Ch7
A long time ago, when I was very popular, I met a lot of pretty women. Some of them became models and others became Hollywood actresses. Nancy was one of them. She had blonde hair, and pretty eyes, a smooth jaw-line, and a beautiful figure. She also had a sparkling personality that made everybody love her. After I married her, I saw her weaknesses, but she was still a decent woman. I don’t understand why I never loved her. Among all the pretty women I ever met, I never thought any of them were ‘beautiful.’ After more than 60 years of living, I did not even know that there was a difference between ‘pretty’ and ‘beautiful.’
When I turned my head, she was there. She was smiling just like usual. She was white and glowing. I couldn’t see anybody but her. I froze at that moment. Time stopped, everything was so quiet, and I could only hear my heart pounding. “She…is…so beautiful…” I said it without thinking.
I wondered if I finally went crazy, or if it was a side effect of my medication? Maybe I was getting Alzheimer’s disease? All kinds of thoughts went through my head, but my heart was still pounding. I clearly remember her wind-blown hair, her eyes, the sound of her laugh, and the gesture of her hands.
I can’t erase her image from my head.
-R-
Robert woke up alert. That week was too long for him. He checked the clock and it was 8:52 am. He had 8 minutes before his alarm would go off. He put his glasses on, and sat on his bed for a while before he got in the shower. He could not decide what to wear, but he knew he wanted to wear something nice. Robert pulled out his clothes. He put on his blue shirt and decided he didn’t like it, so he changed into a white shirt, and then he realized that he had white hair. White hair and a white shirt made him look older. He changed to a yellow shirt and put jeans on instead of suit pants. It had been a very long time since he had dressed up like that. He still did not like his white hair. He tried to remember if he had hair dye. After that, he remembered something and started searching his drawers. He found his old cologne and put it on his wrist and neck. After he got ready, he went down to the first floor. It was 9:30 a.m. It hadn’t taken him nearly as long as normal to get ready. He turned the television on. On the local news, it kept talking about The Apple Blossom Festival.
“It is the second day of the festival. Since yesterday, many people have been visiting here from all over the country.” It showed the interviews of people at the festival.
“This is a great festival. I came to visit my family and this is…”
Robert went to the kitchen and drank water. He grabbed an old banana and came back to the living room. The news was still talking about the festival.
“This is the schedule of the second day. It opens at 9, and there are a variety of shows from bands to dances. Washington State Circus performs at 10 at the main stage, and at 12 p.m. there’ll be a showing of the play ‘A Little Mermaid’ with the original Broadway cast. After that we have a special show by world famous psychic Boldo Lovel and his wife Elderia Lovel. He already had one show yesterday, and it was crazy. He freaked out all these people by telling their consultant’s secret. Do you want to be amazed and freaked out? Come visit the show. Next, we have the jazz band in the afternoon…”
Robert smirked because he thought psychic sounds stupid. Robert could not finish his old banana. He went to the kitchen and dumped it in the trash can. He opened the refrigerator and grabbed a beer by instinct, but he put it back and drank water instead.
The weather was great. The sky was blue, the sunshine was warm, and the wind was calm. Robert saw a lot of people heading to the festival. The Apple Blossom Festival was a huge event. The city used the biggest park it had and people still flooded into the city convention center. Robert felt anxious going into such a large group of people. He parked his car a distance from the festival and walked the rest of the way. He was supposed to meet Dr. Albert and the other patients at 11:30 a.m. and it was 10:50 a.m. Robert saw many happy families smiling. Being around happy people made him feel good. Since there were five different places that he could buy tickets, he did not have to wait long.
“How many people?” The ticket seller asked.
“Just one,” he replied. The seller gave him a ticket and the pamphlet. He put the ticket around his wrist and entered. He saw the big map at the entrance. The map showed all the booths and areas of the festival. He looked for E24 and it was not too far from where he was. Next, he looked for the lake to meet Dr. Albert and others. He walked to aisle E. E19, E20…E22, E23. He finally found E 24. The booth name was “Sweet Memory in Apple Blossom.” There were apples on the counter and a camera with a cardboard background of apple trees. Robert saw a tall guy and a skinny girl in the booth that he had never seen. It was not Sara or her roommates. He wanted to help them sell, but he decided he would comeback when Sara was there.
When Robert saw the lake, he could easily find Dr. Albert and the nurses. They were around 20 other people near benches and tables. Some of them were old, and some of them were young. Robert didn’t know many of them, but he didn’t like that they were not smiling. They looked very serious and did not even talk to each other. It was easy to tell that they had issues. Looking back at them was like looking at a dark spot in a colorful painting. When Robert approached, they looked at Robert, but no one said hello or talked to him.
“Robert!” Dr. Albert came to him and grabbed his hand. “Thanks for coming! How are you today?”
“I am good.” Robert answered and he was actually doing well that morning.
“You will like this. We are about to start. Have a seat.” Dr. Albert and the nurses put sandwiches, fruits, cookies and waters on the table. Dr. Albert stood up in front of people.
“Thanks for coming everybody. It’s a beautiful day here today. We have never done anything like this before, but I am sure that this activity will help you. You needed to get outside and see the beautiful world. There is still a place for you. You deserve this. This festival is for you.” Dr. Albert was smiling and looked around at his patients. His blue t-shirt made him look very different from when he was at the office. “Just two hours. Be active with us today. This is not a mission. I am not trying to give you a hard time. This is your vacation. Relax, and enjoy the view and events. I know that just being around positive energy will lift you up. After we eat lunch, we will be divided into three groups. The first group will come with me, the second group will go will Stephanie and Russell, and the third group will go with Gina.” He pointed to his nurses. The nurses were smiling at the patients.
Dr. Albert kept talking. “After 2 hours, we will be back here and eat ice cream together and then we’re done.” After Dr. Albert finished his talk, a couple people clapped and some of the people smiled. Robert thought it was a stupid idea, but he did not say anything. Robert was in group 3. They started eating lunch by their groups. Robert had seen Gina several times at the hospital. She was a short redhead.
“Hi, Robert, I am glad you came,” Gina said. Robert did not answer, but nodded his head with a smile (at least he tried to smile). Robert looked at the other group members. There was a chubby, middle-aged lady, an old man with a long beard, a young girl who looked angry, a brown haired, middle-aged woman, a guy who was almost bald, but had a full mustache, a man who looked relatively normal, and a woman who seemed to be his wife. Gina was the only one who was talking. When Gina did not talk, the only sound Robert could hear was the sounds around them and the sounds of them eating. Robert thought the other patients were weird, and soon he realized that he might be weird in their eyes, too. He looked at the other groups and they were the same. People were only focusing on eating. This is like a horror movie. Things changed slowly though. The energy that surrounded them brightened. Before, it was just dark and damp, but the sun and happy environment dissipated it. People started smiling and talking to each other. Many people who looked down before started to look around and notice the world around them.
Dr. Albert was right. Their negativity was slowly disappearing. Dr. Albert talked to people at different tables. After lunch, they started moving with their groups. The event area was huge. Last time he came was around 25 years ago. Neal invited Robert to his family picnic. At that time the festival was not this big.
“Where should we go first?” Gina asked a third time. No one answered. “Anyone want to go anywhere?” Gina asked again. She seemed to know what she was doing. Even though nobody answered the question, they liked being there; at least Robert thought so, because their faces were much brighter than before.
“I want to go to the farmers’ market.” Finally, the red headed women spoke.
“That sounds good. Let’s go.” Gina was walking, reading the map. The market side of the area was a typical carnival. There were many games, and a booth that was selling meat, fruits and vegetables. Robert opened the bottle and took a sip of water. He liked being there. He would never come here by himself, and the others probably wouldn’t have either. He was grateful for Dr. Albert. When they were walking next to a doll shop, the middle-aged chubby lady walked to Robert and started talking.
“I think Dr. Albert is such a good man. I met other therapists before, but no one is as good as him.”
“Yes. I think so, too,” Robert said.
“He really wants to know the patients. Oh, I am Mary, by the way.”
“I’m Robert.”
Mary kept talking. “I have depression. My husband died a few years ago. He was an alcoholic, and my daughter ran away from home a long time ago, and then my dog ran away. Oh- I don’t know why I am living.”
I never asked her to tell me anything. Why is she telling me all this? Robert felt a little annoyed.
“Do you have children?” The woman asked.
“Yes. I have one son and a daughter.”
“When was the last time you saw them?”
“I’m not sure. Like 30 years?”
“Oh, my.”
Robert sighed and turned his head. He wished she would start talking to other people. Gina kept looking back to see if any of her patients were losing the group.
“Gina, I want to see the circus,” the man with the mustache said.
“That sounds good. Let’s go watch the circus.” Gina smiled at the group.
When Robert was about to go after Gina, Mary started talking again. “When I was tired of crying at night, I had suicidal thoughts.”
What does this woman want from me? Robert did not understand why Mary kept telling him so many personal things.
When they were turning the corner, he heard a familiar voice. Robert turned his head automatically, and she was there. Sara was looking at a hair pin at the store while she was talking to her friend. However, in Robert’s eyes, he only saw Sara. Somebody walking by passed Robert and bumped him, and he dropped his water bottle, but he did even know that happened. Robert forgot where he was, and who he was. He could not hear anything and when the wind blew, he could not feel anything. He saw the wind blow Sara’s hair. The sides of the tent flew up, and the light illuminated Sara’s face. Suddenly, everything around them turned white, and in that space, there was only Robert and Sara. Her smile was glowing. Robert thought she was even more beautiful than Audrey Hepburn. He came back to reality when someone pulled his arm. Mary came out of nowhere and pulled Robert’s arm.
“What are you doing? We should go, Robert.” Now she was dragging Robert. Robert felt weird—like he had been jerked out of a dream.
“Are you ok? Do you want some meds? I have water and soda, too.” Robert was staring off into space and he talked slowly.
“I am fine, so please shut up.” After that Mary never talked to him again.
Later at the event, Robert could not focus on anything. He kept hearing the same sound, and later he realized it was his heart beating. When his group was about to finish their tour, there were many people at the main conference building. Robert saw many policemen walking around and trying to control people.
“Someone is dead.”
“I heard he killed his wife.”
Robert heard people talking. They kept saying some one was dead or asking who killed somebody, but it was not clear.
“Guys, let’s move to the lake.” Gina tried to bring her group together, but many of them were distracted. People around them were taking pictures and videos. Robert heard a couple talking in front of him.
“That psychic killed his wife and assistant!” Robert remembered the psychic from the television.
“Robert, we are moving.” Gina told Robert. Robert went to the group.
“Did you hear what happen? That psychic was possessed by a demon! He killed two people.” Mary was talking to Gina.
“Mary, I don’t think that is true, and please don’t tell it to other people. I don’t want them to be scared.” Gina was cautious. The murder incident dragged Robert’s mind to present. In spite of Gina’s request, Mary kept telling people about the accident. “I wanted to see that psychic, but I can’t now. Do you know why? He killed people and ran away!”
Robert moved away so he didn’t have to hear her annoying voice. Robert felt very uncomfortable with the scene at the festival. According to everyone around, two people died. The news spread really fast through social network and by people’s mouths, but most were still enjoying the festival. The festival people announced the cancellation of the psychic, but they did not explain why.
Dr. Albert said goodbye to everyone individually, and closed the meeting. Robert was going to go to visit booth E24, but he decided not to. Robert was confused by his emotions. In his car, he thought about what had happened back there when he saw Sara. Something had changed inside of him; it was a strange, but good feeling. He put his hand on his chest. His heart was still pounding.