Legend had it that the Memory Creature lived in a cave on the edge of town and only the foolhardy went there as not everyone came back, not everyone found the memories they wanted and so often were confronted by a memory they thought had long been forgotten.

The Memory Creature had lived in this cave for so long and had accumulated so many memories it found it a terrible burden to be the keeper of what were the secrets of so many. In its brain it had found a place for the good, the bad and the ugly…..sadly for the creature the bad were nothing short of overwhelming.

But this was its purpose to be the holder of all these things but it did wonder why.

One day the Memory Creature looked out of his cave into the bright sunshine and remembered a time when its life wasn’t the responsibility it was.

It was a time when he had had a friend. The young mistress Gwen had been a frequent visitor one of the few who wasn’t terrified of him. Gwen would come and sit with him and play a game they called “Remember when.”

It was time of good and happy memory. Gwen recalling her childhood, the love of parents, the gratitude of a people who benefited from the kindness of her family, the plenteous bounty of the land and her growing infatuation with the young Master Lloyd from the nearby Manor.

Then one day she didn’t come and forever after he wondered what became of her and why the sudden disappearance. But it was a time of disease and pestilence and he suspected she has succumbed as so many did.

The beauty he saw was her memory, the store of those memories they had built up and which he now treasured.

So all these years later, his legend status now firmly established he slunk back into his cave and retreated to a time when he felt the love of another being not the gatekeeper of so many disturbing and best kept hidden memories.

Written for: https://scvincent.com/2016/10/27/thursday-photo-prompt-creature-writephoto/