Entry #114

Remembering Wine
by Gargi Bendre


He heard the opening and closing of the door. He took one quick look at the mirror. Satisfied at what he saw he went into the kitchen. He was wearing a shirt she had gifted him. He wondered if she would remember.

Now a year after her accident she still couldn’t remember her own children. Let alone her husband. Everyday was a struggle. He took her to places he had visited, showed her videos of the family. Nothing worked.

Today he decided to do something different. He poured her favourite glass of wine. As she looked at him she stopped in her tracks. Is “It the shirt?” he asked. I don’t know. It pained her to see the love in his eyes that she could not return.

He gave her the glass saying you love wine. He never spoke in the past tense even if she didn’t remember. “Take a sip”. Don’t think too much. Its just wine. She swirled the red liquid round and round as though hypnotized. And took a sip. It was so sudden. There was a flash and there he was. In her mind. She felt him. How is it? Its warm pointing to her throat.

He walked up to her and kissed her chin, her throat, the hollow of her neck…

He stood there with the glass of wine. She left the room. He emptied the contents in the basin and watched as the red liquid swirled round and round…