Forgotten But Not Completely Lost

Forgotten But Not Completely Lost

Jeff Jones, a young man in his early 30s, is an English teacher who has recently considered writing novels. He has just been asked by Susan Jones, a local publisher of a series of best sellers, if he could talk to Ralph, the aging author of those books, encouraging him to come up with a book that would conclude what he had already written. There hadn’t been a book in that series in two years, and she was worried that Ralph did not plan to write another.

Susan, who knew Jeff from studying literature in the same university courses, did not want to appear to be bullying the old man who had written the successful novels to finally finish the series with one more best seller. She felt if Jeff could talk to Ralph, male author to male author, without obviously financially gaining from his writing the final book, this might encourage the older man to write what would doubtless be a success Her wishes were not solely directed by financial gain. She had been entranced by the stories, and wanted to know how the series would end.

Jeff learned from Susan that Ralph lived in an institution for old people whose minds were not what they once were. Jeff went to visit him there. He knocked on the door of the old man’s door in THE HOME, as it was known informally, and right away said that he loved the old man’s books. This brought a smile to Ralph’s face, but only for a few seconds, as Jeff fired the big question right at him about his writing the concluding work on the series. Jeff even offered that he might help him, should he need some outsider assistance. The answer surprised him at first.

“I’m sorry young man. I have forgotten who the characters in my books are, what their personalities were, and what I wanted to have them do to finalize my telling of their stories. As a reader of my books, you probably well know I haven’t written about those characters in a couple of years. You honour me with your desire to help me write the conclusions. But the characters in my novels are complete strangers to me now. I have completely forgotten their names and characteristics. You probably know them better than I do.”

Jeff responded with “How would you feel if I spent some time with you helping you reacquaint yourself with your creations?”

“Well, I am willing to give it a try, as you seem so in earnest and you are probably good at making your students write what they do not feel capable of writing. Be prepared for my forgetfulness, though. I couldn’t tell you the names, strengths, weaknesses and relationships, or even what they like to eat.. It is like they are strangers sitting on the same bus with me, strangers that would vanish from my mind in a matter of seconds as soon as they leave the bus.

Plan One

As it was summer and his time was not taken up teaching, Jeff went to Ralph’s abode, with copies of the old man’s books. He figured that the best strategy was to read some of the classic lines from one of the characters each day. He started with ‘Jim” who, to Jeff was the most dynamic of the characters in the books, the one that he thought would be the easiest one for Jeff to remember.

It turned out that he was wrong. He read out loud some of Jim’s most memorable lines, speaking them with an affected voice that to him anyway would be how the character would speak, and would remind the older man of the character of the human that he created.

It didn’t. When he asked Jeff who it was, the older man just shook his head, looked down at the floor, and said “I have completely forgotten him’. The younger man could see tears in his Jeff’s eyes.

“What should I do or say right now”, he wondered? The answer came quickly to him “Well, he was my least favourite character anyway.”

Much to his surprise and pleasure, Jess broke out with a laugh, and said “Well he does not seem to be an endearing creature. I’m surprised that I created such a man, whoever he is.” A trickle of laughter slipped out of his mouth. Jeff returned the laughter. Then he said, “I’ll think of something different for tomorrow. We will together make those characters live in your mind, and in your next book.” Jim smiled, shook Jeff’s hand and said, “I like your spirit. I have a gut feeling now that you will come up with something that will awaken my sleeping memory.

The Next Day

The next day Jeff came to Jim’s place and told him that he had a plan. Jim replied with a ‘Your students are very lucky to have you”. In response Jeff told him that today’s plan was to go to The Toby Jug, a British style bar that had been the primary location for two of the books.

They would be in for a shock when they got there. It had been taken over by a La Bomba Taco, a Spanish restaurant. They ate and drank there, but it contained no revealing memories.

The Next Day

Jeff had thought up a new plan yet again. The night before he had read in an interview with the old man that had been published in one of the local papers just after Jim had his last novel published. Jeff had at the time saved the piece at home, as he thought it might help him write a novel or two himself. Like the old man, he had also forgotten one very important thing that had been in the article. Apparently, but not readily remembered well by either man was the fact that there was one location where Jeff had written all his previous stories in the series. It was a secluded ancient run-down park, rarely visited by people in the area. That gave Jim an opportunity for peace in his writing, sitting at the base of an old pine tree.

So the next day, Jeff told Jim that they were going to a place that had proven inspirational for local writers in the past. He lied by saying that it was his own inspirational spot. He did not want to put too much pressure on the author, making him feel bad about not remembering this place that had served him so well in the past.

Jeff brought with him a pad of paper and several pens, so Jim could write. As soon as they arrived at the small park, Jim’s eyes glowed. Then he shouted to the trees in the park “I remember now.” Here is where I wrote my stories. He sat down on a bench and started to write the concluding story. Both Jeff and Jim stayed there for several hours. All Jim could say was “I remember” over and over again. And Jeff had found the place to be inspirational in his writing as well. He began his first novel. Susan would eventually publish it, and Jim would introduce him as a new character in the novel that would conclude his stories in the series.