Remember | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: Remember | Previous Challenge Entry
By Amanda Septer
08/06/15
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Ben shuffled slowly along in front of the row of lakeside cabins. He’d take a few steps, stop and look around.

"Is this where I’m staying? How did I get here? I can't remember." He mumbled to himself.

He shuffled a little longer before he started to feel the panic in his stomach. The more he tried to figure it out, the more confused he felt.

"I don’t know where I am. Where is Minnie?"

Relief flooded through him when he turned around and saw Minnie walking up the sidewalk. His embarrassment caused him to react harshly.

“Where have you been?” He snapped.

Minnie just smiled gently and said, “Just out finding my man.”

He smiled at the long running joke. Calm spread through his body. This he knew.

“How about some iced tea?” Minnie asked, hooking her arm in his.

“You know, “ he said, “I’d always hoped that I would have my own cabin someday. Did you know that?”

“Yes, I think I remember you saying that.” she said quietly, quickly blinking away unexpected tears.

They proceeded slowly to their cabin, and onto the back deck, where two visitors were waiting for them.

“Well hello,” Minnie welcomed the two men, twins.

Ben smiled and held out his hand.

“Welcome, I’m Ben. This is my wife Minnie.”

He missed Minnie’s quick inhale, and the moment’s hesitation before the taller of the twins offered his own hand.

“Hi, I’m Jake. This is my brother Tom,” he said with forced casualness.

“Good to meet you both” Ben said motioning for them to sit down.

They covered the niceties of social calls, the weather, the water, the fishing. Turned out that the twin’s were staying in cabins on either side of them.

“So what do you guys do for a living?” Ben asked.
“We’re architects” Tom replied.

“I was…” Ben started, but struggled to find his words. The confusion showed clearly on his face.

“Well it’s getting kind of late.” said one of the twins.
“Yes”, agreed Minnie, “We should probably turn in.”

Minnie gently tugged on Ben’s arm and ushered him inside. Once she had him comfortably in bed, she went back out onto the deck. She was not surprised to see the twins still sitting there.

“Dad having a bad day?” Jake said heavily.

It was more of a statement then a question. Ben had not known whom they were tonight, let alone that they took over as partners in his old firm years ago. It hadn’t happened often, but when it did, the reality of his dad’s illness always hit hard.

Minnie nodded her head. “Yes, he…” but whatever she was going to say got stuck on the lump in her throat.

She sat down by Tom and he held her hand. Minnie was not one to cry easy but she’d had high hopes for this trip. Ben’s Alzheimer’s had been progressing quickly over the last few months. She had hoped coming to the cabin for their annual family vacation might help. Sadly, the fact that he had owned this cabin for 40 years, and designed the two on either side, was no longer in his memory.

“Mom look,” Jake said, pointing to a small boat out on the lake. “Is that like the one we had when we were little?”

“Yes, but ours was red.”

Jake smiled, “Remember the summer dad took us out fishing at night?”

“Ha, yeah, “ Tom exclaimed, “it only happened once. We were out for a whole 20 minutes.”

“We get all the way out there and dad knocks all the food into the lake.” Jake finished. “What about the summer mom decided to remodel?”

Minnie chuckled at the memory. Her and the boys had come up a week early that year. Ben was supposed to meet them on Saturday for their family vacation. Unbeknownst to her husband, she had started the demolition.

“He decided to come up on Friday, “ she recalled with a smile, “and found an empty ransacked house. We came home from dinner to find police cars in the driveway.”

They all enjoyed a good laugh at that one. The next two hours passed with a flow of vacation memories, laughter, and bittersweet tears. Minnie prayed for strength. It was going to get worse. Soon he wouldn’t know her. She knew this would be the last family vacation with her precious Ben. Now their time, and their memories were hers alone to remember, for the both of them.

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