“And we forget because we must;
And not because we will.”
-Matthew Arnold
Prologue
I prayed day and night, again and again and at least three times a day that she wouldn’t forget that she had loved.
Her thoughts faded before I could properly tell her that she was my life. She was forgetting everything. Names, ages, places, things…
Even me who she loved more than anything.
*****
“Oh for Pete’s sake…” Lena grumbled as she took a seat on the bus en route to home. She had forgotten her wallet and the can of coke she bought at the corner store. Groaning at the fact that she had already paid for the bus fare, she let herself out from the vehicle and made her way back to the corner store.
Lena was a 25 year old, and she was the daughter of one of the biggest construction industries in Russia. She had a job as a secretary slash organizer for Ivan Shapvalov, her father’s right hand man in the constructing business. It wasn’t that she had to work for her own; it was quite the contrary really. Her father discouraged her from working, saying working was only for the needy. But Lena didn’t approve of that attitude. So she works just for the fun of it.
She had bright red hair which almost anyone could spot out from a vast field of crowds. It was in curly locks, bouncing and riding the winds whenever it blew across her tresses. Freckles were scattered everywhere on her body, from her face to her back and even to her legs. But the freckles on her legs only and rarely showed when it was very sunny outside. She had a set of green and yet specks of grey eyes, holding in a lot of shine and vibrant light she always carried with her.
She was a nice girl really. She was fairly smart and had a quick wit about her, and she had the natural charisma just bursting out of her every move. She was more than handfuls when it came to her body, her shapely contours and curves in the all the right place. She was near perfect.
Near. If there was one flaw she had about her, it was her real bad memory. It was her usual routine where she would forget to close the cap on her tooth paste, leave her wallet almost anywhere, and walk all the way over to her work to see that her attire she had on waist down was grey sweatpants while she had a work blouse and a tie on top.
But forgetting was constant, and it was part of her life. She had stopped minding this little side effect of her good life due to her attitude about things. She had cared for a while, yes, a long while, but she decided that she couldn’t fix it so she might as well embrace it.
But this time she was pissed. Because she forgot her wallet and her can of coke at the corner store, she have wasted a buck fifty on the bus fare.
She spotted the corner store across the street, so she slowly jogged through the road to the other side. As she was about to step into the store, someone came out of it, blocking her way. She irritatingly looked up to see who it was.
It was a woman in scrappy ragged clothes with paint stains and rips everywhere. She had stark black hair spiked up in every possible direction with god knows what, and those eyes were very noticeable through the magnificent tan she had. She was a few inches smaller than her, so she straightened in an attempt to make this woman in front of her feel smaller. The woman in front of her looked like a total hobo.
She just blinked at her. Lena blinked back. It was mere second before until Lena had worked her sight down to see what the brunette was holding. It was a can of red colored coke shining with beads of perspiration, winking up at her. Lena blinked again. Then her thoughts caught up to her as she looked up at the hobo in front of her.
This was *her* coke! This hobo stole *her* coke! So she did the only thing that came to mind.
Lena snatched the coke can from the brunette’s hand, and poured down its snappy contents down her throat all in one gulp. After a second to recover from the sudden fizziness, she smiled and handed the brunette the can back. The brunette held up the coke can and blinked at it before looking at Lena again to blink once more.
Oh and of course, the grand finale for the thief. “Buuuuuuuuuuuuuurp.” Lena belched out, right in the woman’s face. At the least, the brunette seemed shocked. Well mission accomplished, she had gotten her coke back.
Lena happily pivoted on her heels and walked back to the station.
*****
“Aww, Christ!” Lena cursed again when she found out that she had forgotten her wallet. In a state of ‘Pissed off’, she stomped out of the bus again with squinted eyes and marched over to the corner store.
Good. No coke stealing hobo woman around.
Lena walked in the rugged store, and the bell that hung on the wall inches above the door rung to signal her entrance. The owner of the store who was watching the tiny television stationed beneath the counter, flashed a goofy smile at her.
“Forget something?” He asked as he pulled out a wallet and a can of coke from a closed cabinet beside the TV.
A stab of guilt punched through her conscience. The song of her quite impressive belch right into the poor woman’s face replayed over and over in her head. She suppressed the urge to giggle and reached for her wallet and her coke.
“Thank you, sir! Have a good day.” Lena called before walking out to the bus station again.
Well, a free can of coke was something. But she wondered in fate was crazy enough to let her and that hobo looking woman meet at another time at another place. Then she could have the chance to apologize or something. But she desperately wished that she didn’t have to. She didn’t like apologizing for things, especially if she did do something wrong or caused disruption.
Then she dismissed the whole thought. She didn’t even have to think about anything when it came to fate. She knew that it was always a bitch.
[starting another one...cuz Love must be a fairy tale ends in about two more chapters!! whoo!!]
ps. [what was that? before its too late? .....what was that??
]