Where is she?

The funeral was tomorrow. It had been three weeks since Carter died, she thinks it has been three weeks at least. Isnt three weeks short notice for a funeral? No, no, no, now is no time to doubt herself. Her calendar has been marked and she knows to trust the calendar. ¨Trust the calendar¨ has become almost a mantra she lives by for probably months at this point. She has notes in every room that say different things but trust the calendar is the only constant across all of them. Why? She doesn't know, she assumes it's important but she doesn't know. She sometimes loses one of the notes and writes a new one saying trust the calendar because its something she has to do. She cant forget and wont let herself forget. Just like how she wont forget the funeral that was when? Next week? She checks the calendar. Tomorrow that's right. The funeral was tomorrow and it had been three weeks since Carter died which seems like short notice but it's on the calendar which she trusts. She adopted this trust the calendar motto a few hours ago and it's already served her well, she was quite efficient with her not taking. The same note in all the rooms in just half an hour, she is surprised she can write that fast. But she should probably mark the date she took these notes on the calendar. She writes the day she took the trust the calendar notes as today and breathes a satisfied sigh. What is the date beside it? Tomorrow, yes it's Carter's funeral, do I know a carter? I must´ve or else why would I have put it there? I need to trust the calendar like those notes say right? Who wrote the notes though? How can she trust the notes or the calendar? It says she wrote the notes today but is that true? She can't remember taking notes but she can't remember much at all anymore. But surely she would remember undertaking a task such as taking notes in all these rooms. There are just so many she doubts she could do that in such a short time. No no no this must be some sort of trick, right? Someone is pulling the wool over her eyes. That must be it. She looks for something to reset the calendar. White out yes, the white out under the calendar. She takes and writes over it all. The calendar is blank now, she looks down at a note. It says trust the calendar. Why would she write such a note? The calendar is blank, there is nothing on it to trust. Maybe I should write about it again? I can only trust the calendar if there is something on it. Yes that must be it. But where to start. She looks over to the table. Oh the phone, I can call someone and ask them. Yes, she pats herself on the back for her clever thinking. She walks over to the landline phone and finds a note. “Check the voicemails“ well isn't that what she was going to do? Why else would she go to the phone? She starts to check the voicemails “58 unread messages“ The first one plays “Hey mom, just wanted to remind you that Carter's funeral is scheduled for august 12th which is tomorrow. I know you've been having trouble remembering as of-“ She stops the voice mail and turns off the phone. Of course, she needs to mark the calendar for this event. She said tomorrow was the twelfth so today must be the eleventh? Yes, yes of course. She marks the calendar by putting a big red circle around the twelfth and writing “Carter's funeral“ . She is proud of herself for being productive. There is a knock at the door, she loses her train of thought. Who was she thinking about? Carter? Yes carter it must've been him knocking at the door. She opens it and sees carter. Dressed in police attire. She greets carter asking him to come in. He says thats his job and she says that he is her grandson and should take a rest inside. He tries to object but she is already dragging him inside. He asks if she is taking notes before stopping himself. He sees notes everywhere and the house seems relatively clean. He leaves she does not know who he was but it was nice to have company. He did not check the calendar. She reads a note “trust the calendar.“ She goes to it. There is a pin in the eleventh so that must be today. The next date is marked as “Carters funeral“
The funeral was tomorrow. It had been three weeks since Carter died, she thinks it has been three weeks at least. Isnt three weeks short notice for a funeral? No, no, no, now is no time to doubt herself. Her calendar has been marked and she knows to trust the calendar. ¨Trust the calendar¨ has become almost a mantra she lives by for probably months at this point.

Artist Statement

The connection to memory is pretty apparent. This is a story about dementia which is forgetting. The text changes and the character forgets what happens and it all loops around to the start. The connections here are pretty straightforward and I really dont know what else to say. I have a rather concise and simple theme that I can easily apply to a story. The main conflict and plot of the story is my theme.