• Painted Memories

    tab My shoulders shook silently as my tears flowed down my cheeks. Sobs emitted from my chest now and then; each memory I thought of ripped my heart even more. A sensation of anger overcame me and all I wanted to do was slap him. But, instead, I slowly lifted my head to look up at him.

    tab “Don’t you remember me? I’m Aila,” I said. My watery eyes peered into Vincent’s gaze. He shook his head.

    tab “I don’t know who you are,” he replied bluntly. The girl standing next to Vincent tugged on his jacket sleeve.

    tab “Let’s go,” she said. “We don’t know you,” she directed towards me with true peril. The girl trudged past me dragging Vincent’s sleeve with her. As soon as Vincent’s shoulder passed mine, my knees gave way and I kneeled on the concrete. All the while, my heart burned away at the last memory I held: Vincent giving me a painting of us under the moonlight at the beach. The beach trip was our only successful date. The second date he took me on was the accident that cost Vincent his memories.

    tab I thought of how when I woke up three days after the accident, my best friend Trisha had been sitting by my side crying. My first thought was that Trisha was sad because I had been in an accident, but that wasn’t the case.
    tab “I’m sorry,” Trisha sobbed. “It’s Vincent.”
    tab “Is he alright? What is it?” I asked worriedly. Trisha shook her head and stared down at the floor.
    tab “He’s dead . . .”
    tab “Don’t lie,” I said desperately. “Don’t lie to me Trisha.”
    tab “I’m not lying. Aila, the car exploded.” My jaw dropped and I refused to believe it; the tears falling from my eyes, however, clearly stated that I knew he was gone.
    tab “Then how am I alive? I want to know why Vincent isn’t here with me. Tell me.”
    tab “I don’t know . . .”
    tab “TELL ME!” I yelled.

    tab “No,” I whispered. “No.” I staggered getting to my feet and ran to catch up with Vincent.

    tab Vincent and his ‘girlfriend’ were in front of a café ready to cross the street when I caught up with them. The truth is that I didn’t care that he had a new girlfriend or that he was holding another girl’s hand. All I wanted was for him to remember me. I loved him with all my heart and I just wanted him to remember it. I still love him, now that he has no memory of me. I cut in between them and grasped Vincent’s arm shaking them harshly.

    tab “I’m Aila!” I shouted at him. “I’m your Aila! Please. You have to remember,” I pleaded. Vincent said nothing. He simply focused his look on my face and tears. As if my words had touched his heart, his hand reached up and wiped away the tears as they slid down my cheek. “Please,” I said again.

    tab “Aila,” said Vincent, and for a moment, hearing him say my name with care like he did, my heart melted. I nodded.

    tab “Vincent,” I said as a smile slowly crept to my mouth.

    tab “Sorry,” he finally said. “I told you already, you’re mistaken.” If words could kill, then I would have already died. It was more painful than being slapped to the face, which I preferred. “Sorry, but you’re interrupting my date with my girlfriend,” he gestured to the blonde girl beside him. He took her hand again and took one step before I stopped him again.

    tab “No!” I cried. “I’m Aila! I’m your Aila! You, you’re my Vincent! Please, remember.” He said nothing and brushed past me like nothing had ever happened between us. I yelled after them in the middle of the crosswalk. “Vincent!” I cried desperately for his attention. I ran for him.

    tab “Leave him alone, or I will call the cops on you!” said his ‘girlfriend.’ I grabbed on to his sleeve and wanted to say something to him. His ‘girlfriend’ pushed me away and out of the crosswalk where there were cars moving. I had fallen on my stomach and didn’t know what was happening in that instant. When I looked up, bright headlights were in my view and heading straight to me.
    In my mind, being hit by a car and dying was probably better than having my heart wrenched out by someone I loved. I was anticipating the end; it never came. Before I knew it, Vincent had picked me up and threw me back on the crosswalk. The next thing I heard was the screech of tires on the pavement and screams and shrieks all around.
    tab “Vincent!”

    tab In Vincent’s intellect, many things flashed before him. Things he’d seen and yet there were things that he didn’t recall seeing. There was a girl sitting beside him in his car, but who was she? She definitely wasn’t his girlfriend because the girl sitting there had light black hair and sparkling blue eyes. However, she was beautiful and he remembered her; her name is Aila and Vincent knew that all he wanted was to protect the way her dimples showed when she smiled and her gorgeous eyes. He wanted her to be safe from everything to show her that he truly appreciated her. Vincent loved Aila and it proved true when that red Dodge truck slammed against Vincent’s car and pushed it over the hill. He knew he had to make sure Aila was safe; he would trade away his life for hers. Vincent remembered ushering her out the door and seeing her collapse on the pavement.

    tab After the car came to a stop at the bottom of the hill, Vincent smelled gas. The car was going to explode. The last thing he saw was Aila fainted on the top of the hill. His heart felt glad that she was okay; he only felt sad that he couldn’t be alive to be with her. And his sight faded.

    tab When Vincent opened his eyes, the hospital lights blinded him at first. He blinked a couple of times and sat up right. On the wall in front of him was a familiar painting of two silhouettes on the sand under the moon. Instantly, he looked at his side. Two girls sat red eyed by him. He only reached out to one. He reached out to the girl with the sparkling blue eyes and light black hair.

    tab “Aila,” he breathed.