Memory box
She squeezed her eyes so her entire face wrinkled up. She covered them with her hands and pushed her face against her knees. It was almost like she was trying to keep something from running away.
So, she bought a box. It was an ordinary square box, 50x50x50 centimeters. Nothing fancy. It had to be spacious and durable. There was a detail inside that made her choose this specific box – beautiful soft silky wall.
The first two things she chose to put inside were the little one’s fabric softener and shampoo. Those smells reminded her of chubby hands and shiny soft hair. Every evening before her bedtime bath they used to sing and dance. They listened to Wouldn’t It be Nice by The Beach Boys on repeat. It was her favorite.
The next thing was an old green chewed up ball. It belonged to Mr. T, a great big yellow cat. She remembered how he used to play ping pong by himself all night against her bedroom wall.
Having the box made her feel calmer. Like everything is not slipping away and moving too fast. She felt she had more power over time and those precious moments she wanted to keep.
Every once in a while, she went and checked on the box. Sometimes she had a new memory to put in and sometimes she just came to remember. She would close her eyes and randomly dig through the box. Over time she collected some plane tickets, perfume bottles, some clothes and jewellery. There was so many things that seemed irrelevant. To her, they were a fortune.
One day, she wanted to put something in a box. She couldn’t find it.
” I have to go look for it”, she said to herself. So, she did. It was a bit dark, so she needed to watch her step. There was a lot of paper on the floor, even some small glass bottles. It was hard not to step over all those things, but she kept going. She sensed the familiar fresh smell in the air but couldn’t remember what it was. Next moment, she found herself on the ground. She tripped over small green ball. She still didn’t find a box. Since she was already on the ground she decided to rest for a while. She leaned against a wall. Beautiful soft silky wall.