Road to Memories By Krishna Kannan

In the cold hallways Jared sat in silence, the fear and anticipation had latched onto him as he was
eager to hear his mother’s voice after a long 5 weeks post-accident. Beside him sat his father and
brother chipping away at their nails, after a while their wait was broken by ‘Click, Clacks!’ as a tall
figure entrenched in a white coat emerged from ward #141, he was quite slender with pale skin,
flicking furiously through a folder labelled Mrs’s Ryde. As he came to a halt the family arose with
clenched fists and prayers of hope. The man glanced at Jarred, and turned his attention to Jared’s
father, “Your wife, is fit and healthy but…” before he could finish jarred and his brother soared into
their fathers arms, there was a warmth of relief emitted by their pulsating hearts, which bounded
them in a veil of aura, the man cleared his throat “But, she is suffering from memory loss caused
by the post traumatic effects of the accident.” The aura dissipated, unsure of what to expect, as
they entered Jared’s mother glared at them, she looked frail and weary, his father clasped her
hand and exclaimed “Honey your coming home”, she responded “I missed you dear.” As she
peered at Jared he fell into her arms, to which his mother looked disconcert, she faced his brother
and inquired “Well dear, your friend is quite lovely, but he’s a little old don’t you think?” Jared
turned to his father, bewildered, “good joke mum”, she replied with a chuckle “Im not your mother
dear, you have quite the friend John”, Jarred once again looked perplexed, the doctor intervened
and told Jared that it was her condition, to which Jarred questioned if she would once again
remember him, the doctor shrugged and murmured “Possibly, if you believe in miracles”.
As they returned home Jared’s mother questioned him “So…Jarah was it?, how long will you be
staying with us?”, he replied “uhhh…I’m a transfer student staying with John for a while”, later
Jared asked his father and brother on what they were going to do to, which his father replied “I’m
not sure son but patience brings virtue, just give it time”. Jared took his father’s advice, life began
as it always did, Jarred woke up in a frenzy forgetting to set his alarm, he rushed towards the door
about to leave half dressed, when his mother came out of the kitchen “Bye honey have a lovely
day…John” those words curdled in Jared’s mind overwhelming him in disparity, as he craved for
her affection more than anything. He was distracted from school for the following weeks to come
his grades dropped as he was, incensed as to why him? his mother couldn’t even remember his
name or age or most importantly the connection they shared he wondered whether he would ever
have a mother, whom loved him as no one else could.
One afternoon Jarred asked his mother to join him on a walk to a local park as there was an art
exhibit in town dedicated to up and coming talent, one where his mother had taken him on
numerous occasions for inspiration when he was younger, all with just hope of reconnecting. As
they walked along the path arched between mountains of verdant trees that swayed to the
melodious music of the breeze that softly caressed their cheeks, the soothing calmness eloped
them as they entered the exhibit. They were bestowed with enriching vibes of fresh and unique
styles of art, the expression on his mother’s face was unlike what he had seen in weeks that she
had returned, there was an enlightened spark within her. It led to Jarred to reminisce on when he
was younger, as he would sit on her lap, whilst she would stroke the canvas with grace and
delicacy, engulfed in passion and love, and how he adored her talent, though was never willing to
learn. As they paced through the artworks his mother abruptly paused, Jared gazed into her eyes
as she were captivated by an artwork which seemingly immersed her soul as she stood glaring at
the painting for what seemed an eternity, she then slowly turned towards Jarred “son?”, The
moment didn’t last long as in a flash she returned from the entranced state baffled by where her
mind had taken her. Jared realised that his plan succeeded and that paintings had triggered some
recollection of him.
To stimulate her memory further he reflected upon the paintings that instigating some sort of
recollection and joined his schools art class in an attempt to create one similar to those in the
exhibition though he had never painted before. Over weeks to come encouraged by his mother’s
condition, he had completed his first composition. As his arts teacher, trudged up to Jared’s work,
Road to Memories By Krishna Kannan
she came to a standstill, displaying a similar expression to which his mother showed, before he
knew it the entire class circled his creation and shared the same glares and astonished expression
as if the painting had some sort of entrancing magic, “You have quite the talent young man” The
teacher exclaimed. Jarred felt a rush of confidence as he had never known his ability to paint, and
that he could use this talent to help cure his mother’s absent mind. As he returned with the
painting he beckoned for his mother “Mrs. Ryde!”, “are you alright?” she responded, Jarred
immediately flashed the panting to her, she starred at it momentarily and commended him “wow
you have some real talent young man, your mother would be proud”. Though he was gratified by
his mother’s compliment he was more astonished with her reaction, as it was underwhelming and
didn’t display any sign of remembrance. Jared was flustered and contemplated as to what
happened, he later recalled that his mother would always tell him the secret to a masterpiece was
to embed a meaningful story within.
Weeks passed, and Jared religiously worked on his artworks with each stroke of the brush
compelled with love, compassion and with the will to have a mother once more, each artwork
depicting a memory that him and his mother shared, developing an illustrative narrative of his life
without a mother. Once he was finished, night by night he flipped through, canvas by canvas. The
progress he observed was astounding and had given him a sense of self accomplishment as each
day his mother seemed closer to woman that had left him a year ago. Until one day he returned
from school to see his mother, hanging the canvas’s on the wall, she stared into his eyes as he to
her and Jarred knew that his mother had returned, as he ran towards her she stretched her arms
awaiting him to fall in and embraced him as she did when he was younger, the aura was restored,
with tears in her eye his mother whimpered “Jarred, thank you enough for being my son”. Months
later what had begun as a necessity had led to a passion as Jared stood gazing upon it’s
magnificence his father arching over his shoulder and his mother leaning against him, his brother
stood beside, it was truly a miraculous piece, his finest composition, one that brought a tear to the
eyes of all that had witnessed it, a painting of his mother which hung as the centre piece on the
wall of ward #141.