Pieces [ONC 2020 LONGLIST]

Ages and Ages

As soon as the sun rose I raced to Stan's. We sat around his apartment as he let me ask anything for hours without end. He liked to talk about how stupid the common-born were.

"The common-born don't care about the Collectors," he said. "Distracted with their toys and drowning under compound interest, they can't waste time wondering who collected what and if they had a right to take it...But you, Gold..." Stan used my nickname for the first time. "You're a common-born yet you've received an incredible gift."

There he goes again, calling losing everything I've ever loved a gift.

I scoffed.

He walked over to his window and took a breath as he watched the strangers below criss-cross in their hurried lives. "Every mind out there thinks they know who they are. Thinks they're fine as long as they remember the big, important details. But it's the memories of little things that matter..."

"Have you ever been collected?" It seemed like a silly question. Even in elementary school there wasn't a kid who didn't have their own red-card collection.

"No," he said without emotion. 

"That's amazing!" I gleamed then wondered out loud, "But, why do you want to restore memories, if you still have all of yours?"

He pinched his bottom lip the spoke softly. "My wife." Without another word he opened the door and stepped into the hall. With a glance, he looked back and me and jutted his head, motioning for me to follow.

We rode the elevator to the ground floor and stepped into the blistering heat of the city street. He took a few steps then turned into the flower shop. The scent of lilacs and rose drifted sweetly across the air. If only candles could actually capture the scent of fresh flowers...

"Hello!" A gentle woman greeted from the side room. She stepped into the main shop, wiping her hands on a tan apron that was stained with various greens and browns. Her brown hair fell from a loose bun, while little strips of grey hinted at her wisdom. Her smile brightened when she saw Stan.

"Ah! You're a bit early today." She teased and reached into the glass fridge behind the counter. "But I have your bouquet right here. I think it's my favorite one so far." She said and pulled out an elaborate bouquet with lilies and about 30 other flowers I can't name.

Stan grinned. "I'm sure it will be hers as well."

He introduced me as his nephew--I suppose it made sense since I'd be around a lot--and they exchanged small talk like distant friends. But there was something in the way her eyes sparkled when he spoke and how Stan gazed at her like she was the most beautiful thing in the room.

I waved and held the door for him as we left. It took both of his hands to carry the vase of flowers. We jumped on the elevator and I couldn't wait anymore.

"So--" I started.

"She's my wife."

I almost swallowed my tongue.

"How?" I meant a thousand things. How did someone like her ever agree to marry someone as grumpy as him? How did she end up working in a flower shop? How how how?

"Eight years ago there was a national raid, you might have heard about a deadly virus that the government needed to search and destroy...We were that virus." Balancing the flowers, he tossed me the key to his apartment. He wouldn't trust anyone with the vase. We stepped inside and he placed them in on the coffee table in the center of the room.

"We lived in the country. It was peaceful and calm. No one bothered us.  We'd never involved ourselves in the rebellion much, besides attending the meetings. I had my job in town as a machinist and she worked at home with her art and design gigs. When they came, Lucinda was the only one there. They wiped her mind..." His voice cracked.