The female protagonist, wakes up in an unfamiliar place surrounded by people that she could've sworn she'd never seen. Without a single memory of her past she goes on, struggling to find her place in the world but fearing to tell anyone what she's...
"I've never seen you this excited to go to the pond." He tells me. As we walk, I respond. "Well, maybe it's because it felt like yesterday was the first time I was at the pond." "Is that your way of saying that it's been a long time since you've visited the pond?" He says, looking all happy. "Maybe... I meant it the way I said it." He chuckles, "I still can't figure you out, Lili. You're such a mystery to me." "Yeah, maybe you're right. Maybe I am a mystery. But so are you." I respond with a smile as a chuckle escapes my lips.
We get to the same bridge where the little pond is at. I lean against the wooden bridge, facing the lake. "Yesterday you told me, right here, that you'd listen to what has me worried." He looks at me with a smile and leans against the bridge too, but he's facing me. "Yea, I did say that. And I'm still up on that offer." I smile and laugh a bit. "Good, because I couldn't sleep well without telling someone about this." "You couldn't sleep well? Did you sleep well last night?" He looks at me with concern.
"Well yes. I mean, no, last night was awful, but that's the least of my problems." "If you ever need me, you can call me, you know? Even if it's 3 AM or whatever." "That's... actually really nice. Thanks." I respond. -Wait, I have a phone? Hmm, I didn't see one. I didn't pay attention to that detail.
"Oh right, so about that thing I wanted to tell you." He sits down on the edge of the bridge and looks up at me. I sit next to him. "I'm listening." He says. I look down at the water, and take a deep breath before I slowly open my mouth. -I can't believe I'm about to tell him about all this. The thing that I was the most afraid to talk about. The thing that I was holding on to and didn't tell anyone before. I think It's because I didn't have any memories of anyone and didn't feel comfortable talking with anyone about this out of fear that this might not even be real.
But right now I just want to feel reassured. That I've either just lost my memories or that I'm somehow dreaming and can't wake up. I just want to know what's happening. I don't care anymore. I just want someone to know about this.
He looks attentively at me as I start my sentence. "How do I start this? Uhm... I'm in a place that's just wonderful. Everything is just so nice, people are so kind... like you." He smiles at me as I say that, and I smile back, but I'm blushing a bit. He keeps listening to me and doesn't interrupt me. "But I feel strange, out of place. Like I don't belong here." He carefully listens to me and looks concerned. "It may be weird, but I don't recall anything past yesterday morning. Time before that doesn't exist, it's all just black and empty."
His eyes widen as I say that, and he responds in a serious but surprised tone. "You lost your memories?" "Yes, I did. But I don't know how. I thought maybe you'd know more than I do, since you were the last one to be with me on that day."
He thinks for a moment before responding, I'd never seen him this serious before. "I knew you were acting strange since yesterday but memory loss? I just wasn't expecting you to say that." He looks away and thinks. I'm not sure what could've been the cause, but we should go to the doctor later to check. It might be psychological." I take a moment to take in what he said.
"But Lili, do you really not remember anything?" He says while looking down at the water below our feet. "I don't." "So yesterday, was it like you were hanging out with a complete stranger?" "Hmm, well in a way, yes. But you seemed to know me, so it wasn't so much like that." He looks down, looking all gloomy. "Then, you don't remember anything about me?" I look at him and feel his sadness.
"Ah, well, not really. But I... I'm sure I'll remember eventually." "I'm sorry if I ever made you feel awkward. I wasn't aware you... had lost your memories." He says in a soft tone, looking at me but in a distant way. It suddenly felt like all the closeness I once felt around him started to dissipate. "No, that's not something you should be apologizing for, you couldn't have known. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner." I say.
He looks at me, I can't figure out what he's thinking. "You probably want to know what you forgot." I nod at his question. "Well, to begin with, I'm Eric Bonzo. Hi, nice to meet you." I can't hold back on laughing, and he smiles as he laughs with me. -Eric? I had forgotten the mention of his name in the dining room. I guess I was just so distracted with my own thoughts that I didn't realize they had said his name.
"Nice to meet you, Eric, I'm Lili... I think." "Elizabeth Morano. That's your real name. But I've always liked calling you Lili. It suits you and your love for lily ponds." I laugh again. "That's a funny correlation." He smiled as our eyes met, and this time I felt something else. Like butterflies in my stomach, if that's not too cheesy.
"You're 18 and so am I, in case you're wondering." He says sarcasm in his voice. I chuckle at his sarcasm and keep listening attentively to the rest. You've lived in Sincalista since birth. Your dream was to move out and create a family of your own in the countryside. School was always easy for you and you made a lot of long term friends there. You still keep in touch with most of them even after graduating from high school."
"You didn't want to keep studying after graduating. Instead, you wanted to focus on family and finding small hobbies to grow your own small business from those passions. You wanted to make something small that would last a long time. You grew up with money, but you didn't find the need for the material world. You were someone with a drive for nature, and its everlasting cycle. Nature was probably the place that you'd spend the most time in."
"Whenever you weren't home or at school, I knew I could find you somewhere in nature, like in your garden or at the pond. I've never met someone as special as you. You just... seemed so passionate about life. Always so positive and overjoyed by the smallest things. I wanted to be someone like that. Like you. But instead I got closer to you unexpectedly, without meaning to. That's when I developed a major crush on you. Haha, well that's how it started, and then my ego wants to say that we ended up dating just a couple of months later, but... we both had things we needed to learn, places we needed to be, people we had to meet, things we had to do before we could get together. Basically, I left abroad to escape the thought that we might never be together."
"I thought I had forgotten all about my crush, but I was just so good at hiding it to myself. When I got back, I got hit back with the reality that my love for you hadn't disappeared. You had always seen me as a friend, so I thought that was all I'd ever be... but the more we connected, the more that I realized that it wasn't true. At some point, I had the courage to tell you all about it, and it's about that time that you told me you felt the same way. We finally got to hear each other's feelings through, and that's when I told you 'I love you' for the first time."
I'm listening to him with my full attention. He sounds very passionate as he speaks, but I can't help but feel like he isn't talking about me. Like I'm just an imposter that has no place in this world. None of what he says sounds familiar.
"The funniest part of all was that you told me that you'd always thought of me as someone very cheerful and kind. I didn't see that. In your eyes, I was exactly the person that I had wished to be. I guess we could perceive the good in each other, and we needed to be together to be able to notice those parts of ourselves."
"Wow. I can't believe you just introduced me to myself." I looked at him, slight sarcasm in my tone as I smiled at him. "I mean, I never expected that I'd ever have to explain to my girlfriend who she is." We laughed together at our weird situation. "You're also the most beautiful, prettiest, cutest and smartest girl I've ever met in my 18 years of existence, in case you were wondering."
I smile at his remark and chuckle. "Thank you. I've felt this flattered in my life."
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