source: Vidyasury.com via Writetribe.com

Lucy always, always remembered everything. From here very first day of school to the day her little sister walked into her life, in fact even what she was wearing, she recalled it all. Whether the stories told by her father while feeding her when she was a child or the scolding’s that came her way, she bore in mind every minute detail of it. In her family, she was the record keeper. If they ever reached an impasse on a particular incident in the past, it was Lucy who would be called to end it.

But slowly yet certainly she felt it all slipping away. It began with her finding it hard to recall the name of her favorite restaurant or words during conversations. Not once, not twice but often. One time she failed to recall the word ‘curtain’ no matter how hard she tried. She had to later express it using actions as if playing charades. What was happening to her? Was she losing the power to retain? She dreaded even thinking about it. After all she had a wonderful life with a darling husband, a loving family and now a sweet little girl.

But why was it that she had this intense feeling of missing out on something today? Why was she so edgy? Had she forgotten something again?

****

Whose shoe is this thought all the passersby. It appeared to be new. Had a child lost it?  But how did a child come so close to the lake. Those who found it while taking a morning stroll, stopped, looked around and hoped that the child to which the shoe belonged went the other way and not towards the huge lake ahead.

****

“Does she not remember?”

“No.”

“But we should tell her no?”

“What can we tell her that she forgot her own daughter by the side of the lake and now she is nowhere to be found? It is better that she doesn’t remember or else she might even slip further away. The doctor had said it won’t be long before she loses all her recalling abilities. My daughter might be gone. I don’t want to lose Lucy too before time.”