Why Can't He Remember?

Submitted into Contest #255 in response to: Write a story about a someone who's in denial.... view prompt

21 comments

Sad Fiction Teens & Young Adult

 “Why?” Ashley looked into her Mom’s eyes from the passenger seat of the blue car. They are pulled over on the side of the road, after driving for hours the tension that seemed to echo throughout the whole car, suffocating them to the point of pulling over. 

Her Mom glances up from the steering wheel that she has been staring at for ten minutes in silence. She turns to the side slightly in her seat and looks at her young teenage daughter next to her. “Why what?” 

“Why are you so for sending Gramps away from us?” Ashley's lower lips tremble slightly, as her eyes go wide. 

“We are not sending him away, we are putting him in a place that will help and take care of him.” 

“We can take care of him. There is nothing wrong with him!” 

There can’t be.

Since the day she was born to now, sixteen years later, she has spent every second she could with her Gramps. They played school on rainy days and storytelling on cold ones. They played tag and ran in many 'Marathons' in their backyard together.  

And when the doctor told her Gramps that running around was harming his health, he nodded in response. Then went home and the second his little granddaughter walked into the room and asked to play outside, he touched her shoulder, and yelled, “You’re it!” And he never stopped running with her because she thought he was unbreakable and he never wanted her to see the truth. He was always there for her day and night, but now he might not even know her name. 

“Ash, we can’t help him, half of the time he doesn’t even know who we are.”

“Yes he does, he remembers, he remembers me!” She sounds desperate she knows, the tears streaming down her face as she brushes them away with her hand rapidly, is even more proof. But she can’t help it, he can’t forget about her. He can’t leave her behind for the wind to knock her down like everyone else has done in her life. He can’t leave her behind. 

“Baby, we have been driving for hours looking for him. Your Aunt Betty found him two hours out of our state. Listen, I know this is devastating and terrifying but honey he needs to be somewhere where they can help him in ways we just can’t.”

“He remembers me, he has too.” 

She can’t admit to herself the truth, how his eyes have been developing a lost glaze to them. If she admits it to herself then she would have to accept the truth about what the future has in store for them. 

She can’t imagine her life without him. Without him and her to smile and laugh at everyone and everything around them. To take on the world together. 

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She walked into his room. The white walls and floor tiles make her stomach twist and turn at the hospital look. It is not a hospital, she knows that but when she took her first steps into the Advanced Dementia Care Center she couldn’t help but notice the similarities between them. She clutches the flowers as her hands shake rapidly. 

Why am I so scared to see him?

She spots him in his chair, a big brown recliner, he loves that chair. Looking around the room she notices the chair is the only piece of furniture from his old home. 

“What are you doing in my room?!” He growled at her like he had to protect himself from the intruder invading in his space.

“I came by to see you,” Ashley said after pausing for a minute.

He looked at her. 

Their eyes make contact. 

Then he uttered the one line she never thought could be real.

“Who are you?”

Flowers slam against the floor beneath them, as her body goes numb. 

Her heart skipped a beat and she turned around instantly and ran.

She ran down the hallway, never looking back as left the building. 

Her back hits the back of the brick building the second she is outside. 

She waits for her mom to pick her up with her head down in silence, at the realization that overwhelmed her body, he really doesn’t remember her. He doesn’t remember reading the newspaper jokes together. He doesn’t remember laughing over the squirrels running on top of the fence. He doesn’t remember when she cried on his shoulder on the bad days and cheered on the great ones. 

He doesn’t remember her. 

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She stayed away from him for a while; she couldn’t handle the thought of him not knowing her again. Her mom tries to convince her but she just can’t. She wanted to remember him when he knew who she was. Eventually, she realized that not going to see him would leave her with regrets later down the road. So here she is. 

Standing in front of his room again with the daily newspaper in her hand. 

The second she put her foot in the room, his eyes snapped to hers. He is sitting in his brown chair and looks a lot more paler than the last time she saw him. His eyes still hold that lost look in them like before but she thinks they are more gone this time around. More of his life has vanished from his mind. He looks more relaxed though, his shoulders not as tight, his hands not as stiff and the corner of his mouth is slightly turned up. 

“Hey Gramp, I brought you something.” 

She walks over to him and takes the funny jokes out of the newspaper and hands it to him. 

He looks at her and for the first time in a long time, she thinks he is actually looking at her and not through her. He reaches over and grabs the newspaper from her, their hands brushing against each other for a split second. 

He looks down at the jokes in front of him. His pointer finger grazes one cartoon joke in particular over and over again. She looks down at it, and a soft smile forms on her face at their favorite joke. The one joke that they always laughed the hardest at all her life.

He looks up and she sees the crinkle under his eyes and the grin on his lips.

“Ashley, you're here.”

June 20, 2024 22:55

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21 comments

Anya Wu
18:16 Jun 22, 2024

This story is really great, and you do a really good job of voicing the characters thoughts and separating the different parts of the story. I liked the ending a lot too.

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Katelynn Seavey
14:47 Jun 24, 2024

Thanks for reading! I really tried to make sure the characters had their own thoughts and voices, so thank you!

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Milly Orie
17:35 Jun 22, 2024

I can't imagine what it's like to have to face dementia, in myself or a loved one . . . forgetting and being forgotten is so scary. Thank you for this story. Like Kristi Gott commented, it's very well written.

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Katelynn Seavey
14:56 Jun 24, 2024

Hi Milly! Both of my grandparents got diagnosed with dementia when I was in my early teens and I have faced similar situations like what I written here. Being forgotten is definitely a scary thing. Thank you so much for reading and taking the time to comment! Thank you!

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Trudy Jas
15:15 Jun 22, 2024

It's difficult to accept dementia. It's also hard to give a teen MC voice. But you did it, and did it well.

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Katelynn Seavey
15:10 Jun 24, 2024

Dementia is difficult to accept and often understand. Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment!

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Kristi Gott
05:25 Jun 21, 2024

The details of this well-written story show how painful it is for family members when memory function is impaired. People of all ages, and especially a young person or child, who have not been prepared for seeing a loved one go through memory loss, can experience deeply painful suffering as the disease progresses. This story does a very good job of showing what it can be like. It is very difficult to explain to someone and showing this in a story can help others understand. Very well written.

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Katelynn Seavey
20:52 Jun 24, 2024

Dementia is definitely a hard thing for all family members and friends involved. It can be hard to accept and process it. Thank you so much for reading and taking the time to comment!

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Mary Bendickson
02:01 Jun 21, 2024

So unfortunate for so many.

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Kay Smith
19:26 Jun 22, 2024

Isn't that the truth?

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Darvico Ulmeli
09:38 Jun 29, 2024

I knew a lot of people with dementia. It's devastating watching them go through all the troubles. You described all that to well.

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Michael Robinson
11:46 Jun 27, 2024

This is a great story.

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Katelynn Seavey
17:50 Jun 27, 2024

Glad you like it! Thank you for reading and taking the time to comment!

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11:04 Jun 26, 2024

Lovely writing Katelynn you tackle a difficult subject very well. Sad but with a bittersweet ending. Thanks!

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Katelynn Seavey
13:25 Jun 26, 2024

Thank you for reading and taking the time to comment! Glad you liked it!

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Karen Hope
12:48 Jun 24, 2024

It’s difficult for adults to process these changes in the people they love, but it’s even more heartbreaking to think of a child having to cope with this. Well done.

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Katelynn Seavey
20:57 Jun 24, 2024

Dementia is definitely hard to process especially when it is a loved one. My grandparents were diagnosed with dementia in my early teen years so I used that feeling as inspiration for this. Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment

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Kim Olson
21:55 Jun 23, 2024

It's so painful for children to see beloved grandparents age, and dementia is especially difficult. You did a good job capturing the grandfather-granddaughter bond and the pain felt and deep love of the granddaughter.

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Katelynn Seavey
20:58 Jun 24, 2024

Thank you I really wanted to capture the bond between them and I am so happy that it came across. Thank you for reading and taking the time to comment

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Kay Smith
19:25 Jun 22, 2024

Really great job on transitioning to different parts of the story! I love the bond between Gramps and Ashley. (My Husband is our Granddaughter's partner-in-crime:) All of the submissions are hitting me in The Feels so much! This story was no exception! *applause*

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Katelynn Seavey
21:02 Jun 24, 2024

I have been trying to work on writing transitions in a story better so I am glad that it worked good. I agree all the stories submitted this week have been really good! Thank you so much for reading and taking the time to comment!

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