The old woman listened to the hum of the machines and the gentle breathing of the man lying in bed on the other side of the thin white curtain.
Tomorrow she’d be going home to her own bed where she would listen to a different sound...a sound she had missed these last two weeks...the ticking of her clocks.
The cuckoo clock which hung in the kitchen; the little plastic rooster alarm clock in the bathroom; and the old chimer in the living room were part of her, and she missed the feeling of life they gave the rooms as she went from one to the other throughout her day.
Tomorrow her daughter would come at ten and hopefully by eleven she’d be stretched out on her cozy oversized sofa, wrapped in her yellow blanket, cup of tea on the end table, and her favourite program on the telly.
She had been lucky this time...but now things would be different - one more fall and going home would no longer be an option.
As she listened to the hum of the machines and the gentle breathing of the man lying in bed on the other side of the thin white curtain tears trickled down her cheeks and settled in the curve of her neck...it was just a matter of time.
Jenny
Very powerful post!
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of my Gran. Wonderful post
ReplyDeleteThis is so poignant and moving, I love it. Excellent stuff as always, honestly.
ReplyDeleteI found it to be so very sad, but a beautiful piece of writing. That poor lady who loved her home and her clocks so much, realizing that time was running out for her to continue living there. It really must be so sad to have to leave your own home like that.
ReplyDeleteWow. Powerful stuff, luv. Makes you want to cherish each and every day, doesn't it?
ReplyDeletethe seconds of life pass
ReplyDeleteleading us
controlling our days,
hours,
minutes,
seconds,
each breath.
Sad, beautiful, and very true to life. Time is ticking away for all of us isn't it. Unfortunately, it's something I can't seem to forget.
ReplyDeleteAww. Now you've gone and made me cry. Very moving. :)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful writing!
ReplyDeleteOh, my. So strong, yet so sad.
ReplyDeleteBeautifully written. I know the feeling about the clocks. We have them in every room in our house, but not nice ones, just cheap wall clocks. But they do their job. I'm a time watcher.
ReplyDeleteLee
Tossing It Out
Claudia - Thank you!
ReplyDeleteMynx - Thank you too for dropping by.
YeamieWaffles - Thank you!
Karen - It had that effect on me as I wrote it!
Thisisme - Thank you - it’s hard to let go sometimes.
darev2005 - Thank you - I’m cherishing the moments even as I type this.
Carole - what a lovely comment - so true.
Jenn June - It is sad that time just ticks on - all we can do is try to make the most of the time we are given.
Linda G - I had tears writing it - lots of emotion with this piece.
Golden Eagle - Thank you.
Al - tough times right now.
Arlee Bird - I grew up with the ticking and chirping of a cuckoo clock - it really was the heartbeat of our house...and still is!
I read this last night during my "catch up" of weekly posts and I wanted to comment but was unable. I came back this morning and decided I would rather just nod my head. So I have nothing to say but :) (that means I like it)
ReplyDeleteBushman - I do that too...sometimes I want to comment but don't know exactly how to articulate my thoughts, or time constraints get in the way.
ReplyDeleteA nod of the head speaks volumes, so does this :)
Jenny, you, for serious, are a talented writer. Not just a no-talent hack who makes fart jokes and throws goofy captions under pictures he finds on the internet.
ReplyDeleteYou also seem to be a quality person who can overcome tough times!
I admire that.
At first I was thinking, this is how I feel when I am gone for a few days. I miss home.
ReplyDeleteThan it made me think of my grandma when she had fallen and decided she needed to go to the nursing home. I miss that lady.
Very touching, Jenny.
Al - Thank you for your kind words and your unstinting support of my blog.
ReplyDeleteOvercoming tough times is part of life's rich pageant - ever the optimist I always like the arrows on my boxes pointing up!
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Ruth - It's interesting the different things we see in someone else's writing; I really enjoy reading comments like yours, they lend such great insight into how my posts are read.
Thank you for dropping by.
tic-toc...
ReplyDelete