In the Reverse

Forgotten

Danny closed his eyes forcefully. He slowed his breathing and counted backwards from 10. His mother taught him to clear his mind before taking on an exceptionally challenging concept. Based on recent events, he felt this was appropriate.
He had heard about the theory of the time space continuim being ripped apart; perhaps he had nonchalantly stepped through a hole, entering another timeline? That would be exciting to explain to the grandkids. Wait- did he have grandchildren? Danny shivered, repulsed at the idea of sticky-fingered gremlins. Maybe one day he could handle them. But not today. He had just finished the third week of sophomore year at Fowler-Noll High, so it was acceptable to be disgusted, right? Focus, Danny. Focus.

He kept his eyes closed and continued to think. There was also the possibility of him being a pawn in a secretive government experiment (it would make sense to execute those in the middle of nowhere, Kansas). However, if that was the case, he was going to have a conversation with someone in the Whitehouse about consent. Danny was confident he did not sign up for this. But nothing could be ruled out. It was too early.

"Danny? You look like you could use a drink," Joe chuckled. "All we got is water, though. The VA took what was left of my Brandy. Said my liver and kidneys been put through enough. I say, hogwash!" He walked toward Danny slowly with a slight limp from his left side. "This arthritis is gonna be the death of me. All I'm trying to do is move my feet." He jokingly shook his fist at the sky. "Is that too much to ask for?"
Danny was staring off, still visibly disturbed. A tired smile creased across Joe's face. He grasped the side of the chair for balance, but as far as Danny could tell, that was the height of his ailments. Joe truly appeared to be of sound mind.
It was clear Danny would need to entertain the idea that this was his world-maybe he had temporarily misplaced his memories in the abyss of his mind. Quite a lot of memories, honestly. Not days, weeks, but years worth of memories. But he'd have to map out the array of possibilities another time.
As far as Danny understood, Joe had known him for a while. Maybe, just maybe, he could get through to him. But he needed more answers.
Joe had poured Danny a cup of coffee and handed it to him.
Danny glared into the mug. What was in this, really? It smelled like the same 100% Columbian brew his mother kept in the cupboard. Had he been poisoned? Was it some sort of acid trip that someone had managed to sneak something into his lunch at school? Had he simply passed out in the driveway?
"Danny? You okay? You still seem awful upset. I know it's hard when you can't recall what you used to..." Joe trailed off, attempting to put a bandaid on the impossible conversation they had earlier.
Snap out of it, Danny. Reel it back in! Play the part you need to play. Learn what you can from your surroundings. Danny had quite the inner monologue thanks to his relatively quiet social life, but it wasn't the time for that. He breathed again. "Joe! Uhhh... Yeah it's still something I can't quite get accustomed to dealing with. It's all so...confusing." Was he convincing? He hoped Joe would buy it.

Joe's shoulders relaxed and he gazed behind Danny out the window. His wrinkled hand patted Danny on the knee. "It's okay, brother. It happens to the best of us."
It worked. For now. But Danny's acting would never win him an Oscar, that was for certain. He had the most awkward public speaking voice, and lies did not become him. He was going to need to grapple with the truth, soon. He could only play along for so long.

"Joe? Do you think you could...help me? You know, help me remember?" That wasn't a lie. He needed assistance to understand what had allegedly occurred in his life and how he got to where he was, today.
"Sure," Joe responded thoughtfully. "Where would you like to start?"
"Umm. The beginning?" Darn it. He felt like that might not have been the right answer. Too vague.
"That's a little vague, friend," Joe chuckled. "The beginning of what?"
Danny scratched his chin. Whiskers. That was new. He'd have to buy a razor. "The beginning of today?" That seemed like a more reasonable place to start.
Joe sat down across from Danny on the sunken couch. "Well, Danny, lucky for me, you have always been so predictable. You usually wake up like clockwork at 6:15AM; you don't know how but as a boy you hated the intruding sound of your typical alarm clock and taught yourself to get up at that time.
You get yourself dressed, and take your dusty old highschool backpack-apparently it was a favorite of yours and you've kept it in pristine condition all these years- and you go for a walk up and down this long drive of yours. Every morning around 6:45, you say hello to me as I check the mailbox from the night before. We built our house down here after the town kindly granted us a small plot of land that shimmied right up to your sweet mother's property line. She was always so good to us." Joe paused for a sip of coffee. "Anyway, after we walk down and back, Ms. Shelly comes over and helps you sort through your meds, and we go over yesterday's paper together. After we've debated the local talk of the town, we play three rounds of checkers, but today I brought cards for black jack. I usually win, but we play three games so it's certain we have ourselves a winner." Joe yawned through a toothy grin. "When all that is said and done, we see where the afternoon takes us, in some good ole unstructured porch sittin'. That's always my favorite part of the day. But today... Today you forgot somewhere during the porch sittin'. I fell asleep for a little siesta. Warm weather will do that, ya know. Anyway, I woke up and you were all... discombobulated." He frowned. "Do you recall any of that, Danny?"
Danny took a long sip of his coffee. "Unfortunately, this is all completely new information."
Joe's eyebrows shot up. "Really? Nothing?" They fell in disappointment as Danny nodded. "Well, what do you remember?"