The Secret of Writing: Revising Fiction and Poetry Journal Assignment: Fiction - Opening Up Your Story

Giving and Receiving

If someone said make a wish, he would wish that neither he nor his aunt had to be in this place. Kevin really didn’t want to be there. The place was rundown and stunk and the people all looked like they had one foot in the grave. Indeed, most of the people in the Xavier Springs Nursing facility had more than foot there.

He got the information from the front desk and proceeded down the hall to his aunt’s room. As he rounded the corner, he heard this woman yelling over and over that she wanted tapioca pudding. One of the aides told him to just ignore it; she yelled that same thing day after day. Hismother had told him to be prepared for people acting odd, he wasn’t expecting this. All he wanted to do was to make an appearance with his aunt and get the hell out of there.

As he entered her room, the smell of peppermint brought him back to the fun times he had spent at Aunt Rita’s house when he was little. She always had dishes of the candy everywhere, and he was happy to see a bowl on the table next to her bed. This time last year she was planning a cruise to Alaska; now, a stroke had prevented her from every walking again.

Suddenly, he remembered he had forgotten that he was supposed to take his girlfriend to the mall to pick up her prom dress. He tried calling her but his cell phone couldn’t get a signal. He saw the rotary phone on her nightstand, and went to use it when the phone started ringing. He grabbed the receiver and said hello. The caller wanted to talk to Jack; Kevin told him there was no Jack there.

“I must talk to Jack, it’s an emergency.”
“Like I said, there is no Jack here. This is a nursing home.”
“I know what it is,” the caller barked with annoyance, “isn’t this room 23?”
Kevin looked at the open door and saw the “23” on it. “Yes, it’s room 23, but there is no Jack here, only my aunt.”

“Is you aunt’s name Rita?”
“Yes,” Kevin replied apprehensively.
“Tell her it’s Jack’s brother Jacob calling, she’ll know who I am.”