VISITING MABEL
“You’ve got a visitor, Nan,” Sandra
said brightly.
“That’s nice, dear. The kettle’s
boiling, I’ll make tea.”
Aileen looked around. A
cushion-filled armchair, an iron warming on the antique range, a chenille cloth
hiding the table-legs. Sixty years out of date, certainly, but nothing to
suggest the old lady was losing the plot.
Mabel put a cup by Aileen’s elbow and
offered a tin of biscuits.
“Don’t take the Bourbons – I’m saving
those for Gerald.”
She touched the sepia photograph that held pride of place on
the mantelpiece.
“His letter from the front last week said
he’d be home soon.”
..............................................................
People have different ways of coping with grief - who's to say Mabel's way is wrong? Dementia also manifests itself in many different ways, and losing forty years is possibly one of the easiest for the sufferer.
Thanks to Rochelle - https://rochellewisoff.com/ - for hosting Friday Fictioneers every week, even when she's off on a jaunt, and to Valerie J Barrett for the atmospheric photograph.
