The Feud: Chapter I

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The Nursing Home

              “Have you checked on room 1211?” Nurse Clementine asked without looking up from the clipboard she was studying.  As always, her readers rested on the bottom of her nose but never slipped off the tip. A feat that always impressed Calvin just a little bit.  He rolled his eyes at her request but tried to cover his initial reaction by answering quickly, “No ma’am.”  Even though the older nurse wasn’t looking he knew she still could sense his attitude by the way she her lips pushed together.  When he still didn’t move, she looked up and cocked an eyebrow at him.  That was worse than a lecture or a verbal lesson any day.  That was her way of saying, ‘best get on it’ combined with ‘don’t make me tell you again.’

            He suppressed the urge to sigh and stood up. “Right on it,” he said forcing any bitterness from his voice.  Nurse Clementine ran a tight shift and the last thing he wanted was to get on her bad side which was so easy for him to do.  She had been a night nurse supervisor at the nursing home longer than the current manager had been alive and was granted some allowances managing the staff other supervisors didn’t get.  She was the default superior that everyone looked to including the manager although that was done discretely.  If her word got back to management about any unruly staff that staff usually was gone by the next shift.  “There is no room here for bad nurses,” Nurse Clementine often said.  

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Story Behind the Post: The New Seasons

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When I decided to simplify my life and only do weekly posts, I had to decide if I wanted to keep doing 5-part short stories during the months with 5 Wednesdays (switched from Saturdays). I decided, yes, I will keep at it for a while anyway. The first 5-Wednesday month was in April which seemed like plenty of time for me to prepare a story. If you know me, you know that isn’t my style. I was plagued with my usual writer’s block until the 11th-hour. But inspiration came from real events. I should say, real events mostly. Real events with a little modification and a whole lot of what-if.

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The New Seasons: Chapter V

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The New Season

            After my initial disclosure to grandma and mom and receiving that warm grandma hug I gained even more confidence to expand my circle. I took mom and grandma downstairs and showed them everything I had stockpiled.  Grandma was impressed.  Mom was a little worried at the cost but grandma just waved her hand at her.

            “You’ve been busy,” grandma said.

            I smiled.  “You have no idea.”  I took a deep breath because I knew the time had come to show someone my shed in the back.  I almost didn’t want to because it had been my private place for so long.  But I knew I needed to do this to truly expand my circle. 

            I led them back up the stairs.  Even though it was technically winter we just needed light jackets outside which we were still getting used to.  They followed me through the backyard.  We walked the little pathway to the back of the garage.  I showed them how to get through my wall of dry weeds I had set up as a barrier and then we stepped into the little clearing with the shed.  Of course, they knew about the shed but it had been a while since either of them were back there.  Mom took note of the hole I had dug for fuel storage and raised her eyebrows. 

“Storage,” is all I said and shrugged my shoulders. 

Grandma’s face broke into a delighted smile and she clapped her hands together when she saw my garden of onions and carrots.  They walked around a little bit inspecting my work.  I had spent so much time working in the area that the whole ground around the shed was clear of weeds and obviously a place often visited.

            They looked at each other as I opened the padlock on the shed door and opened it. I didn’t tell them what was inside but gestured for them to step in.  They slowly did and to say they were surprised is a bit of an understatement.

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