Memories

#40

The old man with the flat cap sat silently on the wall just to the side of the kiosk outside the university. He seemed deep in thought. This was his alma mater, this university tucked away in the heart of Santos. He had studied here many decades ago. The kiosk had existed back then but bore no resemblance to the set up now. In his time there were no screens to caress to find information, students had carried piles of books with them and had used libraries to research their projects. There were fewer women in evidence in his time. He looked at the groups and noted that for every boy there were two or three girls. How times had changed. This was where he had met her, the love of his life. He had known, on that day, that she was the one who would complement his every activity from them on. And she had. Until now. She was never supposed to have gone before him. She was younger than him. His eyes misted as her memory embraced him. This was where he came to keep her alive in his mind, she needed no keeping alive in his heart but it was the memories he needed to cling to.

The two wedding banks on his left hand caught the sunlight and shone golden through the spring evening.