short stories

The Parking Driver with Memory Loss

Mr. Man was a long-time parking attendant at a famous shopping center in the city. Everyone there knows him as a friendly person who always remembers where each car is parked. In fact, in a day, hundreds of cars come in and out of the parking lot, but Mr. Man can always pinpoint exactly where their vehicles are.

One morning, after getting off his old motorbike and putting on his orange parking vest, Pak Man felt something strange. As he was preparing to start his workday, he suddenly slipped on a slippery puddle. Mr. Man's head hit the ground hard. Although dizzy, he felt fine and continued his work.

However, when a woman approached him and said, “Sir, where did you park my red car?” Mr. Man was suddenly confused.

“Car... red car, ma'am?” Mr. Man tried to remember. However, in his head, all the cars looked the same. He could only stare at her with a confused expression.

“Yes, sir, my car is a red sedan. I parked it this morning,” she said again patiently.

Mr. Man scratched his head, “Well, ma'am... How come I forgot? Hm... Try walking around the parking lot first, then I'll try to remember.”

She let out a long sigh, then decided to look for her own car. Mr. Man stood at his post trying hard to remember where she had parked her car. But strangely, all memories of the parking lot suddenly disappeared from his mind.

After she left, a young man came rushing up. “Sir, where did you park my Green Ninja bike? I'm in a hurry!”

Mr. Man frowned. “Green Ninja bike? Well, Mas... I think it's parked at... er, wait... at... er...”

The man looked at Mr. Man in surprise. “Where, sir? I need to hurry!”

Frantically, Mr. Man could only point randomly in the direction of the parking lot. The man rushed there, only to find a row of motorcycles, none of which were green. Mr. Man felt even more guilty.

Over the next few hours, the atmosphere in the parking lot became chaotic. People were pacing back and forth looking for their vehicles. Some looked confused, others were getting annoyed. The mall guards were also confused by the number of people who couldn't find their vehicles.

Mr. Man, who was usually alert and agile, could now only sit in his chair with his hands on his head, trying to remember what exactly happened. He began to feel anxious; how could he forget something that he had done every day for years?

At noon, Mr. Man finally decided to go to a nearby clinic to get his head checked. The doctor at the clinic heard his story and immediately realized that Mr Man had a mild concussion from the fall earlier that morning.

“Mr. Man, it looks like you have a slight short-term memory loss due to the impact this morning,” the doctor said in a calm tone. “But don't worry, your memory will return in no time.”

Mr. Man breathed a sigh of relief. At least, this problem wouldn't last long. However, he still felt guilty for making a mess in the parking lot.

After receiving treatment, Mr. Man returned to his workplace. Although his memory still hadn't fully recovered, he tried to keep working while waiting for his memory to return.

As the afternoon came, Mr. Man's memory began to gradually recover. He started to remember where some cars were parked, although not all of them. He helped the few remaining customers and apologized for his confusion.

At the end of the day, when all the cars and bikes were finally found, Mr. Man sat exhausted at his post. His coworkers approached him and patted him on the shoulder with big smiles.

“Mr. Man, it turns out you're still great even though you forgot a bit!” one of his colleagues said with a laugh. “But be careful on the road next time!”

Mr. Man laughed with relief, raised his hand, and said, “Yes, I'll be more careful next time. But I think I need to rest tomorrow!”

And sure enough, the next day Mr. Man took time off to rest and recuperate fully. When he returned to work, his memory was back to normal, and everyone in the mall was relieved to see their trusty parking attendant back.

However, every time Mr. Man saw a puddle of water, he would smile to himself and say, “Better stay away from here, I'll forget again!”