Reminisce in Sorrow

I just woke up from my 3rd nap today, when I decide to look through the attic for any memories that I might still remember. As I walked up the stairs leading to the attic, I realized that I had forgotten to take my medication. Before continuing with my story, my name’s Athena Scott, named after the Greek Goddess because of a story that my parents told me. When I was 4, I cut open my Ken doll’s head and tried to fit Barbie in it because I was so obsessed with how Athena was born.

I am 67 years old, and have been given around 2 weeks left because of my stage 4 breast cancer. As I was on my way downstairs, Vic, my home health nurse, ran up the stairs to carefully take me to the kitchen.

“Thea! I told you to ring the bell when you needed help!” exclaimed Vic.

“I know Vic. I just thought that I could do it on my own” I stated. We both knew that I could just walk myself anywhere, but Vic is always caring and always wants me to be as safe as possible.

“Ok, but I still want you to ring the bell so that I know that you’re up, okay?” He said sympathetically. I agreed with him, and proceeded to walk down the stairs as we continued our last conversation about the latest episode of Jane the Virgin. When we got to the kitchen, he quietly sat me down and asked me why I was headed to the attic.

“Nothing, I was just gonna see if I had anything that’s worth remembering, that’s all.”

“Really? If I were in your shoes, I’d want to remember everything good that ever came upon me. You remember anything about high school or college?” He asked curiously.

“Not really. I never really-“ I paused as I remembered a heartbreaking chapter in my life. Once he gave me my medicine, I took it and tried to quickly go to the attic. 

“Whoa Thea! Slow your roll!” He said as he tried to grab a hold of my arm. I slowed down a bit, just enough for him to catch up.

“Sorry. It’s just, I remembered something.” We both gave a quick hurried glance as we continued up the stairs to search. When we got there, he stood at the doorway as I looked for my Love Box. “I see it!” I yelled as I tried grabbing the box. He hurried to me to see if he was able to.

“I got it. What’s in it?”. We both took a seat at the table in the attic. As I brushed off the layers of dust on the box, I read out the words on it while I basked in the reminiscence of sorrow.

“Love Box” I said as we both heard my trembling voice. I opened the box and was quickly surrounded by a familiar aroma that I couldn’t quite remember.

“You look attached to this box. What happened?”

“This box is filled with many love letters that I’ve sent with someone back and forth.”

“How adorable! What’s their na-“ I quickly silenced him.

“

My heart was racing. I felt as if I was on my way to AP Gov and haven’t studied for the test. I was at the library, where I usually spend my time, when I see him. We both share a quick glance, and looked away. His name’s Chester, but everybody calls him chestnut because of his love of nature. I don’t usually talk to him, mainly because I’m usually closed off because I tend to prefer books over people. He’s very athletic, smart, and surprisingly very awkward, considering the fact that he‘ some of the most popular boys at our school. Most of the time, our encounters are usually just in AP Bio because we’re lab partners, but we’d share the occasional awkward glance with each other. He probably thinks I’m a creep for looking at him the way I do, but at the moment, I’m too busy looking at his charming facial features that I sometimes forget about the fact that we’re high school students and not married with 3 kids and our newly born litter of puppies living in Toronto. Wait a minute. Did I ever tell you guys who I am? I apologize.