Instant Recall

Common words were slipping from her. "Maybe they all gather somewhere and have parties when you're not trying to remember their names." The voice wasn't unpleasant but it bothered her to see no one she could attach it to. Once upon a time there wasn't a thing she couldn't name, and now she was hearing voices from invisible sources. A gentle breeze tickled a few more strands from under her cap. "You're forgetting not all voices come from human people." Sophie Lei Maku'e missed so many things. It was really no surprise that nowadays even the most common things were losing their places. "If you had it within your power, would you?" The voice was persistent today. Relaxing into the company of it, Sophie played along. "Would I what?"

"Would you want to have instant recall of everything you've ever known?" From over the top of her glasses that were forever slipping down her bridge-less nose, Sophie spotted the source of the curious voice.

"You're meant to be migrating somewhere warmer for the winter." The old woman blinked, took her glasses off and chuffed at the lenses to create a fog then cleaned them with the soft inside of her sweat shirt. She looked through her glasses, curious herself.

"Yes, I'm still here, and no I don't head south. Well, that's not entirely true I do occasionally migrate, but not necessarily. I'm an Anna, and it's because of you that I don't fly off like my other kin. Your kin took to a habit of dangling sugared water in glass tubes all year round. We're highly intelligent for a creature so small. But we've wandered off the trail Sophie Lei Maku'e. Have you forgotten the question?"

The morning had turned a much brighter color than it had for a long time. Laughing deeply the old woman was pleased to be reminded that she was still able to hear the voices. "No. I haven't forgotten the question." She was in fact delighted to engage in conversation, the banter warmed her. "I don't think I would like to remember everything I've ever known. The thought of it gives me a headache. It's just that forgetfulness can be inconvenient."

The tiny iridescent green Anna was thoughtful in her consideration of the old woman's answer. There was something very decent about it. Both the answer and the woman were worth future visits. "I would like to continue our conversation at another time. Would you?" Hummingbirds don't linger in one spot for extended periods requiring a near constant refueling, the female Anna's Hummingbird lifted from the branch of a particularly tall huckleberry bush waiting for the old woman's answer.

"I'll look forward to it." Sophie Lei Maku'e had found something to anticipate with joy and that was a very good substitute for forgetting.

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