“Accidents don’t just happen. But I was a willing victim.”
WRONG
©2004 by Mae Ondracek
He knew he was in the wrong place but it
didn’t seem to matter to him. Wrong or
right place, it made no difference. This
was where the thing was due to take place and he knew it was the wrong
place. He stopped the car and looked
around, but he didn’t see anything that looked familiar. Then he heard knocking on his side-window and
he rolled it down a little and heard the man say, “This is it.”
He heaved a big sigh of relief as he got
out of his car and followed the man.
They entered a newly erected building which wasn’t too much different than his own. There
were the four frames that were his own and these two were just inside his door. He knew he was in the wrong building but it
did look right to him. Then the man
opened a door and motioned him in. He
was alone, or so he thought. Somewhere a
voice said, “Hello, Brian. You are new
here but you found everything to your liking?
We hope.”
“Yes, Ma’am, I like it very much,” Brian
said.
Where was she, he remembered thinking? He couldn’t see anything or anyone until his
eyes cleared up to the colors in this room.
Then he heard, “Go to your left and take the goggles off that
table. Put them on and you’ll be able to
see just fine.”
He walked to the left until he hit a table
and groped around for the glasses. He
found them and put them on. What a
relief, he felt now that this room looked like the others. He turned to the voice and gasped, it was
Leona. “I just knew there was something
about your voice that intrigued me. What
are you doing in this type of place?” Brian asked.
“Well, we can’t all be newcomers, can
we? Come over here and sit down,” Leona
said.
He
walked over to where she was pointing and sat down next to her. “I thought you were gone for sure,” he said
She laughed and then kissed him. He didn’t return the formality but liked what
he got. She asked, “You didn’t like
that? I thought maybe you would. What I wanted you here for, was to show you
this place and see if you liked it.
Come, I’ll show you around.”
She led the way out of the goggle room,
“Now you can remove your goggles,” she said.
“I have made this place just like your
house. Do you like it?’ she asked. “There is only one thing I need, your
furniture. You see, it has to be just
like your house on
“Yes, but why show it to me? You won’t need me now that you have all this
here,” Brian said.
“Oh, but I will, dear boy. I want you to live here with me. Won’t you do that for an old friend?” Leona
asked.
“My gosh, Leona, it’s been over six years
since you left and I’m supposed to pick up right where we left off?”
“Yes,” Leona said.
“It has been a long time since I’ve
thought about you. You knew I had my
heart set on us getting married and then you disappeared. What was I to think? That someone just took you away? Oh, Leona, I can’t think of anything worse happening
to you,” Brian said.
“I’m sorry, Brian. I just wanted you now that I had this place
all fixed up. Why won’t you come to live
with me?” Leona said.
“”I couldn’t, Leona. You know how things have changed and I’ve got
a new girlfriend now. When you didn’t
come back after four years, I had to get on with my life. I have a girl friend almost like you. Why can’t you understand?” Brian asked.
Accidents don’t just happen, but I was a
willing victim. Seeing Leona had brought
tears to my eyes and I was expecting anything to happen. Leona flew into a rage and hit me over the
head. I don’t remember anything after
that except to be lifted like a 100 pound sack of potatoes and being carried
out of there.
When I awoke, I was in a ditch and my car
was sure a mess. I didn’t know where I
was but I had to get out of there. I
didn’t seem to have anything broken so I climbed out the window and started
climbing up. Six cars went past and then
it was quiet. No more cars went past and
no more trucks. I was lost. I didn’t know where I was. Finally, at last, I reached the road and a
car was coming. It was a police car
which stopped and the driver got out and came towards me. “What’s the matter, Buddy?” he asked.
“Man, I don’t know. I really shouldn’t have been on this road at
all, but I went over the cliff.” Brian said.
“Here, let me help you up,” he said.
“Thanks,” Brian said. “Where are we near?”
“Well, Nafalone
is back there and I’m on my way to Clearance.
What is the matter with you; don’t you know where you are?”
“Well, I’ve had a hard time, Officer. I don’t know what has happened, but I sure
hurt bad,” Brian said.
“I’ll take you to the doctor in
Clearance. Sure hope nothing is wrong,”
the officer said. “I’m Officer
O’Day. What’s your name?”
“Brian---Brian. Boy, I can’t remember my last name. I’ll have to look it up on my car
registration,” Brian said.
“That’s all right, Brian, I trust
you. What happened?” Officer O’Day asked.
“Well, I was going to--. Oh my, gosh! I’ve even forgot where I was going. Oh, my head hurts,” Brian said.
“Just take it easy, we’ll be there in a
jiffy,” Officer O’Day said.
Brian
laid his head back but didn’t want to go to sleep. He kept going over in his mind, why he was on
this road. But he couldn’t even remember
the names of the towns the officer had given him. Suddenly he asked, “Where did you say we
were, Officer.”
“We are on our way to Clearance. We’ll be there in about ten minutes. Are you feeling alright?” Officer O’Day
asked.
“I was just wondering where we are?” Brian
asked.
“I told you we are on our way to
Clearance. What is the matter with you,
son?” Officer O’Day asked.
“But I don’t remember there being a
Clearance anywhere near where I live.
What state are we in?” Brian asked.
Well, boy, we are in
“
“Well, here we are. Our old doctor is great with fixing up what
is the matter with you. You just do what
he tells you to do. Okay?” Officer O’Day
said.
“Thank you, Officer, I sure will,” Brian
said as he went into the clinic.
He filled out papers and sat there and
waited. Soon the doctor made an
appearance which shocked Brian. He
wasn’t an old doctor but there was something vaguely familiar about him. The nurse introduced him as Mr. Brian, and he
went back into the room with the doctor.
“Well, I see here, you’ve had a little
problem. How did your car get on the side of the road like that? Oh, my name is Doctor Brown.”
“How do you do, doctor? My name is Brian and I don’t remember how I
got down that mountain side, nor do I remember my last name,” Brian said. “It’s good to meet somebody who looks
familiar.”
“What do you mean, ‘looks familiar’? I’ve been here ever since I got out of
school.”
“Well, you look so familiar to me. I don’t know what it is but, there is
something about you that I do remember.
Maybe it will come back to me if I try hard enough,” Brian said.
“Well, now tell me, what is bothering
you?” the doctor asked.
“Well, I don’t even know what is bothering
me except I can’t remember why I’m here.
I’m supposed to be someplace else.
I must have gotten a good knock on my head, because I can’t remember
anything, except a lady named Rachel,” Brian said.
“You know, remembering Rachel, has a lot
to do with it. Is she your wife or
girlfriend?” the doctor asked.
“I don’t know,” Brian said with a wave of
shame.
“Well, do you remember her last name or
where she lives?” the doctor asked.
“No, I can’t. It really seems funny not to remember but I
just can’t. Like you. I should know you, but I cannot put my finger
on it,” Brian said.
“Well, that is a start. Now, as far as Rachel goes, we’ll just forget
her for the time being. You must
remember something of where you were for the past day, don’t you?” the doctor
asked.
“I’m sorry, doctor, I can’t even tell you
where I was last night. I’m in a
terrible stew, aren’t I?” Brian said.
“Well, you get into bed while I get your
cover letter and we’ll see what is wrong.
How will that be?” he asked.
“Forget the cover letter. That is all a bunch of lies. I had to put down something and I just put
down what I could remember or faces I could see. Don’t you understand, doctor, that I don’t
know who I am?” Brian said.
“Well, you get ready for bed while I go
look into your other paper work. Maybe
we can find out something,” the doctor said as he exited the room.
Brian thought about going to bed and it
scared him. What if the doctor wanted to
put him under? He wouldn’t like that. He wanted to remember who he was, but not
that way. Well, he was tired, so he
guessed he’d lie down.
When the doctor came back in, Brian was
out like a light and he couldn’t be woken up.
So the doctor asked him a couple of questions and darn is he didn’t
answer them. He asked a couple more
questions and he answered them. The
doctor found out he was with someone named Leona and she tried to keep him with
her but he wouldn’t stay. So she bopped
him on the head with something that felt like an iron and he woke up in that
very deep ditch, not being able to remember anything. Rachel was the woman he was going to marry
real soon and Leona was someone who just hated him because he rejected her
after six years of being gone.
Well, he was someplace now, with his
thinking and for sure he was glad that Brian was so asleep. He left Brian asleep and went about his other
duties.
Officer O’Day had returned and wanted to
talk with Brian but the doctor told him he was asleep. “Say Officer, if you didn’t know this young
man, how would you help him?” Dr. Brown asked
“Well, I cannot remember seeing the young
man before, so I guess I’d have to find out something about him first,” the
officer told him. “What’s the matter,
Doc, find out something already?”
“Well, he does have a lady friend called
Leona and another one named Rachel. He
is in love with Rachel but Leona is the one that called him to her and when he
fell, unconscious, she had him put in his car and driven over the
embankment. I don’t get it but we’ll
find out more when he wakes up,” the doctor said. “Have a good rounds,
O’Day.”
“Thanks, I will,” Officer O’Day said and
left.
It was
“Yes, that is a name you gave to me. Who is she?” the doctor wanted to know.
“Leona is someone I knew six years
ago. We were pretty heavy and planned on
getting married in August. But in July
she just up and disappears. Now all of a
sudden she calls me up. No, that’s not
right,” Brian exclaimed. “Her voice
suddenly comes to me, asking me to come to her place and here I am.”
“Do you believe she lives around here?”
the doctor asked.
“No, I can’t really believe that. She is just too high-horse for that. What can I do to keep away from her; I don’t
want her near me. I love Rachel,” Brian
said. “I really intend to marry Rachel.”
“That’s my man, Brian. I’m glad to hear you say that,” the doctor
said. “Now let’s get down to some other
facts. You say that Leona called you to
her. How did you get there?”
“I must have driven my car, but I couldn’t
tell you where it is,” Brian said. “All
I remember is talking with her and being hit over the head. Boy that was terrible. No wonder I couldn’t remember anything.”
“But you remember pretty much it all. About this Rachel, who is she and where does
she live?” the doctor asked.
Brian gave a little laugh and said, “Poor
little Rachel. She’ll have a fit when
she finds out my car is ruined and I’m here in the hospital.”
“What’s the matter, can’t you get a
different car and make up the difference to her?” the doctor asked.
“Yes, I could,” Brian said. “If you’ll give me the phone so I can call
her.”
The doctor handed the phone to Brian and
by golly, if he didn’t know the number.
It rang once and she answered it, “Hello, Rachel here.”
“Hello, Rachel, this is Brian. I’d like you to come to
“Yeah, and I’m a monkeys uncle, too. I just left you at four. How could you be in
“Believe me, it is possible. I don’t know where or what has happened but I
want you back. I need you, Rachel,” and
he broke down and cried.
“Brian?” Rachel asked reluctantly.
“Oh yes, Rachel. I just want you to come and get me and take
me home. Please,” Brian said.
“Brian, I can’t get over this, but I’ll
sure come to get you. Where are you?”
she asked.
“Just a minute,” he said as he handed the
phone to the doctor. Please, tell her
where we are.”
Doctor Brown took the phone and told her
where they were, and how long it would take to get there. They would be waiting by the door tomorrow at