Short Story (Memories of a Lost Love)
Ethan sat alone in his dimly lit apartment, fragments of memories playing like an old film reel in his mind. Laughter in a sunlit park. A woman’s gentle touch. Her name, Clara, echoed in his thoughts like a whisper. She was his everything—until the accident.
The therapist had warned him about the gaps. “Trauma can distort memory,” she said. But Ethan clung to those fleeting images, convinced they were real.
One evening, while sorting through old belongings, he found a photo of Clara. Her smile was as vivid as he remembered. On the back was a date and the words “Forever yours.” Encouraged, he searched online for her name, uncovering a small art gallery that listed her as a featured artist.
When he arrived, the gallery was quiet, the walls adorned with her paintings. He stopped at one—a portrait of a man. His face. Beneath it was the title: “The Memory That Never Was.”
“Can I help you?” a soft voice asked. He turned to see Clara, alive but unrecognizing.
“I think we knew each other,” he said, trembling.
She studied him with a sad smile. “You’re mistaken.”
As Ethan left, he realized the truth: Clara wasn’t his lost love. She was his mind’s desperate creation—a love he needed but never had.
