I lay stiff on my back, staring up at the ceiling. The cold engulfed my body numbing my legs. My mind cleared of any and all memories prior to this morning. The room was empty with the exception of the single sheetless mattress I lay upon. Everything seemed familiar, as if I’d been here before.
This room, this strange place, felt like home.
I rolled out of bed and struggled to balance on my feet. I became light-headed, my body weightless, and I glided through the doorway and into a hallway. Suddenly, my body grew heavy. My legs shook and my entire body tingled. Right, left, right, left. I trudged through the hall and into a large family room. Pictures lined the walls of children and a glowing woman with healthy brunette locks. What a beautiful creature! Her smile was comforting and heart warming. The children had to have been her own, the fondness showed clear in her eyes.
I suddenly felt tired, and the world became a blur.
“I must be welcome here,” I thought to myself. “I DID wake up in this home.” I turned back to the room, ventured through the hall once more and collapsed on the bed. I dozed in and out of a light sleep. After minutes, or hours, maybe even days, I built the strength to force myself out of bed. The room was dark now. Across from me was another door, maybe a closet? I hurried to open it, curious of what could be on the other side but couldn’t see past the shadows of black surrounding me.
I forced myself to walk once more and entered another hallway. This one much longer than the last, but I could see just a speck of light in the distance. The sound of whispers filled my head and the shadows around passed from one wall through the next. The white ahead expanded the closer I walked, and finally a figure appeared.
It took a moment for me to recognize her darling face. The beautiful woman from the pictures stood smiling before me. Suddenly, I wanted nothing more than to embrace her, hold her closely and tightly. I longed to love her evermore.
“Stop.” Her voice soothed the aching in my mind. “You are wondering why you are here.”
I stared into her gentle green eyes.
“Every night, I stand here to greet you. For years, I have been waiting. I will be here until you discover the reasons you wander. Until you can remember the man you once were.”
“Who are you?” I reached to cup her face in the palm of my hand.
“No.” She gripped my hand tightly. “I am your wife. The pictures. You remember. Are of your children and I…Your children who are grow. YOU had been gone long before they were born. YOU left, then YOU died.”
“I left?” I asked with confusion. “Why would I leave such a beautiful family?”
“You were once a man, but you became a coward. So now you wander and you must remember.” Still, the memories seemed further from distant, near nonexistent.
“But I want to be with you now! I want to stay here with you!”
I pleaded to the woman, my wife, who deserved to be remembered.
“You do not know of the things you’ve done wrong, you do not know of the children you’ve abandoned, nor of the love that you lost. You do not know of the mistakes that you made in the life you once lived. You will wander and I will wait.”
“But, I’m sorry…” I reached out to touch her again.
“I am sorry that you wander and that you cannot remember. Tomorrow, we will do this again. Tomorrow you will beg once more, for years, you will continue to beg until your soul finds peace… but until that time comes, you will not remember. I will only be a familiar face and you will wander the home that WE once lived.”
Fear consumed me.
“Is such a thing possible? To remember?”
The woman just smiled. “I will wait forever, my love.”
The End
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jinni B. Allen lives in the heart of Phoenix, Arizona. As a young, aspiring writer, she draws inspiration for her books and stories from the diversity of her hometown, mixed with a love of things unknown and supernatural.
Thank you for reading my book, Stories in The White Room. I sincerely appreciate every person who has taken the time to check it out.
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