The Stroll

               The even rumble of the engine hummed quietly from beneath the hood of the parked Honda Civic, and smoke floated from the exhaust pipe as its headlights highlighted the brick beneath the apartment building window in front of the car. James sat in the driver’s seat, tapping his fingers nervously with the air conditioning blasting and the radio blared, “It’s amazing, folks, the technology required to do what they do… The information influx alone is insane, but what’s impressive is the A.I. needed to fill in the gaps-.” He quickly flipped the station as the apartment door swung open.

            “Wow!” James thought almost verbally as Chloe walked in front of the car. It had been two years, and he could barely take his eyes off her. It was also obvious to him that she was going for that tonight. Her dress hugged her nicely, drawing his eyes over her naturally. She didn’t need makeup but knew how to use it when she did. Her features were striking. Her hair fell in a cascade down her right shoulder. He only had a second to look before she opened the door and got in the car. He smiled at her as she sat down and smiled wider when she smiled back. She had a way of doing that.

            “Hello, beautiful!” He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss, appreciating the smell of her perfume and the taste of her lips.

            “Hey,” she grinned, knowing he liked what he saw, “so, are you finally going to tell me where we’re going?”

            “We’re going somewhere? I planned to just drive around for a while.”

            “Wow. What an amazing anniversary date.”

            “Ouch. What? You don’t want to just spend some time with me?”

            “Yeah, yeah, just get to driving. I’m sure the road you got us all dressed up for would prefer we be on time.”

            “Fine, I guess we can get going.”

            James put the car in reverse and pulled out of the parking lot, Open Your Eyes by Snow Patrol playing softly on the radio.

            After an hour-long drive, a meal at the Cheesecake Factory, and another thirty-minute drive, the car parked in a five-dollar over-flow parking lot. If you squinted as the sun set, the city became quite a beautiful place. The lampposts lined the roads, glowing like planets alight before the sun was completely down. People bustled as they assumed their night-life positions. The sidewalks ran thick with life, and traffic ran steadily in between. The cool air felt good, quelling the sweat that threatened James all night. So, when Chloe said she was cold, he happily draped his blazer over her shoulders. He lent his hand, and she took it. They walked hand-in-hand for a few more blocks until they saw a museum with a line out the door.

            “What is this?” Curiosity danced across Chloe’s face.

            “Welcome to The Stroll,” a buttoned-down gentleman gestured invitingly towards the young couple, “the first museum of its kind.”

            “This is a museum?” Chloe’s eyes never left the smiling man’s pastel suit.

            “Of sorts…” His eyes gleamed, setting up a punch line he’d told a million times. “This museum is empty by itself, only containing what you provide.” Pleased by the confused expression on her face, he continued. “What we display are memories. Our headsets will read memories from your prefrontal cortex and display them across the museum using V.R. imaging. How it works is all extremely complicated and well above my pay grade.” James grinned as Chloe’s hand gripped his tighter, and her eyes widened in awe; the museum had just opened, and he wasn’t surprised she hadn’t heard of it with her busy class schedule.

“Usually, this is an individual experience for our guests, but, under certain circumstances, experiences can be shared. Everyone lining up outside the door will come in, get a headset that will read their memories individually, and after they’ve chosen the type of memories they want to see, they will be directed to the main grounds where they see their memories play out in front of them. You two are different, though. Your boyfriend came in a few weeks ago, had his memories scanned, and set up your adventure personally. That will allow the two of you to walk through and see the same memories!”

            He took a break from his speech and walked behind a front desk, looking for their designated headsets. Chloe’s face shot questioningly towards James.

            “This is hours away from your home. When did you have time? How much did this cost? What memories are we going to see?”

            “I took a couple of hours off work two weeks ago while you were busy studying for that big exam; it doesn’t matter, and I don’t completely know. I got to choose the ‘theme’ of the experience but have no idea what memories they’ll play besides the last one.”

            “How’d you keep this a secret for so long? This is awesome!”

            “I had a good reason.”

            Before she had time to do anything but furrow her eyebrows at him, the curator returned with two headsets that looked like slick, bulky headbands. He handed one to each of them, telling them to put them on and hit the buttons on both sides of the headset to turn them on.

            “Now, you should be able to see everything in the room around you just fine. When you walk through those big double doors to your left, you’ll see the museum come to life in the way only it can. I hope you enjoy your stroll down memory lane!” He motioned for them to continue.

            The darkly stained doors swung open automatically as they approached, and Chloe accepted the arm James held out. She gripped him tightly in anticipation. The museum floor opened out before them. The floor was checkered with tiles, columns swirled out from the floor every fifty feet a few paces from the wall, and the ceiling, although not very tall, looked like a cathedral with dim lights running down the center. Other guests were moving about, all with headsets, staring at what should have been empty exhibits. Some people were sobbing, others grinning ear-to-ear, and the rest were trying hard not to show any emotion whatsoever. This would have looked crazy if anyone had seen this without knowing what was happening, but crazy isn’t what James and Chloe saw. They immediately saw colors flash in the first exhibit, but nothing solidified until they got close.

Before their eyes, strings of color wove a three-dimensional scene into existence. The room formed first, then paintings began to populate the walls. None of them had any detail except a vague clock on the far wall. The first person to grow was a clear image of Chloe a couple of years ago staring at the clock painting, laughing with a friend who rolled her eyes. James materialized not far away, laughing, glancing at her over his shoulder. The room was populated by vague figures that faded from focus.

            “Woah! When was this?” Chloe whispered, “And why don’t I remember it?”

            James held her tighter. “This was the first time I genuinely noticed you. It was a class trip to the art museum, and we hadn’t met yet. I didn’t think you had noticed me, and I wasn’t seriously looking for anything or anyone. Anyways, I causally overheard you say ‘Oh, look. A clock. We don't have those in America.’ I couldn’t help but laugh. A beautiful woman casually quoted a random line from a show I loved. I knew I had to get to know you better.”

            “Do you think the coffee show will make it into the show?”

            “I don’t think so, I was all nerves going up to talk to you at that point. I think autopilot was switched on.” She laughed in agreement, and they continued mutually in awe of the technology around them.

            The next exhibit flashed to life as they stood in front of its platform. Lights flowed from left to right in the background from a solid gray base. A car, James’s car started to form from the tires up, James and Chloe rose in the front seat. Chloe was in focus in the passenger seat, obviously singing but laughing at the same time. James was driving, sparsely singing but mostly laughing.

            James saw the gears turning in her head and spoke up, “I think this specific memory was the end of our second date. You were screaming the lyrics to a song I only kind of knew, and talked me into trying to sing. I sang horribly but you didn’t say anything, just laughed with me and kept singing.”

            “That sounds like the end of most dates. Why did this memory mean so much?”

            “I think it’s because I finally started to feel comfortable around you.”

            “It took that long?”

            “Yeah, sometimes you need to make an absolute fool of yourself in front of someone before you feel completely at home with them. I love being goofy with you.”

            The third exhibit started with an open, pale room, and then a table emerged seemingly from the ground. Then people made their way to the five chairs around the table. Among them were James’s mom, dad, James’s younger brother, and Chloe. The food also began to materialize as they took their seats. Their conversation quickly grew to laughter, James’s dad nearly fell out of his seat wheezing with laughter.

            “Was this the first time I met your family? God, that seems like so long ago.”

            “Yeah, I think this was directly after you beat my dad at an impromptu pun war. I was very impressed with your ability to take my family’s mix of sarcasm and bad jokes and throw it back at them. Not everyone can do that. That's when I realized we would last.” James smiled at Chloe, admiring her despite the headset hiding her eyes. He liked the way his blazer looked on her.

            The fourth exhibit was simpler. A room began to grow a couch that continued to grow a human. James to be specific. He was sitting, head in his hands, chest heaving, and leg tapping. Then, Chloe made her way into the scene. She hugged him around the shoulders, sat down beside him, and made him actively hug her. They sat, his head buried in her shoulder, holding her tightly, his breath slowly evening out.

            James spoke first this time, “Do you remember this?”

            “I think so… Was it the night you had that anxiety attack?”

            “Yep, I was freaking out. I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to find a job, that I didn’t have enough money to make it to graduation, and of potentially moving to a new place away from friends. I was terrified that we wouldn’t last the distance. You brought me back down. You made me see how stupid I was being, how ridiculous my fears were. None of it was in my hands. Then you held me tighter, assured me that everything was going to work out and that we wouldn’t be that easy to break up. We prayed for like an hour after that.” He gave her arm a quick squeeze. “That was the first time you told me you loved me.”

            “I remember,” she whispered, “you loved me too but couldn’t respond until the shaking stopped.”

            “You comforting me and confidently loving me at my worst showed me that you loved me more than words ever could. I didn’t think I could love you more before that, but you proved me wrong.”

            “I love you so much.”

            “I know,” James’ smirk came despite the tears, “and I love you more than you can imagine.”

            Squeezing each other, they moved slowly on to the fifth exhibit. The two stood on low-cut grass next to a tree with thick green leaves, and gravestones were systematically constructed around them. Flowers sat on the grave closest to them. James held Chloe in his arms, pressing her close, keeping her up. She leaned into him, head on his shoulder, tears streaming down her face. James cried slowly.

            Despite the mask, James could tell tears were welling in Chloe’s eyes. She leaned into him. “How did my grampa dying make it into the show?”

            “When he died, we were all devastated. I had come to love him like family and didn’t know if I could be there for you. But, holding you there, even though I hate it when your heart breaks, I realized that I always wanted to be there to try and comfort you. I no longer cared if I could say the right thing, but only that I was there for you. I never wanted your heart to break alone. I loved holding you and wanted to do it forever.”

            She glanced at him with, if he could see it through the headset, a reserved excitement on her face. Whether he saw it or not he showed no sign and just pulled her in for a hug. With some reluctance, they made their way to the sixth exhibit.

            The same apartment face James’s car had been parked at hours ago came into focus, his car pulled into the driveway. James practically jumped out of the car and sprinted toward the door. Before he got there, the door swung open, and Chloe ran out to meet him. She jumped in his arms, nearly knocking him down, kissing him fervently. He returned the kiss as soon as he stabilized.

            “And this was the first time I visited after getting a job and moving away.”

            “Yeah,” Chloe choked back some emotion with a chuckle, “I practically tackled you with that kiss.”

            “It’s one of my favorite kisses to date! I missed you so much while I was away, but you were right, distance didn’t get close to tearing us apart, it only strengthened our resolve. I made the decision then that I didn’t want to be away from you as long as I could help it. Come on, it looks like there is only one more memory.” He didn’t give her a chance to react, walking her to the last exhibit.

            The image started with the inside of a room, then display cases formed from the vinyl flooring. Multiple men in suits populated the floor, and the display cases sparkled with the treasure they held. As the room fully came into focus, the door swung open, and James walked in.

            It took her a moment, but as soon as she realized what the store was, she turned to see James, who had let go of her when the room started to form. He had taken his headset off, and Chloe followed suit, her eyes filled with water, and a strange mixture of excitement and confusion painted her face. Her hands rose to her face as James’s shaking hand reached into the pocket of the blazer she was still wearing and pulled out a small, grey box.

            “Chloe, tonight we’ve walked through some of the largest moments in our relationship. Each experience here brought us closer and made me fall even deeper in love with you, but this is far from everything. Every moment from the last two years has made my love grow for you. With every day, it builds. Every late-night call, every mid-drive jam session, and every time we got on each other’s nerves and learned to grow past it in love has beyond solidified how I feel about you. I love you so much, more than I did yesterday, and I want to get a chance to love you for as long as I live.” With that, he got down on one knee and opened the box.

            “Chloe Dawson Fry, will you marry me?”