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Petal&Joseph (c) me
---
“I don’t know you!”
My voice catches in my throat- it hurts. Everything does. Panic is filling me like water in my stomach. And through all this, the girl is standing opposite me. She’s chewing on her lip and clasping her hands tight.
“You do, Joey- please! Please remember me, you’ve got to!”
I step away from her, shake my head. “Stop it, I don’t know you. I’ve already told you I don’t- why can’t you understand?”
“We danced on my front porch, we kissed on the riverboat- Joseph, it’s me- it’s Petal!”
“We didn’t! I would know! I would know if we did all those things!”
“You laugh when you’re nervous” she says, “your smile is lopsided. You’re nearsighted but you don’t wear glasses. You play the piano better than anyone I’ve ever heard and you never roll your sleeves all the way down. I get to know you every day, and every morning we start over again and I have to pretend that I don’t love you! Joseph, please! Please try to remember me!” her voice is rising to a cry and her dark eyes are filling with tears- I can only stand and stare at her, grappling with fear, grappling with confusion and frustration and sadness.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I don’t know you! Please, you’ve got me mistaken with someone else! Just leave me alone!” I tell her. She doesn’t, though- she suddenly comes forward and throws her arms round my shoulders. Her cheeks are wet against my collarbones and I’m startled by her warmth- she hugs me so tight it hurts. I don’t know what to do so I just stand stock still, wracking my brain for some sort of explanation to this. I don’t know where I am, I can’t find Susan and a colored girl is telling me she loves me- I don’t understand!
“I miss you, Joey,” she whispers. “Why can’t you miss me back? Why?”
“I’m sorry,” is all I can say- my voice comes out colder than I meant for, and it makes her pull away.
The girl called Petal s wipes her eyes, shakes her head, sucks in a deep breath. “I’m sorry, too, Joseph. I suppose… I suppose I’ll go now- nothing’s going to change anyway.”
She moves to leave, but I impulsively reach out and grab her by the wrist. Guilt is washing over me- it’s choking me.
“Wait.”
She spins round and the hope in her face makes me want to die. “Yes?” she asks.
“I… I don’t know you. I’m confused right now- I don’t know where I am and I don’t know why I’m here. But…” I let go of her hand and sigh, “but I want to believe you. There’s something wrong with me, isn’t there?”
She regards me- I regard her, too, but I can’t figure what she’s thinking. “I guess I can tell you- you won’t remember it tomorrow anyway.” She’s closing up, I can tell. The emotions that I saw moments ago are draining away and she’s becoming guarded.
“What do you mean?” I ask her. “Why wouldn’t I remember?”
“You were in a car accident three months ago.” She says this haltingly, staring at her knuckles. “It damaged your brain, Joey. Almost every day you… you forget everything.”
I stare at her. “What?”
Petal looks at her shoes and says no more. I just can’t comprehend this; all I can do is walk over to the bed and sit down.
“And what about you?”
“What?”
“Who are you, then?”
“My mama was your nurse at the hospital. I was helping her- that’s… that’s how we met.”
“What was it like?”
She comes and sits beside me, a sad smile on her face. “Us? We were happy. It was hard at first- getting used to all this. But I enjoyed it. I think you did too.”
“So I loved you?”
“You told me so, and I reckon I believed you.”
All I can do is run my hands through my hair. “I guess I loved you a lot.” I look up at her, meet her eyes. “I’m sorry, Petal. I see why I loved you, though. You’re beautiful.”
I feel her hand on mine- they contrast like the black and white keys of a piano. “I miss you,” she says.
---
“I don’t know you!”
My voice catches in my throat- it hurts. Everything does. Panic is filling me like water in my stomach. And through all this, the girl is standing opposite me. She’s chewing on her lip and clasping her hands tight.
“You do, Joey- please! Please remember me, you’ve got to!”
I step away from her, shake my head. “Stop it, I don’t know you. I’ve already told you I don’t- why can’t you understand?”
“We danced on my front porch, we kissed on the riverboat- Joseph, it’s me- it’s Petal!”
“We didn’t! I would know! I would know if we did all those things!”
“You laugh when you’re nervous” she says, “your smile is lopsided. You’re nearsighted but you don’t wear glasses. You play the piano better than anyone I’ve ever heard and you never roll your sleeves all the way down. I get to know you every day, and every morning we start over again and I have to pretend that I don’t love you! Joseph, please! Please try to remember me!” her voice is rising to a cry and her dark eyes are filling with tears- I can only stand and stare at her, grappling with fear, grappling with confusion and frustration and sadness.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I don’t know you! Please, you’ve got me mistaken with someone else! Just leave me alone!” I tell her. She doesn’t, though- she suddenly comes forward and throws her arms round my shoulders. Her cheeks are wet against my collarbones and I’m startled by her warmth- she hugs me so tight it hurts. I don’t know what to do so I just stand stock still, wracking my brain for some sort of explanation to this. I don’t know where I am, I can’t find Susan and a colored girl is telling me she loves me- I don’t understand!
“I miss you, Joey,” she whispers. “Why can’t you miss me back? Why?”
“I’m sorry,” is all I can say- my voice comes out colder than I meant for, and it makes her pull away.
The girl called Petal s wipes her eyes, shakes her head, sucks in a deep breath. “I’m sorry, too, Joseph. I suppose… I suppose I’ll go now- nothing’s going to change anyway.”
She moves to leave, but I impulsively reach out and grab her by the wrist. Guilt is washing over me- it’s choking me.
“Wait.”
She spins round and the hope in her face makes me want to die. “Yes?” she asks.
“I… I don’t know you. I’m confused right now- I don’t know where I am and I don’t know why I’m here. But…” I let go of her hand and sigh, “but I want to believe you. There’s something wrong with me, isn’t there?”
She regards me- I regard her, too, but I can’t figure what she’s thinking. “I guess I can tell you- you won’t remember it tomorrow anyway.” She’s closing up, I can tell. The emotions that I saw moments ago are draining away and she’s becoming guarded.
“What do you mean?” I ask her. “Why wouldn’t I remember?”
“You were in a car accident three months ago.” She says this haltingly, staring at her knuckles. “It damaged your brain, Joey. Almost every day you… you forget everything.”
I stare at her. “What?”
Petal looks at her shoes and says no more. I just can’t comprehend this; all I can do is walk over to the bed and sit down.
“And what about you?”
“What?”
“Who are you, then?”
“My mama was your nurse at the hospital. I was helping her- that’s… that’s how we met.”
“What was it like?”
She comes and sits beside me, a sad smile on her face. “Us? We were happy. It was hard at first- getting used to all this. But I enjoyed it. I think you did too.”
“So I loved you?”
“You told me so, and I reckon I believed you.”
All I can do is run my hands through my hair. “I guess I loved you a lot.” I look up at her, meet her eyes. “I’m sorry, Petal. I see why I loved you, though. You’re beautiful.”
I feel her hand on mine- they contrast like the black and white keys of a piano. “I miss you,” she says.
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© 2012 - 2024 HennaFaunway
Comments34
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Overall
Vision Originality Technique ImpactAmazing as usual! Love the story, too. Joseph is so nice... Just one question: Why do you make the most lovable characters get hurt/die? With Benjamin, you let him live until near the end, but then his camp was liberated the day after, just to make it more sad. And as for Joseph, he always forgets Petal, so that just makes very sad because we all know we want Petal and Joseph to get through this and find a way to get his memory back in the end. Maybe that's what makes the story so good. Yeah, it's probably that. Anyway, great job!!!!