Still Waiting

“Our first rendezvous was when I was but the wee age of about four years old. Yes, I reckon remembering my chubby little hands clutching a daisy I’d found at the side of the road! Poor thing was flattened half to death but I thought it was the prettiest darned flower I’d ever seen in my life. So there I stood, watching all the other kids fly down the big red slide and swing on the blue chain swings, but my stubborn feet were planted firmly on the ground. I saw her the second she walked onto the playground hand-in-hand with her mother. She was the prettiest girl there I swear! I was.. Ah, what do you call it? My own mother, bless her heart, always told me I was feeling the first tuggings of childish infatuation. But I assure you, I’m downright positive I wasn’t! You got that right, that day I’ll say I was almost ready to propose to that girl with my darn ol’ daisy!”

“Do you need some water, sir?”

“Where did you come from? Sit down a listen to what a story I’ve got! This old man doesn’t need any water. Alright, where was I… Ah, yes. This gal turned even more charming in high school, lemme tell you. Shaped just like that lass Twiggy on TV but had the face of a doll. Blew me right off my feet. Didn’t have a daisy to complete my look but at that day and age I didn’t need one! I knew I had her love when I found, what was it, little love notes on my desk every day! Can you imagine that? A girl so handsome courting a boy like me? I was head over heels in love with the girl but my mother- god I love her but that woman- assured me it was only one-sided. I’ll be darned, am I right? One-sided? The girl loved me! Love notes. Every. Single. Day! At least, I remember it that way… ”

“-Sir, please, you ought to drink a cup of water before you exhaust yourself.”

“Quiet, you, this is the best part. College was but the best time of my life, that’s right. We went our separate ways but still, notes, love notes, every week! Always signed with her lovely swirling Always, V. Halfway across the whole country but she never missed a week. Not my girl, no sir. Every time she’d show up on my campus I’d beam to the moon and back. I imagine she had the sweetest touch, she had me under some sort of spell, that’s right… I remember every single day spent with her!”

“That reminds me! When was the last time you took your memantine? Are you due for another dose soon?”

“I don’t need some drug for my bowel movements, silly woman! I eat my fiber every day! ”

“Sir, memantine is for memory loss…”

“I know what I’m talking about! Do you want to hear the rest or not?”

“Even if I didn’t you’d still finish…”

“Right you are. After high school I found myself on the hunt for a job… wait a split. After college I found myself on the hunt for a job! I had great plans, you know? Pursue my passions. Kickstart my life! The whole world was my oyster! And this girl, this girl I’d met when I was a young boy, she was going to be my wife- I’d even planned on having daisies everywhere at reception! Ain’t that a hoot? But first we flew all ‘round the world, sightseeing in Paris, scuba diving in Cuba, backpacking in Nepal… was it backpacking in Cuba and sightseeing in Nepal? No, no, sightseeing in Cuba, backpacking in Paris. Yes, I was right the first time! You see, there isn’t a lick wrong with my memory, so don’t be barking up the wrong tree. After we traveled the world, she wanted to settle, you see, and I agreed, I agreed because I would do anything to keep my girl happy, you see? So we settled down, got ourselves a nice little house right down at the harbor so she could wake up every day and watch the ocean right outside the window. We’d collect seashells and store them in a cupboard I made myself, would you believe that? I was pretty handy as a young man! We had close to a hundred seashells by the time she… one hundred seashells. Isn’t that lovely? Anything for my sweetheart. How that pretty lady loved me. I could never repay her in material.”

“She sounds wonderful.”

“She is.              She… was.” 

“Sir, I-”

“Sir?”

“Give the old man a second, will you? Maybe a cup of water’ll do me good now…”

“Of course. Hot or cold?”

“Cold. No, that won’t do. Hot, you see? I want hot.”

“Coming right up. Just sit tight.”

“Are you still listening? Good. It had been four years since I’d last seen her. I was so patient, see? I was proud of myself for being so patient. How can an old man like me have so much wait in his soul, I ain’t got a clue! But I was waiting for her, again, with people rushing around me just like that day on the playground. Cryin’ and huggin’, they were. But I, I was savin’ my tears for my girl, my love, see? Show her how much I’d missed her. An’ I had a buncha’ daisies in my hand, I remember. Or maybe it was just one? Oh, my memory’s not like it once was. But I’m certain I had my daisies. And soon I’d have my love back, too.”

“Your water, sir.”

“Water? When did I ask for water?”

“Please. Just take a sip.”

“If you insist.” 

“So tell us what happened to that damned wife of yours!”

“Ma’am, please, lower your voice.”

“Why ain’t she with you here? You said she loved you so why ain’t she here?”

“See, see, I.. I reckon at that day and age my memory was already slippin’, yes… because when she walked right out that train station gate she looked like an angel… An angel, do you believe that? So beautiful. My love was so beautiful.” 

“Was?”

“Yes, see…”

“Another cup of water. Perhaps?”

“I can’t drink another drop…”

“Do you need to lie down?”

“Let him finish his damn fairytale!”

“Ma’am!”

“Did your wife die? Dead as a doorknob now, isn’t she?”

“She was an angel! An angel, I tell you!”

“Ma’am, if you don’t-”

“”You need a new wife, now? I reckon you do, don’t you?”

“No! Never! Get me another cup’a water!”

“Of course.”

“What are those two arguing about over there?”

“Is there really need for questions? Hand me the water jug.”

“But of course. I’m curious.”

“Well, if you must know, they’re arguing about his wife.”

“I thought she divorced him years ago?”

“She did. Take care and don’t make a peep to him, yes? The old man has always believed she died in a freak train crash. At this point, with that lagging memory, he’s too old to believe anything but that.”

“Wouldn’t want to shatter his heart, is it?”

“But of course. The last time he brought her up he nearly had a stroke.”

“Careful. The water’s real hot.”

“Are you sure you don’t need to lie down, sir?”

“Can’t drink water laying down, can I? Say..”

“Yes?”

“What’s the address of this place again?”

“Why would you need the address?”

“Why, your brain ought not to be working today! To write a letter to her, of course! I’ll tell her how much I miss her, and how much I’m looking forward to seeing her again. Don’t we have daisies in the garden outside? I’ll pick one- what do you mean I’m too frail to get up? Anything for my love! I’ll pick a daisy and write a letter to her- give me the address, for goodness sake! And then- and then, I’ll send it right up into the sky, where she’ll be waiting… Still looking like an angel, you hear? My love will still be looking like an angel to me.”