Forgotten Times 13/17 By Debbie Eng (wan-ping@juno.com) ******** Three weeks had passed since the accident and it seemed like Peter was never going to get his memory back. The Blaisdells were beginning to despair of ever getting the old Peter back. It had been very tough for Peter to let down his walls and trust them when he had first came to live with them. They didn't want Peter to have to go through it all again. " How about this? " Kelly asked, " Does this look familiar? " She was holding a photo album. Kelly had thought that maybe looking through the albums might jog something in his memory. They had been at this for hours. Peter was beginning to hate that question, the Blaisdells had all been showing him things to try and get him to remember. And he really hated to let them down when he had to say no, but he had to try. He looked at the picture again. It was a picture from Todd and Carolyn's wedding. On the photo he saw the face that he saw everyday in the mirror, smiling out at him. So he had been happy. Peter thought, and they all want this happy Peter back. Their Peter. They don't want me. They want him. Peter jumped up from the couch that they had been sitting on and ran back up to his room. That's not me, he thought as he stared at his reflection in the mirror. He saw the reflection of his trophies in the background. Those aren't mine either. They're all his. Nothing here is mine. He saw the laptop that Kermit had returned to him out of the corner of his eye. He picked it up and sat on his bed. Nothing here is mine except this. Unnoticed tears were falling He hugged it to his chest and leaned back, banging his head against the wall. He repeated the action. Over and over again. Kelly ran into the room, " Peter! Stop! What are you doing? " Peter stopped. " What happened? Did you remember something ? " Kelly sat down on the bed. He flinched and moved away. " Look, I know you don't want me, you don't have to pretend anymore," Peter said. " What are you talking about? " Kelly was puzzled. They all loved Peter. What was he talking about. Peter cried, " You don't want me, you want him. " " Him? " Kelly still didn't know what was going on. " Your Peter, the grown up one,. Well, I tried, but I don't know how to bring him back for you! " A light bulb went off in Kelly's mind. Oh no, was that the impression that we gave him? We must have. Everyone giving him things, trying to make him remember. Different people mentioning little things that Peter used to do. My god, we were so caught up in trying to get Peter back the way we remembered him, that he didn't consider the feelings of this Peter. The younger unsure Peter. Peter started banging his head against the wall again. Kelly shoved him off the bed. " Stop it, Peter, just stop it! " " What do you care? If a bang on the head got me in this mess..." " No, Peter, " Kelly wrapped her arms around him, giving him a much need hug, " We didn't mean to hurt you by making you think we didn't love you. After all, the Peter we know started off as being you. We all love and care for you Peter, its just difficult for us to see you have to go through this all over again." Kelly and Peter sat together until Annie called them for lunch. --------------------------------------------------------------------------