Mini Short Stories: 2020 Volume 1

Dark - Story 26

I had lost all my memories in an accident and I still felt like a stranger locked in a dark room. Rich, who they said was my husband, was kind but distant. He seemed uncomfortable around me. I stayed in the room they said was ours by myself most of the day, reading the novels that I had found. Lara loved books and so did I. Lara loved to write and so did I. Lara loved her husband, but I couldn't love a stranger.

Lara seemed to like him a lot. I couldn't keep reading her diaries. It felt as if I was intruding on her secret moments. I was supposed to read them, but I read her novels while I watched tv in their bedroom. Actually, I felt guilty about this. Rich gave me space and time to recover in privacy while I essentially used my recovery to ignore him. Just like Lara's diaries I felt that I was intruding in his life. I decided to stop hiding from Lara and Rich.

They started out like very uncomfortable interviews. I asked basic questions about preferences and memories. He was willing but very careful until one night when I yelled at him that I wasn't a piece of fragile glass. He laughed and said, "Your temper was always a beautiful thing." I blushed and the distance between us eased a bit. The next time I lost my temper was when I accused him of not using my name. He countered that I had already refused to answer to Lara. "Well call me Lala then!" He laughed then and quickly explained that this was my nickname as a child. It felt like a fragile yet hopeful win to the both of us.

After that I began remembering events and faces from my childhood so I asked Rich to take me to visit my parents and siblings. I hadn't visited them as yet because I was so afraid. Rich gave me a quick hug and a forehead kiss before we got out of the car. "I'm here with you," he smiled. At that moment I understood how Lara had fallen in love with this man. I survived the family visit. It was more emotional than I expected but I handled it. I saw my old bedroom and recounted cherished memories. I made a connection with people who knew me as the child-Lala then Lara and now the new Lala who was reborn.

I eventually regained my memories and my life, but I was different. "People always change," my husband said. "You just upgraded." I was even more grateful to this man who'd saved me from the accident and helped re-discover myself. A terrible incident had simply led to a new beginning.