A Forgotten Face

He had seen her before, he was sure of it. Perhaps he had even known her name once though he could not now seem to remember. Without really understanding why, he smiled at the face before him and was surprised to find it smiling back at him. For a moment, the man forgot all about his pains and worries. The face could only belong to someone he knew and someone he loved. That at least he knew. That at least he was sure of.
But still her name eluded him.
He tried to sit up but was met with a rush of pain. The smile that he had been looking at on the woman's face flashed away and was replaced with a look of pain, as if she were experiencing what he had just felt. He tried to move his arm to comfort the strange woman kneeling beside his bed but found that his arm was weak and would not move at his command. The woman stood and turned her head away. Quickly she walked to the far side of the room, her hand flew to her face and she began to shake. The moonlight shone through the window next to her, and if the man could have seen her face, he would have seen it glisten against the tears streaming down her face.
As if embarrassed, the woman's shoulders stopped shaking almost as quickly as they had begun. After a long breath she lowered her hand and turned back to the man. He saw her turn and watched as the moonlight readjusted to her new position. Though it still refused to show him her tears, it began to reveal something else to the man. The moonlight rested on her long cherry red hair. The man began to trace the light with his eyes along the curls of the hair's waves and the way that it fell from her face. He paused when his eyes touched hers. With a sudden realization the man once again smiled.
She was beautiful.
The man kept his gaze as the woman once again knelt by the bed. Desperate for some clue to who she was, he looked into her eyes and found that they were as the ocean. A calming presence, full of light, and wisdom. He soon became lost in their many wondrous patterns and in the way the waves moved in her eyes. The man all at once felt at peace.
She began to speak. She spoke softly, and slowly. The words that she spoke fell gently on the man's ears. All at once they spread across his entire body. His body began to tingle, and he felt his heart quicken, yet the man had never felt more peaceful and more calm. She took his hand in hers and laid her head on his arm while still speaking those magical words. But the man paid no attention to what they meant, only how they felt. He closed his eyes and began to think of nothing but the way the sounds made him feel. The feeling began to swarm all around him until at last they enveloped him, and he felt nothing more.
He began to dream.
He stood in the middle of a long grassy road, which felt soft beneath his feet. It was day and the sun shone brightly. On either side of him a small haze blocked his view, and he could not tell where he was. The path before him was clear however, and he saw that the road would take him forward up and over a hill a little way in the distance. Without really knowing why, the man began to walk forward, at a very slow pace. His footprints leaving a trail behind him. Soon his pace began to quicken. His body ceased to ache, and his walk turned into a run.
The wind blew into his face as he sped past, and it made him laugh. His laughter echoed in the silent hills and down into the haze. When he reached the top of the hill he paused and closed his eyes. Throwing back his head he stretched out his arms, flung them into the air, and more laughter erupted from his lips. After a while, he opened his eyes again and pointed them forwards along the path that still continued before him. He smiled and began walking forward eager for what awaited him.
Along the side of the road, faces began to appear. Some waved, some cheered, some pushed him along while others seemed to linger. Young faces would ask him for stories while old faces would tell him theirs. There were loud faces, who wanted him to stay and quiet ones that made him want to stay. All around him, they gathered as he went along the path towards some unseen destination. Though he did not know them, he was welcomed by all.
Still the road he was on continued, it twisted and turned, and at some points it even seemed to be going backwards instead of forwards. His body began to slowly ache and to moan and he felt his joints stiffen. Still, he pressed onward, continuing forward if only because of the encouragement of the gleaming faces all along the path. Though the journey was long, the man paid no attention. It was after all a good dream. A sweet and peaceful dream. A dream of memories long ago. They were of times that he had forgotten and of people whom he did not recognize. But somehow, he knew that they were his.
At last, the road ended abruptly. The man stopped at its end. Before him stood a tree with large green leaves that littered the ground around him and hung from the branches which provided shade from the sun. Along the base of the tree sat a woman. She sat facing him and beckoned him to join her. The man sat and leaned against the trunk of the tree sighing as he felt the hard bark against his back. All at once he grew very tired. He closed his eyes and felt his own hand seek out for the comfort of the woman. His hand met hers and she enclosed her hand in his.
"Your memory is not as good as it once was" she said to him.
"I fear that I am growing old." he said.
"Then I shall grow old with you."
The sound of children's laughter came from behind the tree. The man recognized the sound immediately and his eyes opened. He looked at the woman. She was toying with the grass between her fingers, but she paid no mind to the sounds of laughter. Tears began to fall down her cheeks.
"I don't want things to ever change" She said at last. "I want you to stay with me."
The man made no reply. Behind the sounds of children laughing grew louder. The sound soothed him and slowly he leaned further against the tree and closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, he was lying on his bed in his room. The moonlight had faded, and a small string of sunlight was just starting to peak through. He could still feel the woman where she was lying, head pressed against him resting on his arm. If not for the quiet but constant beeping in the room, everything would have been completely still.
The man began to cough, and he felt his whole body begin to ache. The woman quickly got up and looked at him. As he looked back into her eyes, he found what he had been searching for the whole time. In the morning light he could see her clearly and at last he could remember.
"April." He said and brushed his fingers across her cheek.
At hearing his voice, her face lit up at once. Her smile broke out and her dimples broke into her cheeks.
"No, dad" She replied. "It's me. It's Jess. Can I get you anything?"
He grabbed her small hand and closed his eyes.
"April." He whispered as if to himself. A warm feeling ignited inside him. It spread across his entire body and out until even the air around him seemed to buzz and to spin. Though his eyes still remained closed, a bright image began to form in front of him.
The tree appeared before him. Along its base sat a woman. She looked at him and her eyes glistened with joy. She beckoned him forward. He sat next to her.
"I'm here" he said. "and I always will be."
"Then I will always be with you."
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