She doesn't look at you anymore. (814 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.86 on 8 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by MOssiah (View user info) at 2003-09-02 23:22:21 EDT
She doesn't look at you anymore.
Her eyes shift from side to side, but they can't focus, can't distinguish. When you talk, she seems as though she is in some far off land, and your ministrations are merely disturbing her, interrupting her.
Hours at a time are spent, reflecting on memories, friends, the good times and the bad, whilst she drapes the bedsheets around her as if they were a dress. She speaks, finally. You can't understand what she's saying. Her voice is too raspy, too weak. She needs more water, but she refuses to drink.
She is in pain when she moves, it is written on her face. You can hear some faint music in the background, no doubt put on for her pleasure, although you are fairly certain she can't hear it.
Others come by, to pay their respects. They think, "We must see her before she passes". It makes them feel better about themselves. They sit with her shortly, and talk to her in a loud voice, for surely that will make her understand whatever it is they have to say. They leave, and return to their own lives, satisfied that they have played their little part.
She starts talking, questioning. Where is her husband? Where is her mother? Her mind is playing tricks on her again. These people have been gone for many, many years. She confuses you for someone else. Perhaps it's because you're wearing that hat. You take it off, so that she can better see, but she has gone elsewhere, and is looking at the drapes, which shed a pleasant red glow about the room.
She continues to play with the bedsheets, mindlessly arranging them around her so that she will appear more presentable. The fabric of the sheets is very similar to that of the clothes she habitually used to wear, and her actions are very familiar, and comforting.
She takes some water, but will not swallow. She holds it in her mouth for over twenty minutes. Some of it escapes her lips and falls on the pillow. Someone holds a bowl near her, so she can rid herself of it.
Her medicine sits idly by the beside table, along with her dinner, untouched. You feel useless. She holds her hand out, grasping for something, someone, and you put your hand in hers. Her hands, her arms, they are so thin, so very, very weak. She holds on to you for a couple of minutes, saying nothing, lying in silence, and over the faint music you can hear people talking quietly in a room nearby.
She lets go, and your attention is drawn back to her. She is fiddling with her sheets again. She says something inaudible, and her head lolls to one side. She does not sleep.
She is waiting.
User Reviews
Submitted by TigerLilly (user info) at 2005-11-01 14:02:23 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Good read
Submitted by ruthless (user info) at 2005-11-01 13:57:59 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Moving.
Submitted by Illicit_Joe (user info) at 2003-09-03 05:39:44 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Deep. Sounds like she has Alzheimers. If this is true, I hope she passes in her sleep.
Submitted by ess2s2 (user info) at 2003-09-03 04:10:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by blujnbbyqn (user info) at 2003-09-03 03:27:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Hairsphincter (user info) at 2003-09-03 03:11:27 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by settle (user info) at 2003-09-02 23:37:46 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by YellowDragon (user info) at 2003-09-02 23:24:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Not +1 because it made me smile, but because it made me feel. Cool.