Today is the First Day of the Rest of My Life

By

Duncan L. Dieterly

Waking suddenly! In the hall, a carelessly dropped metal tray shattered his sound sleep.

He knew he dreamed but could never remember his dreams no matter how hard he tried. Lying

on his back, ruffling his fingers through his short-cropped white hair, he tasted a dry graininess

in his mouth. Like a gasping fish he opened and shut it several times to start saliva flowing.

That was better.

His watery blue eyes peered out from under the heavy red blanket. The ceiling and walls

were stark white. The room was all stainless steel and wooden trimmed furniture. He spotted

the unusually wide open door and wondered why there were so many people in his hallway.

Rising up on one elbow, he fell back exhausted. He was having trouble getting out of bed.

Why? Have I been in accident?

Frightened he groped around under his blanket but could detect no cast or feel any

gaping wounds. Thank God, no accident. With considerable effort, he made a second try and

was able to sit up on the edge of the bed. My goodness my bed is awfully high. His bare feet

dangled six inches above the floor. Light green carpet covered it. He didn’t care for green.

Teetering on the edge, he concentrated on the carpet for a moment. Then he looked around the

room noting a bookcase, small desk with chair, a large recliner, straight-backed chair, chest of

drawers with several framed prints of fruit above it. My God! Who put those up?

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 He disliked fruit paintings. Action scenes; a roaring bullfight, wild rodeo or cattle

stampede were what he preferred. His wife must have hung them when he wasn’t looking. I

wonder where the ole girl is? Then he noticed that the bed was only a single one. Odd? Why

am I here? Well, it’s another day. What interesting things may happen today?

To his great surprise, a stocky white-clad sourpuss black woman burst into his bedroom.

Without even knocking!

“Mr. Merlin, how are we today?” She barked loudly at him.

“I am fine, I suppose. Who are you?” He cautiously asked.

“Oh, Mr. Merlin! I am Nurse Dunning. Today is Friday. I am your Friday nurse. Have

been, now, for over eight years. Now, you know that Jake. Quit your teasing.” She smiled,

giving him a big wink.

“I have a nurse for every day of the week?” he asked, in astonishment.

“No, Mr. Merlin you have three nurses, and we rotate the days. You are not my only

patient today, so I need to get your vitals and get on with it.” Using a variety of medical

apparatuses, she took his blood pressure, temperature and shined lights in his ears and mouth,

then told him, “Let’s get moving now, ya hear. You get yourself dressed, now.”

He asked coyly, “Am I named Jake?”

“Yes, of course you are. Who else?” Her eyes full of pity as she looked at him.

“Well, please to meet you Nurse….”

“Nurse Dunning.”

“Yes, Nurse Dunning.”

“Where are my clothes?”

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 “Where they always are. In that closet. She pointed to door near his bed. “Oh, don’t

forget to make a number one and two and brush those pearly whites.”

“Pearly whites?” He looked uncomprehendingly at her.

“Yes, your teeth.” Making a stabbing motion; with her stubby finger, at her large crooked

stained teeth, consternation flooding her face.

“Oh! Yes, yes, of course.”

She departed in a swirl of efficiency. Jake was puzzled but did what he was told. He got

up but found that walking was a little tricky at first, he had to grasp at things to hold himself up

occasionally but reached the closet. Opening the door, he viewed his wardrobe. There were

several shirts, sweaters, and pants hanging up. In a low dresser, he discovered, underwear, t-

shirts and socks were stored. The socks were all black, the underwear was all white boxer shorts

with white t-shirts. Where were his usual jockey shorts? After a minute or two of studying the

choices, he hesitantly made his selections.

Removing his blue pajamas, he stood bare-assed naked. He stroked the nice dark blue

pajamas hanging them on a hook on the back of the door. Uncertain why he did it. It seemed

like the appropriate thing to do. He pulled on a t-shirt and boxer shorts. Selecting a dark blue

shirt, dark blue jeans, he slipped into them carefully to avoid falling. He was unstable still. A

leather belt was neatly rolled on the top of the dresser. Unconsciously he slipped that through

the proper pants loops and pulled it snug to the last notch on his thin waist. The long end drooped

down from the last loop.

Shutting the closet door, he shuffled into the small strange bathroom; all bright, white and

clean. Looking into the large mirror, he was confronted with the face of an old stubby-chinned

man. Startled at the vast number of eroded lines that ran down his face he touched the short

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beard announcing aloud, “Well - be damned! I guess I am an old man. When did that happen?

Time flies!”

Locating a blue toothbrush in the wall holder, he used it to brush his teeth vigorously.

Stopping in mid stroke, There was something wrong. He had forgotten something. But what?

Then he saw the Aim toothpaste tube and understood his error. AhAA! He squirted green striped

paste on the brush and went at it again; seeing the paste flecks on his lips, finding the result to be

more to his liking.

Half- way finished, he stopped again, What am I doing? Oh yes, brushing my teeth.

Finishing up, he took a big swig of water in his cupped hands, spitting it out hard into the wide

basin. Idly watching it swirl and whirl, disappearing down the drain he felt content. Looking at

himself in the mirror he saw that his hair stood up a little wild to the left. Locating a brown

comb, he smoothed it flatter after about six tries. Felling better, maybe even a little hungry, Jake

shut the bathroom door behind him and sat down on the edge of the only straight-backed chair in

the room.

Gazing out of the window, Jake saw a large grass area with trees and benches. How nice.

What a lovely view. I wonder how I got here; it doesn’t seem like my home. He looked about for

his familiar personal items but found nothing, nothing he could recall. There was a handsome

framed photograph of several young grinning children whom he didn’t recognize on top of the

chest of drawers.

I wonder who lives here? Am I visiting someone? An old friend? He further pondered,

Is this an apartment? I thought I had a house? Well, maybe I moved recently. Why can’t I

remember these things? Oh well, today is the first day of the rest of my life. He grinned and

waited.

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 Still smiling at this little ditty, he noticed there was a large piece of furniture like an

upright radio but it had a large glass window in its center. A fish tank perhaps? Standing and

approaching it, Jake wondered how it worked. He tried to read the words below the silver dials

but could not. Maybe he needed glasses? No that was silly. He never wore glasses but still….

He looked around, finding a pair of glasses on the small nightstand next to his bed, along

with a striking gold wristwatch. Humm, I guess these are mine? Wow! Look at this wristwatch.

I am doing all right!

Putting them on he could see up close but then distance objects were blurry. He bent

down to read the dial labels. Jake twisted the one that indicted power. He twisted it several

ways but that did not work. Angrily, he pounded on it and a small green light appeared above it.

Instantly the black glass window blossomed with a photograph. No, by golly, it was a moving

picture. My gosh, it was in color, too. Someone was talking about improving your sex life. My

God, you can’t talk about things like that on the radio! What in tarnation is going on here?

He could not find a dial labeled station but only one labeled channel. Channel? What

does that that mean? Finally, he pushed it after trying in vain to turn it on. The moving picture

immediately jumped to a different scene. There was a young movie star, no, a newswoman’s

face talking earnestly to him about the pending Health Care Bill before the Senate. My gosh, it

seems like the news. I wonder where my newspaper has gone off to? His eyes caste around the

room, anxiously trying to locate it.

Pushing it several more times, he arrived at a black and white film with Humphrey

Bogart. It was a movie he was sure he had seen in the past, but for the life of him, he could not

remember how it ended. My wife would know. I wonder were Doris has gone off to today?

What happens to old Dobbs? He retreated to the reclining chair, absorbing the movie intently.

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What an amazing thing to watch a movie in your own bedroom! Life is certainly grand. Sadness

descended upon him when the bandits gunned Dobbs down. Jake was about to tear up when a

harsh voice grated upon his ears.

“Mr. Merlin, turn that off right now! It’s time for breakfast.” It was the uniformed black

woman again.

“Breakfast?”

“Yes, I bet you haven’t been to the cafeteria yet today have you now?”

“No. I’m not sure actually. Well I am hungry.”

“Of course, you haven’t eaten yet.” She turned off the machine with a black wand she

held. He was too timid to protest. “Yes, time to go eat. Come on I’ll walk you down.”

“Down to what?”

“To the cafeteria.”

“Oh, yes. That would be nice. Is it far?”

“No. Just down one flight of stairs. It’s in the far corner of the building. But first take

your morning meds.” She held out two paper cups, one with a dozen colorful pills in a variety of

shapes and the other with water.

“Which one do I take?” Jake asked her puzzled.

“All of them? Just like every day, Jake.”

“That seems like an awful lot of pills. Is this breakfast?”

“No, Mr. Merlin. Every morning, afternoon and night, you have to take all your meds. I

keep telling you that. It’s your own doctor’s orders. They make you feel better.”

“Oh, I forgot, I suppose.” Shrugging sadly, his trembling old hand clutched all the pills

and he took them straight with a quick water follow-up. Water dribbled down his chin. Like a

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child, he wiped it off on his sleeve before she noticed. She was looking at her wristwatch acting

impatient as if she needed to hurry, so he finished up. Taking his left arm tightly, she led him

out of the room, but first made him put on his black slip-on loafers saying, “We need to hurry so

you can have breakfast with your friends, Carl and Peter.”

“Carl and Peter?”

“Yes, they are your old friends. You eat with them every day. Breakfast, lunch and

dinner.”

“They are? I do?”

“Yes, now let’s get the lead out. Do you want a sweater today?”

“No, I don’t think so.” Her hustle bustle was tiring him out.

They moved rapidly through the corridors, pulsating with human movement. She

chattered constantly about what a beautiful sunny day it was outside. When they arrived at the

cafeteria, Jake was amazed by its large size. It seemed bigger than any place he had ever been

before. He saw many elderly people actively shuffling and wheeling around.

She led him to his assigned table, by a large window that looked out on a wide rolling

field. Jake saw two older men sitting there, hunched over, eating but did not recognize them.

Pushing him down into a chair Nurse Dunning instructed, “Now, Jake do say good-morning.”

With gusto, Jake said, “Good morning.” The two men stopped eating, looked up and replied,

“Good morning Jake.” She left them. Jake sat there fiddling with a rolled paper napkin

containing silverware. The utensils spilled out with a clatter. The bald man looking sharply at

him inquired “Hey, how you doing today?”

After a long reflective pause, Jake replied, “Fine, just fine.”

“That’s good. Did you watch the move on TV last night?”

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 “I’m not sure.”

“Well, it was a humdinger, that Rita Hayward is a real bomb shell. Right, Carl?”

“Yea. Sure is.” Replied the man; out of his oddly drooping mouth. He had thin straggly

hair and small bead-lie eyes.

“I could really get to like her,” the bald man stated, flashing a wide leering grin.

The two laughed, so Jake joined in.

“What are you doing today Jake?” asked droopy mouth.

“I…, am not sure.” Jake had no idea what droopy mouth meant.

A young person, in a clean, crisp white uniform, placed a tray in front of Jake with two pieces of

whole-wheat toast, a bowl of cereal, a bowl of fruit, a carton of low-fat milk and a small glass of

orange juice.

“Enjoy.” The uniform advised him, cheerily.

Jake looked at the food intently but was unsure of what he was to do. Picking up a piece

of toast, he nibbled on the dry crust edge. The bald man, noticing this, gruffly instructed him,

“Jake, Jake! How many times I gots to tell ya? Put some of that jelly on it.” He pulled out

several packs from a bowl in the center of the table and tossed them over to him.

After several fumbling tries, Jake pealed them open spreading the dark contents on his

toast with his knife. Ummm, It did improve the taste immeasurably! Jake, finishing the toast off

was beginning to feel good. Then droopy mouth instructed him, “Put your milk and fruit on that

cereal and eat it up! Really top notch. Best Kellogg ever made!”

Jake mechanically doing as directed, was delighted by the easy soft fruity taste that

resulted from the mixture. He spooned it into his mouth hurriedly, finishing it up with several

gulps of orange juice. Jake sat up straight lining his dirty silverware parallel to the empty cereal

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bowl. What a pleasant day. He looked out the window feeling serene. Then droopy mouth

growled at him,

“You want to go the game room with us today?”

“Game room? I’m not sure.”

“Oh leave him alone, he’s alright here.” Baldy said rapidly. “They will take him back to

his room soon. Let’s get down there.” The two men got up and droopy mouth smiled at Jake,

“Good to see you up again, Jake. We’ll be down for lunch pal, see you then.”

“Yes.” Jake replied, beaming back at them.

“Don’t get into any trouble,” advised droopy mouth, laughing.

“No, no I won’t.” Jake assured them.

After they disappeared, he thought, “What pleasant people, I wonder who they are. I

must ask nurse…. Well, I will ask. Ahhh. Well, I will ask someone I guess. Ask them what?”

Looking out of the window, Jake enjoyed watching the birds circling. While he was

pleasantly occupied, to his amazement , a young man in a dark suit rushed up to him and gave

him a big hug, “Dad, you look great! I mean really, great. How are you today, Dad?” Pulling up

a chair he sat close to Jake looking at him intently patting his shoulder lightly. The startled Jake

was at a loss of words. Who was this person? He was nice looking enough but he called me

dad? Why? I don’t know him. He was mistaken, but was so young to have a memory problem.

“Dad is everything OK? See I brought you a big box of candies. You know the ones

you like so much - the soft chocolates.” The man pushed the food tray aside placing a large blue

wrapped box on the table near him. Jake smiled politely resting his hands on the box of

chocolates. The intense stranger rushed on. “Dad I am so sorry I missed Sunday, but I had work

to do. It won’t happen again. Honest, I promise. Mary and the boys miss you and send their

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love. They are in school today of course, the boys that is. Your looking good, are you eating

well? You need to eat well dad to keep up your strength.”

Jake smiled slightly, that seemed to be acceptable an acceptable rezones for the young

man. His eyes were blue like Jake’s wife’s …. Perhaps he was her cousin or something….

Maybe. The animated man launched into a long detailed monologue about a work issue that was

consuming his time. While he whined on Jake’s attention drifted outside with the tireless

swooping birds.

After about twenty minutes, the young man rose, pulled Jake up off his chair and gave

him another big hug. He rushed away with, “Got to go dad, make money! You have a good day

now, you hear. Don’t eat all those candies in one day either.” He laughed over his shoulder at

his joke disappearing out of the room. Jake looked down at the box of candies. He sat down

again to continue watching the birds effortlessly flying.

A few minutes later, a clean crisp person removed his tray, dishes and wastepaper. He

wiped Jake’s mouth gently with the paper napkin. Pulling back his chair, the attendant indicated

Jake should leave.

“You go back to your room now.”

“I suppose so. Yes.”

“Well you did a great job on your breakfast and didn’t spill a thing. You have a good day

now young man.” Grinning broadly at him, he left.

“Yes, yes I will. Thank you.”

Getting up stiffly, ignoring the box of candy, he headed for the large open double doors,

wandering out down the wide corridor. Seeing another door at the far end, he strolled toward it a

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little wobbly. Someone came up behind him directing, “Mr. Merlin. That is the wrong way, Mr.

Merlin. Your room is this way.”

“Oh, I forgot.”

“Let me take you to your room, Mr. Merlin. The stout uniformed woman took his arm

leading him toward his room. She smelled like warm clothes just out of the dryer. Smiling

warmly at him, she did not speak. Gratefully, he allowed her to steer him to his room. She left

him and he sat down on the edge of the bed. He looked at his wristwatch; it was now eight-fifty.

Almost time to go to work. Jake randomly looked about the room. What an interesting room. I

wonder whose it is? Oh well, they will turn up soon. Today is the first day of the rest of my life.

The once popular counter-culture phrase echoed in his mind frequently.

The antique upright radio with a large glass window attracted his attention. Wrinkling

his brow, he studied it, trying hard to recall something. I wonder if there are gold fish inside

there? How would you feed them? He tapped lightly on the glass.

The End

Copyright © 2010 by Duncan L. Dieterly

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Convention.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or
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Purchase only authorized editions.

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 This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the
product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance
to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is
entirely coincidental.

3,221 words

September 10, 2010

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