memento
"We all have nightmares to remind ourselves who we really are."
----- Leonard, memento
"Well, Dr. Humbert, to you she is still the little girl that is cradled in the arms, but to those boys over there at the Beardsley High, She is a lovely girl, you know...with the swing, you know, and the jazz...and she has got the curvatures which they take a lot of notice of." --- Clair Quilty [Lolita]
桌上一碟白蘭花, 藍瓷碟裡盛點兒水, 翠綠的短短的殘枝浸在水裡. 張開口的花瓣毫不含蓄地展示花蕊中正忙的小蟲子. 瓣尖有一兩點焦黃, 像隻剛熟的香蕉, 連香氣都被悶著爛掉.
八人飯桌上只上首位置擺了塊白麻雕花小桌布, 上放這藍瓷碟子.
飯廳和客廳以一道木樑相隔, 一旁擱著用來橫鎖大門的長木條. 這木條曾被用力搬起, 試圖去打偷食的大灰老鼠.
陽光只能在前院徘徊, 連沙窗附著的木格子也爬不上. 蟬聲嘈耳, 幾乎蓋過了偶爾張嘴罵人的烏鴉和遠處的車聲.
一棵白蘭樹立在前院, 大葉子一簇簇地護著淡黃的香氣, 枝葉伸進二樓陽台, 樹頂剛及三樓天台上的自種紅辣椒.