Splintered, A Chronicling of Memoria

March 2nd, a Saturday
Alex – age 25

It was a beautiful Saturday morning when my new life came together… I had my new apartment, which Aila was delighted to see. She offered her husband to me as help for moving in. without his consent of course… and I merrily agreed, even the obvious fact that her husband didn’t want to help me with my furniture couldn’t dampen my spirits on that wonderful day. It was a twelve minute car ride from the hospital to my new place. 1/5 hour. Gosh why do I always calculate? And somehow it felt much longer, as if I were a child, moving away to college. I loathed the idea of losing Aila from my life, and thus, during the car ride, as she drove us through town, I felt the need to ask her a few serious questions.
“aila?” I said, a smile spread wide across my face “can I ask a favor of you?”
“Of course dear.” She replied with her dulcet voice. “Anything for you”
She smiled as I stared at her, though her eyes remained fixated on the road.
“I want you to be my friend… even after ive moved here… you feel like a mother to me, and I don’t want to lose what imaginary sense of family that I have.”
She looked at me, stopping the car on the side of the road, and gave me a hug, her eyes wide and welled with tears.
“You don’t realize how much that means to me.” she commented “I feel like you’re a child of mine, and of course I’ll be your friend.”
Woah. That sounds adolescent. I was ecstatic upon hearing her response, though I didn’t want to show just how ecstatic, so I let go of her, allowing her to take the wheel once more. She pushed her red stiletto down on the gas pedal and forced the car back onto the road, pulling away from the shoulder. I smiled at her, largely, though she still didn’t notice, it wasn’t a bother to me… she was my only real friend in what had become known to me as an unforgiving world. It didn’t take long for us to arrive at my new apartment, which I absolutely loved. The Furniture people were coming shortly after, so I wanted to inspect the apartment before their arrival, Aila followed me upstairs to the third floor. I pulled out a small key, with a green Carabineer attached to its chain. The door Squeaked open…needs some hinge work…and I walked inside, Aila was right behind me, looking at the paint, almost gawking at the color scheme. I stared at it with her, though I didn’t really care.
“I don’t like it…” She groaned “I don’t like it one bit.”
I nodded, I was starting to dislike the colors, they were drab and uniform, it was an oldie apartment more than anything, the faded Banana yellow paint, the warped floors… it needed remodeling. I shook my head at aila, sucking my teeth.
“what is it alex?” she asked
“this place needs a lot of work, more than a few minutes worth.” I pointed out.
“agreed, but what can we do about it?”
“are you free on Wednesday?”
“yes sir I am” she answered with a smile”
“come over and help me remodel then, we’ll make a day of it!” I said excitedly
She nodded at me, and continued to inspect, walking into the kitchen, and being doubly critical. For the next few minutes, she pointed out all the tiny cracks and creases in the apartment, singling them out, and almost scaring them away with her adamantly pointing finger. Her ruby red nail polish was almost like a fireball flying from the finger of a demon at the small inconsistencies of the room.
“how much is this place a month?” she inquired
“1300” I replied nervously.
Her jaw almost dropped at the price… As did mine when I found out…
“you need a roommate, or even two, you can’t expect to pay that by yourself.”
I nodded at her, then walked into the other room once again, traversing the warped floors and ill-colored walls to the bathroom. It was in great shape, and I loved the color…lime green, immediately my favorite… I looked at the room uncritically, almost unable to critique it because of the fantastic paintjob and color scheme. Granite countertops with a sink built right into the granite, the bowl of the sink was granite, though the sink’s nozzle and hose were stainless steel. Aila was not so kind to the room, criticizing the shower curtains, and the windows, though I managed to tune her out, almost mesmerized by the mirror staring at me. That’s me…Blond hair, Green eyes… I didn’t really know what I looked like until this point, mirrors were hard to come by in my hospital room… it was like they were keeping glass away from a toddler, I didn’t feel mature until I got my own home, and this was it. The furniture men came bursting through the doors quickly, carrying in droves of Furniture, tables, chairs, beds, everything a house needs, even television sets and other appliances. Though, I had no carpeting, and honestly not THAT much furniture, only a moderate amount, as much as I might have if I struggled to this point for years. It took them roughly 2 hours to bring in the full load, with their 2 man crew. Maybe I should I have ordered a better service… Aila waved goodbye as she walked through the doorway, closing the squeaky wooden door Labeled “3A”. I missed her already, but this was home now, and I needed to adjust. I sat down on the brand new couch, and leaned over the edge, dozing off with my head tapping the floor lightly, and I was happy here, in my new home…Finally…