Things I Almost Remember: A Selection Story

Kate Remembers

Kate stared wide-eyed at the beautiful yellow stucco building in the distance. It was night, and she was with Johnny, Ahren, and Jansen looking down from the hill of thick forest and brush at the palace in the valley below. 

"That's it?" she asked, her stare frozen. 

"That is it," Ahren confirmed angrily, clenching his fist as memories of the slaughter of his family flooded his mind. 

"Was all that barbwire always there on the gates?" Kate asked, pointing to the elegant walls covered with spiky, rusted wire.

"No, that is Marid's idea of curb appeal," Jansen muttered. "He is a man constantly plagued by fear of his own demise. He is absolutely paranoid.

"He deserves demise for what he did to my family," Ahren muttered angrily. Kate winced at her uncle's words, but only Johnny noticed.

"Are you okay?" he whispered, putting his hand on her arm.

"I haven't been back since...since that night, and it is starting to come back. All I could remember before were screams and the sound of gunshots and fire. I dreamed about the night for years, but now I can clearly hear the sound of my mother scream. I can see my father's expressionless face as he was lying in his own blood. I remember the look of the rebel's face as he shot at my parents. I remember..."

In that moment, she collapsed to her knees and let out a heaving sob, clenching her arms to her stomach.

"I remember it all. I remember General Leger sweeping me up and running out of the ballroom as Lucy ran alongside us. I remember the blood-curdling scream of my grandmother when she was shot. I remember running off into these woods," she rambled looking up into the trees as if she was seeing the sky for the first time, as though it was terrifying to her. 

Johnny quickly scrambled to her side and wrapped his arms around her as she let out heaving sobs. Ahren ran over too and kneeled down in front of her.

"Kate, it is alright, no one is going to hurt you. You are safe with us," Ahren said, putting his arm on her shoulder as Johnny gently rocked her in his arms.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she settled into Johnny's lap. "It just all came back. I don't know how, but suddenly, when I saw the palace, it was like the floodgates opened. Everything came back from that night. Pieces of my life would flash in my mind, especially in my dreams, like they were things I could almost remember. Now I can remember. They're so clear. If it wasn't so terrifying, it would be something good."

"You probably were subconsciously blocking out the memories because they were so frightening and painful," Jansen said as he walked over the group that had gathered around Kate. 

"Kate, your parents loved you more than anything. Your mother adored having a daughter, and even though you were a bit too much of a tomboy for her sometimes, running around the and climbing trees, she loved you. You were the apple of your father's eye. You always saw the good in others, just like he did, but you have a lot of your mother's stubbornness and willfulness if I remember correctly," Ahren said, squeezing her should. "Remember your parents for who they were to you in life, not for how they were taken. They always will be with you in your heart if you just look to find them."

"Your grandparents always would say too how much they loved and adored you, how they thought you were going to be such a good queen one day," Jansen said. "You are the type of leader Illéa needs, you are kind and compassionate by nature, but your experience outside the palace has given you tenacity and strength that no other monarch had before you. It is what will allow you to take back the throne from Marid."

Kate's eyes widened at the mention of overtaking Marid.

"I just am afraid, I don't know if I can do it," she whispered. 

"I know you can because you have gotten this far," Johnny said. "You survived that night for a reason, you were meant to bring back peace and prosperity to Illéa."

"I'm not the only one who survived that night," Kate said looking up at him with a small smile. "You're here for a reason too."

"I'm here to help you," he whispered back, returning her smile. 

"The only happy memory of that night is that before everything happened, you stuck your tongue out at me," she said, sticking out her own tongue at him. He smiled then reached out and caught her hand and interlaced it with his own.

"I hope you know," Kate whispered, looking at their hands. "That if we are actually able to get the throne back, I want you by my side. I always want you by my side. I am so much better when I am with you."

"That is good because I don't intend on going anywhere," he said, leaning down to kiss her. 

Ahren cleared his throat.

"I hope you know that I, her protective uncle, also do not intend on going anywhere."