An All-Time Reminder

So there I was, in front of my mirror and staring at the gigantic tattoo I had just gotten myself about three months ago. As much as I tried to look away I just couldn’t, I kept staring and staring at the drawing on the side of my abdomen with a look on my face that easily let see what I was feeling inside. But what was I feeling? That is the one question I couldn’t answer, not because I didn’t know, but because saying it out loud would only make those emotions worse. It’s very important to say that my tattoo is not just any tattoo done out of teenage rebellion or anything like that. Its story is much more complicated than that and remotes to a period of my life when everything seemed just perfect.


It all started on early November as I walk through the streets of my neighborhood searching for the perfect place to have quick and cheap lunch. As I walked into my all-time favorite Pizza Hot I noticed all seats were taken. Even though some were just occupied by a single person, I decided to head out and look for another place to eat. As I walked towards the door I stumbled upon a beautiful young woman, who pointed out an empty table I hadn’t seen a few seconds before and asked me if I minded sharing it with her. Of course I said it was fine, I just hoped it wouldn’t turn into one of those awkward silences situations. To my surprise we chatted cheerfully, even after we were both done eating. We even stayed there for a half an hour more to finish our conversation.


The next day I also didn’t feel like cooking, so I went to Pizza Hot again. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, Alice, the young lady from the day before, was sitting down eating the exact same thing she had ordered yesterday. I walked by to an empty table, but she waved for me to sit with her. We chatted again and this time we decided to meet somewhere else and we did. We had a wonderful time each time we went out together and of course, I started falling for her.

After some time I decided to let her know what I was feeling. Fortunately, she said she had felt the same way for a long time and gave me a kiss, probably the best one I’ve ever gotten. We dated for a couple of weeks and she became my girlfriend the 16th of July of that same year. After six months of being an incredibly happy couple, I proposed to her in a bench at the park under dozens and dozens of stars. Luckily, she said yes and a few months later we got married on the 16th of July. Married life wasn’t perfect, but we couldn’t complain, we were happy. We still loved each other deeply and spent amazing times with each other. A certain day an idea popped into my head. “ Why not get a tattoo representing my love for her?” So I did, I went to a nearby tattoo place and asked them to sketch a model of the picture I had in my head. When it was done it looked lovely. It was heart with a key in its middle, with two birds, a crown, because she was my princess, and the words “true love” at the bottom. I had it done and showed it to her afterwards. At first, she was mostly shocked, but she said she really liked it after a couple of days.


About four years later, while driving to work, Alice had a car accident caused by a failure on the car’s breaks. She was immediately taken to the hospital, but entered into a comma pretty soon after the crash. Two days have passed since the accident happened and I’m still in shock. What if she never wakes up? That question torments me so much it makes me scream my guts out. So when I look at myself in the mirror and see the tattoo, I feel awful. I can’t describe the exact feeling, but I can say it’s a living hell. It’s like an all-time reminder of how much I love her and I can’t help but feel desperate for not having a way to fix her, to get her out of that stupid comma. Hope is all what is left for me, for her, and for us. For now, I'll visit her everyday and take her nice flowers for her to see them if she wakes up.