The Longest Route Home

by Cody Lin

    “This train will be arriving to its final station, passengers please off board, when you are exiting, please take a moment, look around, make sure you have all your personal belongings with you. This is our final station, every passengers please off board here, this train is out of servers.” Announced the bart driver.

    He kept staring out of the window, his head is supported my his right hand. “I hate this rain.” He mumbled.

    “This is our final station, every passengers please off board.” The bart driver announce again. He dosen’t seems like to pay attention to the announcement.

    “Sir, I think you need to get off board,” someone came to him and tabbed him on his shoulder.

    “Oh, sorry, I was just thinking, but I… can’t remember anything, there is something really important to me, but I can’t remember it. Oh sorry, I need to leave this train.” Slowly he stood up, exited the train, reached into his pocket for his bart ticket.

    He walk out the bart station, heads to his home. Everything seems so unfamiliar to him, “of course, because this is the first time I take bart home. Is it? How did I usually go home? Why can‘t I remember???”

    As his walked pass a big tree, he paused for a second. “This tree, have I seem it some where else? Oh, there’s a same kind of tree in front of my neighbor’s house, I just saw it this morning on my way to school. I used to play under that tree when I was little. Wait, no, I wasn’t just playing alone, yes, there is a girl that I used to play with, who is she? Ugh, my head hurts!”

    He starts walking again, as he got to an intersection, he turned right. This street he’s on now is in downtown area, there are all kinds of stores along the street, it used to be lots of people walk on this street, but for some reason, not today.

    One day in his 7th grade, he and she (yup, the same one girl that he plays with when he was little) were in one same class. She was asking another guy for help on her homework. She was talking and laughing with that person in all that class period. He sees all that in his eyes, “how dare you bastard taking her away from me!” From that moment, he suddenly realized, he likes her. He dosen’t want she to talk to other people, to laugh with other people, or even look at other people. He just want her to be with him only.

    “Hey, wanna walk home together after school?” He goes up to the two people.

    “Sure, why not, I’ll wait for you at the gate after school.” She gave him a smile.

    “Who is him, you know him?” Asked the other person.

    “Yup, we have known each other since we were a 1-year-old kid. His house is right next to mine.” She replied.

    “Wow, that’s such a long time! So, where do you guys live?”

    “One block away from the library.” He answered at once.

    “Really? Is it the city public library? My house is around there too, we can walk home together then!”

    “I think…” He was trying to say no, but she interrupted him.

    “That’s great, then we’ll meet at the gate.”

    Just like this, they passed their Junior high school, all three of them went home together every day. These two guys became friends. However, obviously, the problem is both of them liked the one same girl, but she just treated them like closed friends.

    He walked through the downtown area, got into the living residential area. In the end of this street, he sees a stop sign. “Stop? Am I suppose to stop too? Okay, no cars come from the left, no cars come from the right. I think I’m safe to cross the street now.”

    “Does she even like me?” Once in his life he thought to himself. “I mean, obviously we have known each other for over 11 years, but suddenly that person just come in our life from nowhere, she seems like she’s interesting in that person more then me. But how is it possible? That person just known her for 2 years. How can a ‘2 year’ of friendship beats a ‘13 years’ one? Is it because of me, am I a boring person? Am I not good enough for her? I mean, that person is not that great either. That person is not handsome… not ugly either, but I won’t call that person a handsome person. That person’s jokes are not that funny, maybe I can tell better jokes. But why is she…..?”

    Once he got in high school, he heard two news, one good and one bad. The good news was she’s in the same school with him. The bad news was, that person is in the same school too.

    As he walking down the street, a stranger comes up to him, “Excuse me, do you know where this address is?” The stranger handed him a piece of paper. “ Yes, just go down two blocks, turn left, keep walking, then you should see it on your right hand side.”

    In his 10th grade, he always sees that she and that person walk together, work on homework together, have lunch together. Finally, he couldn’t take it any more. One day, in the last period of class, he goes to her.

    “Can we walk home together today? I mean WE, as me and you.”

    “Uh, sorry I have to go to the library to work on my research paper.”

    “The public library? We can walk there together too, our homes are near there anyways.”

    “No no no , I’m going to the school library.”

    “Alone?”

    “No.”

    Dang dang, the bell rings.

    “Gotta go, bye.”

    “Damn it, it’s that person again.”

    He sat on his seat, staring the window. He didn’t know what to do.

    “Hey, why are you still sitting here? Don’t wanna go home?”

    He suddenly realized there are no one left in the classroom besides him and his teacher, “oh no, I’m just… never mind.” He threw everything into his backpack, stood up, walked toward the door.

    “Is there something brothering you?”

    He stopped, just stood there, tears streaming down his face. That afternoon, he told his teacher everything in his mind. How did he and she grew up together, how does that person come in their lives, and how does that person taking her away from him. Everything.

    “Well, I know you two have known each other for so long, but do you really understand her? I mean, do you think she is happy with that person?”

    “I guess, she laughs a lot with him.”

    “Yes, you told me that already, but I mean is she REALLY happy with that person, is she REALLY like that person? Let me put this in another way, have she ever walks to that person to chat herself? Asking help for homework does not count.”

    “Probably not. At lease I’ve never seem she did this.”

    “Well that’s it. Maybe she’s still waiting, she ‘s waiting for you to …  you know.”

    “Thank you, Miss.”

    Here he is, in front of her house. He knocked on the door, no one answered, he knocked again, but still no one answered. He looked in the window, there isn’t any person in the house, nor anything. It’s a empty house now. “Where is she? Ah, my head hurt again!!”

    “Do you have to leave?”

    “Yeah, I have no other choice, my whole family is moving to east coast.”

    “Why???”

    “My dad had found a new job in east coast, I’ve already told you the reason.”

    “I mean why do YOU have to leave? You can rent a house here, or, or live in my house, there is an extra room in my house. Then we can finish our high school together, and go to collage together.”

    “We can apply to one some collage even I’m moving away now.”

“…… Okay, I’ll help you pack up things.”

    This is the day when she’s moving to east coast. Deep in his heart, he didn’t want her to leave him, because once she’s moved, he will not get to see her again in at least two years.

    “Oh yeah huh, she moved end the end. Why can’t I remember anything about her before? This house, I was helping her moving, I was trying to load the luggage in to the truck. Then… someone hit my head with a chair accidentally! Then I fell in the truck…”

    After that accident, he stayed in hospital for half years, and lost part of his memory in his life. People don’t want to tell him about her, because if he remembers her, he will be sad and depress again.

    “Well, she left me in the end, maybe I should just keep that piece of memory in the deepest place of my heart, and never take it out again. I wish I can lost my memory again so that I can have a new start in my life. Can someone hit my head from my back again?”