing next to the bench and carefully looking through the playground equipment for an allotted amount of time, I decided there wasn’t anything else in this area of the park that I needed to find. I glanced to the right of me. To the empty field that seemed to go on for at least a quarter-mile. It still was odd to me how the entire field was void of any children, or grills, or any signs of a party.
The silence continued to slowly drain me of any positive energy I still had. I was all alone, in a world of gray. What if I never got out of here? What if I was stuck, by myself, for the rest of my life? What if…
As I continued to look at the field, I stopped, and I could swear I saw the glint of a sparkling item, dropped somewhere among the grass.
Assuming that whatever item was down there would further jog my memory, I broke into a sprint, my feet stomping hard against the dirt as I barreled towards the glimmering item on the ground. It’s a wonder to me how I managed to remember exactly where I saw the glint and find it. I bent over and picked it up off of the ground, dusting it off.
It was an engagement ring. A band with a gargantuan diamond on top of it. I couldn’t tell the color of the band based on the colors being completely gone from it, but it definitely looked like an engagement ring to me. Had I…proposed to her?
****
My mind was quickly overtaken with another memory, the warmth coursing through me stronger than before.
I saw myself, holding hands with my beautiful girlfriend Brandy, and walking around in the park. I watched as couples hid under the trees to kiss, or just talk. As children played with their parents watching on the benches. As barbeques and birthday parties were held in the quarter-mile field to the side of it. There were a few spots that were free of the parties, and were also shaded by varying trees, while still being around the majority of the commotion. For one reason or another, I decided I wanted to be there.
By looking Brandy and I, I could just tell this was much farther into the future than the last memory. As this large memory continued to go on in my head, other, warm but small memories danced around in my head. The time Brandy and I first made love to one another. We were both each other’s best partners to date. The time I had first told Brandy I loved her, with my body shaking and my facial expression noting how much of a nervous wreck I was. It was shortly after that I had packed up all of my stuff and moved into her house. We shared a bed, of course. It was amazing, waking up next to her every single day.
Based on the smaller memories accompanying this one, it had to be around a year since the very first date we had went on.
Here we were, talking and joking around with one another, as we walked underneath the tree tops and into the boring afternoon sun. It was like the rest of the world around the two of us was nothing. We only cared about one another. God, what an amazing feeling it was to be in love. Especially to somebody as beautiful as her.
We made our eventual stop underneath an old oak tree. All around us were the noises of children playing, and adults joking around as the smells of various meats cooking on the grill filled my nostrils.
I didn’t care though. The only thing I heard was the sound of my beautiful girlfriend talking to me about how her day was. We would walk along the park every day after she and I got home from our jobs, telling each other what happened. I would listen to every complaint she had, and vice versa. Everybody had told me the honeymoon phase would be over for us within the first six months, and yet here I was, still as infatuated with her as I was the first time I met her.
That was it. I had to tell her. I had to ask her.
“Wait, I’m sorry to interrupt Honey, but can you stand up for me?”
I made her stand up as a confused expression formed on her face, and then rummaged in my pocket. I had bought the engagement ring a month before, with the entirety of my bonus that I had gotten at my job as a thanks for everything I had done for the company. My face was flushed as if the summer sun had been on me the whole day. I had been trying to find the right time to propose to her, but couldn’t find it.
But today, right here, right now, was the perfect time. In front of all of these people, so they could see just how much I was in love with this woman. Coming to the revelation that this honeymoon phase would never end, that I would always love her. That was enough to make me pull the box out and get down on one knee.
Her confused expression twisted quickly as her eyes widened, and her mouth hung agape.
“Brandy Mason…” I began, my heart pounding.
“Y-Yes?” She stuttered, as her open mouth curved into a toothy smile. Her blue eyes danced with excitement and anticipation. Some of the adults stopped talking to look at the two of us, others didn’t. However, no matter what they were saying, I couldn’t hear them.
“I’ve loved you since I first laid my eyes on you. You are easily the most beautiful woman I have ever had the privelege to meet in my entire life. You have an amazing personality. A sense of humor. You listen to me, to all of my problems. You always pick me up when I feel down, and I’ve done the same for you. You don’t know how much you mean to me. So…”
She squealed in glee as I flipped open the red velvet encased box to reveal the ring. A golden band with a shiny chunk of diamond placed atop of it. Even in the shade, it glimmered against the distant sun. “I thought…since you’ve done so much for me, that maybe…I would do something for you. Will you marry me?”
Tears of joy were now running down her face, to the point that she couldn’t even speak the words. She looked so very adorable when she cried. She only nodded fast, and held out her hand as I slowly slipped the ring on her finger. I then stood up and wrapped my arms around her body, pulling her in for a gentle and loving kiss. Adults and children alike clapped and cheered for the young couple that were officially set to be married. Even though I didn’t remember the rest of my memories, I knew that this was the happiest moment in my life.
****
The feeling of the warmth being drained as I was thrown back into reality was worse than before. There was so much warmth in my body, that I felt almost as if this was the reality, and I had woken up from a bad dream. Coming back to this was like having the air knocked out of me. I lost my breath for a brief moment, but never dropped the engagement ring. I instead thrust it into the pocket opposite to the rest of the items I had found.
Tears welled in my eyes as I attempted to calm down. To keep going. Even though I wanted to believe that this was my most recent memory, and there was nothing else, that couldn’t be. I began to realize that this wasn’t real. This was…a limbo. A way to bring back the rest of my memories. Once I remembered everything, I would wake up from wherever I was. But since I haven’t woken up yet, I still needed to remember more.
God dammit.