Memories [random updates]

Memories | 04

The engine roared and thundered, conveying its power to its surroundings. Almost everyone at that moment looked up, either appreciating the size and almighty power of the lorry or mentally cursing it for the huge amount of noise that it brought along with it. I fell into the latter there, not excruciatingly happy with being disrupted while I thought.

Once the lorry had passed, the noise levels had reduced vastly and I was able to return to my thoughts while I walked. Kicking a stone with my shoe, it blundered across the pavement and fell onto the road, now lost under the wheels of the vehicles. Huffing, I couldn’t think of anything to do to pass the time.

On a normal day, I would be at the hospital now with Ally despite the fact that visiting hours had not begun yet. But today was Monday and a strict nurse was on duty clearly harboured a clear dislike for me, possible from the last time when I had argued and fought with her; I lost.

Crossing the road while the traffic was held back by the swift change from the green light to red, I redirected course and decided to make the local park my new destination for now. In attempt to pass the time, I just sat on the bench and watched some little kids play, remembering the many times in the past when I had done the same when I was at that stage.

Once again, profoundly bored and with a huge amount of time to kill, I decided to head over to the old wishing well which was located in the park. It was thought that dropping some pennies into it would fulfil ay wish or desire a person could possible want or wish for; just like in the fairy tales. Well, I certainly knew what I wanted.

It wasn’t particularly difficult to find the well, at least not for someone who had been there before.

The well was located behind a few rose bushes, well hidden away from the human eye. The closer I got to the well, the quieter it became. The hustle and bustle of the joyful children faded into the background until finally, silence engulfed me as I stood directly in front of the well.

I’d only been here a few times and I wasn’t sure if this worked, but it was one of the few things that gave me hope nowadays. Fishing for some loose change in my back pocket, I grabbed hold of an old penny and brought it to my lips. Giving it a kiss, I closed my eyes and hoped, hard. Flicking the old coin into the well and down below, I listened quietly, awaiting the sound of the penny hitting the water before opening my eyes.

Scrambling back to the top of the well, I peered down looking for the penny that I had just tossed in. To my despair, they all looked the same, nothing distinguishing about any of them at all. I could hardly make out one from the other, let alone be able to recognise the one that had my wish attached to it.

Many people pitied me, but I didn’t need their pity. I wasn’t the type of person to enjoy having others feel sympathy for me, no matter how serious the situation may be. I didn’t catch whiff of Ally’s condition and unfortunate predicament, not until I got a phone call at 2.13 am one early morning informing me that Ally was in the hospital. It was only then did I feel both our relationship and my need for her, strengthen.

That phone call was the make-it-or-break-it moment for me, the pivoting point that would determine my true feelings about Allison. I hadn’t known her for long, a mere five months at the time, but I knew where I had to be that morning.

At the time, Ally and I had only been dating for two weeks, not long enough to be able to truly know a person, but I immediately rushed to the hospital once I had gotten off the phone. I had been frantically running around like a headless chicken at 2.15 am, throwing on clothes and leaving the house with my car keys in hand.

My mind was absolutely clouded with new found information and it was as if the huge puzzle before refused to fit together and reveal the image. It was chaos, those few minutes after I had received the phone call from the hospital on that morning, but I knew that I had to be there with Ally; not because she needed me, but because I needed her.