The Woman in Flowered Dresses by Barry Yedvobnick

The Woman in Flowered Dresses by Barry Yedvobnick

Ben Birk stared at the wall menu with his eyes moving like REM sleep. He wasn’t surprised by the gorgeous Grand Canyon panorama. It was a bizarre couple of weeks with hallucinations of people and places he didn’t recognize. This morning, it happened again when the music started. They played a lot of his favorite sixties-songs in this coffee shop.

“Everything okay, Mr. Birk?” the cashier asked.

Ben replied without looking away from the wall. “Oh yes, Mitch, I’m fine. Just a decaf, please.”

Ben stood motionless and mesmerized by the beautiful woman who appeared in every hallucination. Today, she wore the yellow-flowered dress again, with jagged layers of sedimentary rock and the surging Colorado River behind her. A sudden breeze tossed her dress high, and he couldn’t avert his eyes.

She looked toward Ben and smiled. “I really want to take the rafting tour tomorrow.”

Someone answered her. It was a man’s voice, but not Ben. “I already made the reservations.”

Then, as McCartney finished singing “Yesterday,” it was just the menu on the wall. He grabbed his coffee and left.

At home, listening to more Beatles music, Ben saw her in another hallucination. She wore a dress decorated with red roses and peonies. The woman laughed, sat down on a couch, and motioned with her hand. “Come here,” she said, looking toward Ben.

He heard the man respond again, “I love you, Annie.”

Ben watched her up close and heard them making love. He’d become a voyeur and decided it was time to talk with his son, Matt.

He never imagined moving in with Matt, but plans changed after Ben’s wife died. The loneliness numbed him, and his memory faltered. Testing revealed early-stage dementia, and Matt convinced him to undergo a breakthrough medical procedure. A scan of Ben’s brain mapped every neural connection. The data was downloaded to a miniature storage and retrieval device that captured his remaining memories. After implantation onto Ben’s brain, the device arrested his dementia. However, the hallucinations appeared.

At dinner that evening, Matt’s hand shook when he passed his father a plate of food. “This could be serious, Dad. Are you sure you’ve never seen her before? Maybe she’s someone you knew a long time ago. Or the implant operation. You’re still recovering from it. It could all come back to you.”

“I don’t think so,” Ben said. “Look, my neurologist said I’ve got a little cognitive impairment. I haven’t lost it. I would remember this woman.”

“Okay, if you’re right and it is hallucinations, the memory device must be defective. I’ll get in touch with your surgeon.”

Matt called his father’s surgeon the next day. She also served as the CEO of the company that manufactured the device. After Matt explained the situation, she entered the serial number of Ben’s implant into her tablet and ran a remote troubleshooting program. She solved the problem faster than Matt expected.

“Mr. Birk, I believe your father is suffering from hallucinations. However, you can’t blame the device. I just checked, and it’s working perfectly. I’m certain the problem is related to his previous dementia diagnosis. Dementia can cause hallucinations.”

“I thought your treatment cured his memory problems,” Matt said.

“That’s correct, though more accurately, we stabilized his memory. There’s no cure for what he lost before the brain scan. After downloading a patient’s memory map, our device replicates both their normal and abnormal neural circuits. His implant is exhibiting a preexisting condition. Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Though disappointed, Matt accepted her explanation. However, the CEO lied. She didn’t think Ben’s mild dementia could cause such severe symptoms. After the call, she analyzed more data on his device and became infuriated.

“Jesus! Who was the technician in charge?” She clicked on the icon. “Timothy Taylor.”

& & &

Ben finished drying the breakfast dishes and headed upstairs to his bedroom. A year passed since the conversation between Matt and the CEO, and Ben learned which songs trigger hallucinations of the woman named Annie. As each snippet of her life unfolded, he recorded it in a notebook. The morning ritual became the favorite part of his day. Although living with Matt helped Ben cope with the loss of his wife, he remained lonely and unmoored. Thirty years of marriage convinced Ben he needed intimacy.

Beyond Annie’s physical beauty, he became obsessed with her kindness and sensitivity. He spent hours online, learning all he could about her. After discovering she lived alone, he decided to meet her.

Matt tapped the door, entered, and heard the Beatles playing. He looked at Ben and smiled. “Every day, Dad? Why not a book or movie now and then? I’m worried about you.”

Ben looked away and kept writing. “I was going to talk to you about this tonight. I’m taking a trip.”

Matt lost his smile and sat on the bed next to him. “Where?”

“Seattle,” Ben said.

“Seattle? I thought we agreed it’s a bad idea for both you and Annie.”

“We didn’t agree. I let you push me around, but I changed my mind. When you’re my age you’ll understand. I haven’t felt anything like this since Mom died, and I’m not going to pass up the chance. I’ve located Annie, and with all the things I know about her, I can make this work.”

“I’m not sure you’re ready for this, Dad. Things may not turn out like you want.”

“I know the hallucinations bother you, but I can deal with them. I’ve thought everything through and fly out tomorrow.”

Struck by the urgency in his father’s voice and words, Matt nodded and squeezed his shoulder. Though worrisome, the hallucinations gave Ben happiness, something in short supply after his wife died. “I guess you decided to decline the device fix the CEO is offering,” Matt said. “She told me it’s easy. Like an operating system upgrade to your phone.”

“Maybe sometime later, if things go well with Annie. Last I heard, none of the other patients took the fix. Maybe they’re all thinking the same thing I am. Whatever they’re experiencing, they don’t want to give it up. At least not yet.”

Ben spent the last year trying to assemble the puzzle, and he finally figured it out after a lawyer called. The pieces fit together perfectly after Timothy Taylor, the CEO’s former technician, testified at the trial.

& & &

Timothy Taylor’s phone beeped, as he worked on the last memory device of the week. He read the message from his colleague.

“It’s Friday afternoon, heading to the pub,” Carlos texted.

Timothy looked at the data display. It read ninety-seven percent complete for the past forty minutes. He groaned and texted back. “The last few percent take forever. Be a while.” Then, he leaned back and wondered why he still worked here.

Timothy detested the job and his employers, especially the CEO, because of their greed and lack of ethics. They acted fraudulently in the sale of their memory devices. Coerced to participate in the deception, he devised a plan to end it. Timothy programmed the plan weeks ago but hadn’t launched it yet.

His phone beeped with another text from Carlos. “Julie asked if you’d be there.”

Timothy tossed his phone onto the desk and glanced at the data display again: ninety-eight percent. At least another eighty minutes until completion. As he’d done a lot the past month, he agonized over activating the program and ending the fraud. Then he thought about Julie and made the decision. Timothy typed the keystrokes, pressed enter, and left.

Twenty minutes later he sat at a corner table in the pub, sharing nachos with her. “I’m surprised to see you,” Julie said. “Carlos told me you were hung up with the last device. How’d you get away?”

“I took a few shortcuts,” Timothy said, between bites.

Julie shook her head and appeared confused. “Shortcuts with memory device preparation,” she said. “What am I missing?”

Timothy hesitated, knowing the explanation could cost him their young relationship. “Okay, here it is, and it’s ugly. Remember I told you some implant patients allow the company to retrieve their devices post-mortem?”

“Yes, you said it was for inspection and design improvements of future device versions.”

He broke eye contact with her and pushed at some nachos. “I lied. The CEO and her team, including me, are grave robbers. The post-mortem devices are refurbished, and after I shred the old memories, they get a new memory download. Then, they’re implanted into new patients. It’s a huge profit booster for the company.”

“Oh my God, Tim, that’s horrible. Why did you agree to do this?”

“It’s the worst decision I ever made, and it’s going to end. I spent the last few months thinking about ways to make the company pay. I decided to terminate the shredding of previous owners’ memories a little early. Did my first device a few minutes ago.”

“Wow, Tim, that’s a nuclear option. It’ll mess up the new patients.”

“I’m leaving just enough old memory on the refurbished devices to get some complaints and hopefully a lawsuit. The leftover memories can be removed remotely later on. No surgery will be needed.”

“You’ll be fired, for sure. Maybe worse.”

“That’s true, but with everything I know, I’ll be in good shape for some immunity if I testify. I’ll be fine.”

The next day, Timothy’s sabotaged device received a data download containing Ben Birk’s memory. The CEO implanted the device into Ben a week later. Soon after that, he experienced the first hallucination of Annie, while listening to George Harrison sing “Something.” Annie’s late husband loved the Beatles and especially that song. It played the first time he and Annie made love, decades ago.

& & &

Ben sat in his car outside Fitness Seattle, waiting for the maroon SUV. Annie parked in the same spot every Monday and Friday morning. He joined the fitness center recently but hadn’t gone inside yet. His knees moved up and down nervously, bouncing a gym bag on his lap. She arrived on time. He turned the volume of his earbuds way up, and walked quickly past her, as she headed towards the center. His heart raced from an adrenaline rush, and it pounded in his chest and ears, along with the music.

As Annie approached the entrance, Ben stopped and held the door for her. He met her nod with a smile and removed the earbuds.

Hearing the music, she smiled back. “That’s an old one. You like the Beatles?”

“I love them,” he said. He held out his hand. “I’m Ben.”

* * * * THE END * * * *
Copyright Barry Yedvobnick 2024