Author's Note: I wrote this piece of fiction in 2006 for a college assignment. It later won first place in a college literary magazine contest. All of this happened, ironically, years before my own father was diagnosed with dementia. This story was never based on real people, but was always close to my heart and has become more so now. -Kiley
The hallway was hot and smelled like urine and food. Every time I walked the familiar steps down the greenish corridor I tried to hold my breath. I couldn’t hold it long enough, though. I always had to suck in the wretched smell once more before I reached room 075.
I turned the corner into the room and stopped. The small room didn’t smell as strongly as the hallway, but there was still a lingering odor of age and misery in the air.
And there he was, sitting in and olive-colored chair by the wall. He was staring at a newspaper. It was yellowed and torn.
Much like the paper, my father’s skin was spotted, discolored and thin. His hands were swollen and shaky and the newspaper rattled as he held it.
“What are you reading?” I asked him gently as I kissed his forehead.
“They sent men up to the moon today, Penny. To the moon,” he said excitedly. “Never thought they’d do it, but they done it—today for the first time—right onto the moon.”
“Did they now?” I said, trying to smile. “I never thought they would either. That’s a long ways away.”
I didn’t tell him that it was 2006. I didn’t tell him that there are men living in space today. That moonwalks were old news, and Armstrong had retired long since.
“Penny,” he said. “I always wanted to go to the moon. I would make a good astronaut.”
“Sure you would, Daddy. You know all about the heavens.”
“Tomorrow I think I’ll drive down to Texas and get a job with the spaceships. Your mother won’t like it because we’ll have to move.”
“You know Mom and I just want you to be happy,” I said with a forced smile.
“Penny, you and your mom are the two most beautiful girls in Indiana. You look just like your mom did when I met her and asked her to marry me. She was beautiful. Eyes as green as the sea and hair as dark as the night—”
As he spoke, I stared into the pale blue eyes that had watched me grow over all these years. Eyes are the windows to the soul, and so I stared into my father’s eyes as if I could somehow reach into his mind and make it right. I wanted nothing more than to see him aware of the day, the year, the room. Me.
“—don’t know where your mother is today. I called her five times already and she didn’t answer the phone,” he continued.
He sounded worried, though I didn’t know how to comfort him.
I didn’t remind him that his beloved wife had died five years ago. I’d tried months before to remind him, but he didn’t believe me and called me a liar. Then, he forgot I’d said anything by the next day.
A tear rolled down my cheek and splashed on my coat.
“Penny, baby, what’s the matter?” he asked me. “Where’s your mother?”
I turned a sob quickly into a loud cough and ducked back into the rancid smelling hallway.
“Penny!” I heard him call from behind.
I didn’t dare tell him that my name was Ellie.
I turned the corner into the room and stopped. The small room didn’t smell as strongly as the hallway, but there was still a lingering odor of age and misery in the air.
And there he was, sitting in and olive-colored chair by the wall. He was staring at a newspaper. It was yellowed and torn.
Much like the paper, my father’s skin was spotted, discolored and thin. His hands were swollen and shaky and the newspaper rattled as he held it.
“What are you reading?” I asked him gently as I kissed his forehead.
“They sent men up to the moon today, Penny. To the moon,” he said excitedly. “Never thought they’d do it, but they done it—today for the first time—right onto the moon.”
“Did they now?” I said, trying to smile. “I never thought they would either. That’s a long ways away.”
I didn’t tell him that it was 2006. I didn’t tell him that there are men living in space today. That moonwalks were old news, and Armstrong had retired long since.
“Penny,” he said. “I always wanted to go to the moon. I would make a good astronaut.”
“Sure you would, Daddy. You know all about the heavens.”
“Tomorrow I think I’ll drive down to Texas and get a job with the spaceships. Your mother won’t like it because we’ll have to move.”
“You know Mom and I just want you to be happy,” I said with a forced smile.
“Penny, you and your mom are the two most beautiful girls in Indiana. You look just like your mom did when I met her and asked her to marry me. She was beautiful. Eyes as green as the sea and hair as dark as the night—”
As he spoke, I stared into the pale blue eyes that had watched me grow over all these years. Eyes are the windows to the soul, and so I stared into my father’s eyes as if I could somehow reach into his mind and make it right. I wanted nothing more than to see him aware of the day, the year, the room. Me.
“—don’t know where your mother is today. I called her five times already and she didn’t answer the phone,” he continued.
He sounded worried, though I didn’t know how to comfort him.
I didn’t remind him that his beloved wife had died five years ago. I’d tried months before to remind him, but he didn’t believe me and called me a liar. Then, he forgot I’d said anything by the next day.
A tear rolled down my cheek and splashed on my coat.
“Penny, baby, what’s the matter?” he asked me. “Where’s your mother?”
I turned a sob quickly into a loud cough and ducked back into the rancid smelling hallway.
“Penny!” I heard him call from behind.
I didn’t dare tell him that my name was Ellie.
