A Better Place

Chapter 1: Gladys

Gladys wrinkles her nose in disgust at the mustard yellow carpeting. She shifts her weight gingerly on the hideous, as she describes it, peach colored loveseat. She glares at all the "old people" shuffling with walkers, slopping food all over themselves (because they can't control their shaky hands,) and all the fat "bozos" who can't get out of their wheelchairs.

She on the other hand is slim and aging well. She smiles in satisfaction after thinking about her date tonight with the cutest guy in this whole darn nursing home! She is going to play checkers with Tom at 4:30 p.m.

Gladys knows she's the best... she's the prettiest, smartest, funniest, cutest, so why did that knuckle-head lock her up in this funny town? Her hands ball up around her knitting in fury causing a few stitches to fall off the needle. Cursing, she slowly works to get them back on.

Back in the day she could make a sweater in two hours flat. These days she's been working on the same granny square for three months. The reasons for that are: 1. It's so easy to get off track. But it's not because she's a willy-nilly, quite the opposite she is more intelligent than anyone in this "crackhouse." You see, Gladys has more important things to think about than knitting. Gladys nods that's a great answer.

Her eyebrows furrow, now what was the other reason? Twenty minutes later, after she recanted chasing butterflies as a little girl, it comes to her. Yes, the other reason is: 2. Because of her "stupid" fingers the only bad attribute about her. Gladys is very self conscious about her gnarled fingers.

Suddenly a twisted, wicked smile stretches across Gladys' face. She decides to stand old Tom up! She hopes that will make him even more crazy about her. Slowly she stands using her cane as an aide. Although her body still has "it," she feels the pain of years of work on the farm. Slowly she shuffles to her room for the night creaking like an old barn door.

~Sorry for such a short chapter, I promise they will get longer in the future! 💗