15 Simple Stories

Memorize Me

"Look at the screen."

I look at the screen.

"A few pictures are gonna come up and you tell me what you see."

"Okay."

The first one is a coat.

"It's a coat."

"Very good."

The next picture is a coat of red paint. 

"It's a coat of paint."

"That's right."

The next picture is a jacket, I think or is it a coat?

"Is it a jacket?"

"Yes, it is. I thought I'd try to trip you up there."

The next picture is a honeybee.

"It's a bee."

"Very good."

The next picture is the word be.

"That's the word be."

"That's right. Very good."

The next picture is... of my seven-year-old daughter, Bea.

"That's... that's my daughter, Bea."
"Yes, yes it is. And how does seeing Bea make you feel?"

It makes me feel queasy knowing what happened to her, it makes me feel sad that I couldn't do anything about it, it makes me feel weird that I almost didn't recognize her after ten years.

"It makes me feel sad."

"If you don't mind, would you care to elaborate on that?"

No, no I would not.

"It makes me uncomfortable."

"Fair enough."

The next picture is a rose.

"It's a rose."

"Very good."

The next picture has rows of chairs.

"Those are rows of chairs."

"That's correct."

The next picture is of the word rows.

"That's the word rows."

"That's right."

The next picture is of my girlfriend, Rose.

"That's my girlfriend, Rose."

"Your ex-girlfriend, Rose. She's been dead for a month."

Wait, what did he say? Rose is dead and she's been that way for a month? How is that something I missed?

"How long have I been here?"
"Six months. Rose checked you in."

I must not have been okay for her to feel the need to check me into a virtual ward. Only the most outrageous people are put here. Rose must have thought I was one of them but that doesn't explain how she died.

"How did she die?"

The next picture is a wind tunnel.

"It's a wind tunnel. How did Rose die?"

"That's good."

The next picture is a windbreaker.

"It's a windbreaker. Now tell me how Rose died."

"Very good."

The next picture is an open window.

"It's a window. What happened to her?"