The half-forgotten
Other half of my short life
In short story form

 
The Question
10-07-1993

I'm driving down an expressway. I have to turn around for some reason, possibly because I missed the exit to the hospital where my mom is being kept. I'd already missed two more turn-around points. I come upon another and, going way too fast, slam on the brakes, doing a bootleg turn and crossing over in front of a van that had apparently been waiting for me to pass. It was going down the road in the other direction now. Somewhere along the way I pick up WA. I tell him I can give him a ride home no problem, just two exits away. However, I'm not paying much attention to the road and accidentally get off at the first exit. I make it to the hospital anyway, and we go inside.

Inside it is big and spacious like a mall would be. Just a few feet before the main desk there is a crippled old black woman lying on a cot. WA, walking ahead of me and much to my surprise, walks over there, looks her over, and gets out some rubber gloves. I walk on past, eyeing the situation as I make my way over.

Over to where? Hmmm, suddenly I'm in the hospital anymore, but in a subdivision street next to JB's car, but it's not his house. Indeed the house is the only one to be seen for miles in either direction. My car is parked ahead a bit. WA is here, too. I get into JB's car. Other people are in there. "Great," they say, "too many people are in this car." "How many?" I reply, "Ten," they answer. Just great.

Before I know I'm in a large auditorium at a banquet. WA is sitting on my right, and HN on my left. We're sitting at long tables in regular chairs. In a few moments I realize that both of HN's hands are on my knees, so I draw my arm around her. She collapses readily into my embrace and lies down in my lap somewhat before sitting a little straighter again and looking into my eyes. We leave and go outside, walking down a little dirt path outside the building. There's a little pond at the end of it, and grass on either side. To the left of the pond is a bunch of trees. She puts her arm around my waist and stands in front of me. We kiss a good long kiss. Then a few more little, wet pecks. We walk a little further. She's about to kiss me again when I interrupt, "Let me go brush my teeth," as I realize that my mouth is quite plaquey. "Ok," she replies. We walk on, however, for the moment, and come upon some boys throwing rocks into the pond. A few words of greeting are exchanged. I think they wanted to walk with us into the woods. I look down and notice I have no shoes on, and the rocks in the dirt road are starting to hurt my feet. "I have to get my shoes," I say. HN comes with me back to my house to get my shoes. We walk up the stairs and into my bedroom. Only my sister is home, and she is in her room. I take off my clothes...all of them...and go into the bathroom to brush my teeth. "I don't want to go for a walk," says HN, as she stands by the bed somewhat. I hear my sister come out, and I run into my closet to put on some underwear. When she sees me in the bathroom brushing my teeth in my underwear, she asks, "What are you doing?" to which I don't reply.

The next thing I know I'm in a well-furnished basement that had been turned into a classroom. MY, HM, and others are also in there, sitting at desks. It's Mr. W's AP Chemistry class. There's a test the next day. He says that he will ask each person a question, and if they get it right, we will get a copy of the test to study tonight. Now, previously in the room he had explained some pictures and stuff that were sitting around that weren't related to chemistry. He asks kids the simplest questions, having nothing to do with chemistry.

Naturally they get them right and thus get a copy of the test as they leave the room. When MY answer his question about who a man was in a painting on the wall, he says, "I can't believe you got that right." When he gets to me, however, he asks me a major philosophical question, on a sheet of paper even! On the paper is the Question, which has to do with universal enlightenment. There is also a paragraph related to the subject. In the question, it reads, "Quote from line 44 in your answer," or something to that effect. I can't think of anything to say, and just sit there. Mr. W merely smiles regrettably and shakes his head. The bell rings the end of 5th hour. I have Mr. R's AP English class next, but I don't go. Instead I stay and ponder the Question. Mr. W explains a bit of it, but I still can't get it right. I leave, a failure, but I still feel enlightened by the whole event.

The next morning I wake up at SG's house, in the family room. I reach into my pocket and draw out some quarters. At least half of them are bicentennial, if not all. I talk with his dad. I want to pick something up at the store. "Ok, why don't you do that," he replies. So I leave the house. As I'm walking through the front yard, a truck comes from the left side of the house with a tire swing clinging to the back. It passes right by me, so I stick my hand out and release the swing. It springs back to wherever it came from. I walk across the driveway when SG's mom yells out at me that I shouldn't be out, that I couldn't go to the store. I say, "Ok," but continue anyway. I pass under an oak tree where two wick-like baskets are hanging from the branches. Upon looking inside one of them I see a cat. I pet it. Then I see another in the other basket, but it is mean and won't let me touch it much as it rolls around on its back, hissing. A few more jump out of the baskets that I still hadn't noticed previously. One of them, on the ground, looks at me as I hold another and says, "I remember you, you've been here before." I'm flattered that the cat remembered who I was, but when I talk back I get no response.

I next find myself with JP and CC. They're discussing the Question. I don't know how found out about it, but they seem to have the answer, and they aren't sharing. Somehow LD comes into the picture. She and JP exchange words before coming closer to each other. Several times their lips almost meet. They finally meet in a little smooch before my attention is averted once more to the Question.

Later on, somewhere in the middle of all this, EC comes up to me, saying, "Hey Eric, I had a dream about you last night." I'm flattered that she'd even dream about me, and doubly-so that she'd actually mention it to me. "But it didn't make any sense. I was standing there, you walked up to me and clearly said, 'Uh umm um uhh um.'" I tell her I don't know what it means, but thanks for telling me anyway.

During the rest of the dream I float in a timeless void with flashes of Mr. W's talk of the Question and my various thoughts on the matter. I never get it resolved, however, and feel condemned to always be unenlightened.

posted by Phlegm at 11/04/2003