Arthur pt.1
As a young man Arthur was determined that he would never end up in a retirement home. As with all young people the prospect of becoming old had been something in the distant future that seemed as if it would never come. And even though he knew it eventually would, he was under the impression he would be one of those grandparents who did things like skydive when they’re 90, and live in a pretty townhouse somewhere with their abundant family. A bit like the family on TV that he was currently watching in order to drown out the tinny music being played from the retirement home speakers. The father was a stereotypical workaholic, the wife a pretty blonde struggling under the weight of housework and the kid’s troubled teenagers. Arthur knew that if he had a family they would be nothing like that.
A nurse touched his shoulder and asked if he wanted any
coffee. He did, black of course. Three sugars. That’s one sugar more than usual,
because today there was an excess of visitors. Arthur watched Susie, a lively
81 year-old, with her granddaughter and her niece. Her niece wasn’t young
herself, but she seemed to be one of those people who retains their youthful
looks. Very annoying. But Arthur was not a bitter person, and he smiled at her
when their eyes met. He stood up and walked to his room, lying on his wide
single bed and closing his eyes.
Life here was inescapably boring, and so Arthur liked to imagine he was somewhere else. Now he imagined he was a hot air balloon owner, who travels the world in his sturdy yellow balloon. Yellow, because it is his favourite colour. By his side is his pet ape (why not?) and together they see all the breath-taking views there are to see in the world. They watch the embers of sunlight die in the evening, from the best seats in the house. They gaze up at the candyfloss clouds with an uninterrupted view, free of the harsh spikes and jagged edges of cities to obstruct their line of sight. They would float to the mountains and greet the barren faces of the mighty ranges and observe in awe the mind-numbing scale of them. Of course they would have to land too, always in beautiful places with amazing food and wonderful people.
Arthur would continue like this for as long as it contented him, and it was well past leaving time at the retirement home when he finally opened his eyes.
Life here was inescapably boring, and so Arthur liked to imagine he was somewhere else. Now he imagined he was a hot air balloon owner, who travels the world in his sturdy yellow balloon. Yellow, because it is his favourite colour. By his side is his pet ape (why not?) and together they see all the breath-taking views there are to see in the world. They watch the embers of sunlight die in the evening, from the best seats in the house. They gaze up at the candyfloss clouds with an uninterrupted view, free of the harsh spikes and jagged edges of cities to obstruct their line of sight. They would float to the mountains and greet the barren faces of the mighty ranges and observe in awe the mind-numbing scale of them. Of course they would have to land too, always in beautiful places with amazing food and wonderful people.
Arthur would continue like this for as long as it contented him, and it was well past leaving time at the retirement home when he finally opened his eyes.
27/05/15 - Skyla
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