Getting Acquainted
Kayla sat across Brian, watching him eat the bowl of cereal. She propped her head up with
her hands as she leaned on the tiny wooden table, noticing that he looked out of place on
the small chair set that came with the table.
“I heard on the radio that you have been sick,” Kayla stated quietly.
Setting the spoon gently back into the bowl, Brian stared at the little girl for a moment,
trying to collect his thoughts. He nodded slowly, but wasn’t certain what he was sick from
or why it would have been on the news for that matter.
“I guess so.”
“They said you could have died,” the girl said solemenly.
“What exactly did the news tell you I had?” Brian asked hesitantly.
“Well, um, they said something about lou something key and it made you really sick,” Kayla
replied after thinking for a few moments.
“Lou something key?”
“Yeah, that’s what they said but I dunno for sure.”
Brian racked his brain trying to put together what the girl was telling him. “It couldn’t
have been Leukemia, could it?”
“That’s it! That’s the one!” Kayla announced happily and then she suddenly realized she was
talking to the person that had the problem and quickly wiped the smile from her face. “I’m
sorry, yeah it was Leukemia, but they said you were better now.”
Again, Brian was left to wonder about it. If it was Leukemia, as she had said, why didn’t he
remember it and why couldn’t he remember something as simple as where he lived or what
happened last week or yesterday for that matter. Why couldn’t he remember something as
simple as his name either? Distressed, Brian sadly shook his head and stared down at the
floor.
“Why are you so sad? Do you miss your friend Nick?” Kayla asked.
Okay, Nick? Who was Nick? Brian thought to himself. He looked up at the posters that
were on the wall. She had said there were pictures of Nick and some guy named Justin.
Looking at the pictures, he couldn’t tell who was who. Images kept flashing in his mind, but
nothing that looked like either one of those people.
“I don’t feel so good,” Brian finally replied as he rubbed the side of his face.
“Are you tired?”
He nodded in reply.
“I have a sleeping bag in my room. I can go get it and a pillow so you can lay down. You can
take a nice long nap and I will come back and bring you lunch at noon, okay?”
Laying down and sleeping sounded good to Brian. He gladly accepted her offer and waited
patiently for her to return with her pink Barbie sleeping bag, some blankets and two
pillows. She made the bed up for him on the floor of the playhouse and insisted that he
take his shoes off and lay down. She drew the tiny drapes closed in the windows.
“There, you take a nice nap and I will come back and check on you later,” Kayla said as she
drew the blankets up towards Brian’s chin. She gently kissed him on the forehead and with
that, she quietly closed the door to the playhouse.
