It was a day that Cynthia Wise would never forget. She ran through the hallways of the hospital after receiving a call from the state patrol. Her fiancé was involved in a head on collision with a semi. She was stopped at the emergency room by the doctor that was in charge and dropped her purse after hearing what he said. The possessions spilled over the floor from the unzipped bag. As the young lady kneeled down to pick up her things she began to tremble with the thought that Jericho would be a vegetable for the rest of his life.

“Your dreaming now,” began Cynthia as she looked at him. “When you wake we will leave this all behind as a faded memory,” she smiled while looking at him with her green eyes and ran her fingers through his thick, sandy, brown hair. He looked exactly the same as he did a year ago when she met him on her seventeenth birthday. They were together in the hospital room and it was late. Cynthia would have to leave, but remembered her own accident. She turned her wrist as the memory unfolded; the car accident followed by a tow truck taking the car away. Being laid up in the hospital for weeks was almost a blessing because it allowed her and Jericho to become closer. The strange scar was shaped like a rose and was a sign from God to continue her life.

As the loneliness continued through the small hours, Cynthia decided to visit Jericho. She walked into the room and untied her long, curly cinnamon color hair to look at her fiancé who was awake. He looked the same as before the accident, but with a little more color in his high cheek bones. His eyes widened at the sight of the beautiful women standing before him. “How are you feeling?” she asked. “Fine, I think,” groaned Jericho. “Who are you?” he asked. The words seemed to stab Cynthia like a knife driven into her heart. She didn’t expect Jericho to get amnesia. She began to sob, while stepping towards him “I’m your future wife”.

The young man touched his head and then moved his hand out to show that he wanted her to keep away. The bandage on his forehead and police reports proved that he hit his head hard against the wind shield.

“If you were my future wife I would remember you,” began Jericho.

“But I am,” Cynthia replied.

“Then what’s my favorite color?” he asked.

“Blue.”

“What’s my favorite cartoon character?”

“Mickey Mouse.”

“What is my favorite movie?”

“Gone In Sixty Seconds,” she answered.

His eyes widened with surprise and the question remained; how did this person know all this? This stranger who said he was about to marry her could not possibly know everything. “What cologne do I wear?” asked Jericho as he heard Cynthia let out a sigh. “I’m not going to play twenty questions with you. I’m telling you the truth.”

Just then the nurse stepped into the room with a clipboard and a cart with funny little instruments. The nurse looked at Cynthia and wondered what was going on. Jericho let out a sigh of relief glad that someone was there to keep watch.

“Ms. Wise, I need to do a medical examination. Could you please leave the room?” asked the nurse.

“I’ll come back tomorrow,” disappointed as she left.

Cynthia sat on the couch in her apartment that she shared with Jericho and opened

a small pale of ice cream. She had taken the week off from her receptionist job, working for her dad, and was keeping herself occupied so Jericho wouldn’t push her away. She closed her eyes and remembered the crash. Her eyes welled up with tears as the faded memories emerged.

“How are you doing today?” asked Jericho as he looked into her eyes. “Better than yesterday,” Cynthia answered as she scratched the scab on her wrist.

“You know you should stop that or it will turn into a scar,” replied Jericho.

“I don’t care, it itches,” she replied and heard Jericho begin to laugh. ”You’ve got a stubborn heart, more than I could imagine.”

The weeks progressed and before the couple knew it they were living their life again. Jericho walked through the park and turned Cynthia’s wrist over to see the scar of the upside down rose. It was vivid and questions were asked, but one question seemed to pop in his mind; how did she survive the accident?

They stood near a swing set and he picked Cynthia up and sat her on a tree stump. They could feel each other’s heart beat and began kissing. Cynthia didn’t want it to end and she could only imagine that Jericho didn’t want it to end either.

“That’s an interesting tattoo you have there,” he whispered.

“Oh yea I know,” she answered as she looked at the rose and then into her boyfriend’s eyes.

“I guess it’s my destiny to get a second chance. Faded memories do become real.”

“Yes, I guess you would say that a lot of things become real and I met you on your birthday I wanted to ask you a question?” replied Jericho as he got down on one knee and pulled out a small box. Cynthia felt a dizzy wave of excitement that swept her insides. She could feel the hair on the back of her neck stand on end; the feeling of an electric current shot up and down her spine as she touched the box. A smile emerged on her face as she tried to keep from crying.

“Cynthia Wise, I don’t want to put any pressure on you,” replied Jericho as he opened the black box to reveal a wedding ring.

“Will you marry me?”

“Yes” she answered with a laugh as she hugged and kissed him.

Cynthia cracked a grin to have such a memorable thought; it was worth reliving the memory. She wished for that feeling of love instead of what she was feeling right now. The twenty year old got up from the couch and walked up to turn the television off when she began thinking about the inevitable. How was she to help Jericho remember her she thought and realized if she did nothing the relationship would be gone. Tomorrow would be a new start to get him back she thought to herself. She would get close to him, but there was a need to be careful. Putting pressure on Jericho would be like trying to tame a lion and it would be all for nothing if he threw it all back into her face for moving to fast. Cynthia turned the light off and went to bed.

The next day in the hospital Cynthia Wise walked into Jericho’s room and saw him picking his wound. She smiled and set the tray of food on his lap and watched him eat. He looked at her and grinned, but then the smile faded into fear as he became suspicious that even someone so beautiful could be Satan himself.

“You know if you keep picking your scab it’s going to turn into a scar.”

“I don’t care, it itches,” he answered as he grabbed the apple from the tray and took a bite out of it. Cynthia smiled as she began to laugh.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she answered while shaking her head to the strange repeat of history. “You know in a couple days you might be well enough to leave the hospital,” she said.

“In a couple days you may want a different boyfriend,” replied Jericho as he watched Cynthia’s face freeze with discomfort. She looked deeply sad as though someone had died. Jericho felt uncomfortable and didn’t trust her and it was because he didn’t know her or did he?

“I was hoping that you would allow me to help you with your rehabilitation to remember things,” said Cynthia.

“I don’t know, you’re an attractive woman who deserves someone who hasn’t smashed up his brain,” answered Jericho.

“Let’s wait and see, I don’t want to put you under any pressure,” continued Cynthia as she looked deep in his eyes.

As the days progressed; Jericho worked hard to re-learn how to walk without any help. Soon he was able to leave and they walked around the park. She was even helping him remember family and friends. It was slowly coming back, but the remaining puzzle piece was still not in place.

It was Sunday afternoon and Cynthia was able to gain his trust to hold his hand. They had come so far since the accident that it was magical. Cynthia felt they had become close friends and as they walked through a familiar part of the park she felt a cold empty feeling. Would it be possible for him to remember her and all the great memories they shared? This place they were walking to would hopefully get Jericho to remember and if it didn’t she would have to leave him. They stopped near a swing set and she sat on the tree stump and looked into his eyes.

“Do you remember this place?” asked Cynthia as she licked her lips and looked in his eyes. “It feels familiar, but I can’t place it. Maybe you should explain why it’s so usual?” he asked. “Right here, on this same sunny day, you asked me to marry you.”

Cynthia smiled as the memories unfolded and remembered the excitement when he asked to marry her and a smile emerged, but then it slowly subsided to a frown as a clouded mystery of what ifs and how could this be emerged in such mind. It seemed quite clear that Jericho would turn away and she would lose her soul mate forever. Jericho looked around and felt the wind brush up against his face. He turned around to the sound of children playing and laughing and saw the squirrels and chipmunks running up the trees.

There was a moment of silence as Jericho stared deep into her eyes as pictures fluttered his mind. He remembered laughter and kisses, dancing in the rain, feeding each other ice cream. Then suddenly there was the sound of words that pierced his ears.

“I don’t want to add any pressure on you, but you’re hurting me,” she answered and tried to keep her emotions together and her eyes from tearing up.

“This friendship can go two ways; one way is you trust me completely and let me in, the other is we go our separate ways.”

“If I was able to fall in love with you the first time, give me a chance to fall in love with you again!” exclaimed Jericho.

“I can’t,” cried Cynthia as she turned away, but Jericho turned her around and touched her shoulder gently as he moved turned her around and touched her face.

“I can’t face this loneliness. Or hope that you’ll remember me when I feel like we’re both being cheating out of our lives!” exclaimed Cynthia as she broke away from his hands and began walking away.

Suddenly like magic, Jericho began to remember how they met. She had fallen on some ice in January and needed help getting to her car. He offered to help her and soon they became good friends. Then they kept bumping into each other at malls, school and parks, which followed with a couple of dates to the fair.

“I’m doing us both a favor and leaving you to decide your future, alone.”

Jericho grabbed her tiny wrist and saw the upside down rose, which sent chills up her spine. Cynthia turned her head and looked into his blue eyes and realized that he didn’t want her to go. It was the same look that she saw when they danced at Prom to Avril Lavine song; I’m with you.

“Faded memories do become real,” he answered emotionally as he held her near his chest, closer than she had been in a long time.

Cynthia looked down past his shorts to his knee cap where Jericho had been caught itching the scar that she told him repeatedly to stop and saw a scar of an upside down rose that was identical to hers and knew what it meant. It was a sign that they were meant for each other and that they would never lose each other again.

“I missed you,” she whispered as they both left the park realizing they would be together forever.

Faded Memories Do Become Real

Closer; Faded Memories Do Become Real