"When I was your age, I was quite the wild one. Ahhh that look, that 'sure granny' look, well if you don't believe me."
The underpaid nurse attempting to spoon feed the elderly lady sat, heaped spoon waiting for a pause between words.
"I had quite the adventure, back when I was twenty-two, I never told your mam about this one."
Susie suppressed a sigh, every resident took her as a different relative. They used a warm, familiar tone with her, looking into her eyes, and seeing those of another. She'd given up correcting them, not one of them could remember her name.
"It was during the war, your grandpa worked intelligence out of one of those top secret northern bunkers, that's where he got that compass you used to love playing with."
There was something about never being seen as herself that was starting to eat at Susie. At first, she'd pitied them, unable to see things for what they were, but as time went by, every word spoken to her, meant for another, began to cut.
"It's been two months since I'd had a letter from him, and well, you can imagine what I thought when a man in uniform knocked at the door."
Finally catching a pause in the resident's flow, Susie swooped in with a spoon full of buttery mash, beaded with peas. For loud, sloppy moments the lady chewed, and trying to draw on her compassion, Susie smiled, scooping up another spoonful.
"Well my heart dropped and I nearly fainted before he could speak. That awkward young officer grabbed my hands, looking me firm in the eyes, 'He's not dead Mrs Ellerton, he's fine, I just need you to come with me'. I've never packed a bag so fast in my life!"
Susie quickly exploited the dramatic moment, dropped another spoon of mash, this time laked with stewed beef and gravy, into the open mouth. She used to hate herself for finding those too far gone to chatter away easier, avoiding the talkers, but despite her best evasions, she'd got stuck with conversational Mrs Ellerton today.
"We sped down those country roads, whizzing up north, in hours. He told me nothing on the way, offering only that Nick would tell me when we got there. I'd had no idea what to bring, and had frantically thrown everything I could think of into my bag, as we drove up I began to realise all the things I'd not thought of, but there was no turning back, I could tell by the way that officer gripped the wheel we were in a hurry!"
Mrs Ellerton wasn't letting up, Susie glanced at the clock, her shift was due to finish in ten minutes, but she couldn't go anywhere until the old bag wrapped it up. Putting the spoon down, she tried to fight the rising anger, and decided to try and get Mrs Ellerton to cut to the chase.
"So why had your husband brought you there?"
Just as Mrs. Ellerton was about to speak, Natalie came in. With a look at Susie sitting on the edge of her chair, the older colleague oversaw the situation.
"Go ahead", she addressed Susie, "I'll take over from now on."
Relieved and careless, Susie put spoon and plate down, rose quickly, while Mrs. Ellerton, slightly irritated, watched the shift change. Without even providing a word of explanation, Susie hurried away, already thinking of Tom, with whom she would pull one through later on. Natalie should listen to the crazy stuff. She didn't care to be taken for all the daughters of the nation anyway.
When the door slammed shut, Mrs. Ellerton continued as if nothing had happened.
"I am glad, child, that you are ready to listen to me", she said to Natalie, who had pushed the food aside, made herself comfortable and leaned her chin on her hands.
"And he wasn't my husband yet! You remember Grandpa Nick, don't you?", Mrs. Ellerton reassured herself.
Natalie nodded.
"Yes, darling, yes! You also know that your grandpa Nick was a physicist, don't you? Well, he worked with the British government. They built nuclear weapons during the war! But I didn't know that at the time! My goodness, I was so excited because the young man and I finally arrived up in Kenton Bar, at Newcastle. And what can I say! Deep down I followed him, because the main entrance to the bunker was actually hidden in a small guard house."
Now Natalie smiled. She knew the Kenton Bar bunker. Nick Catford, historian and photographer and member of Subterranea Britannica, had discovered the secret of Kenton Bar.
"How was it when you arrived downstairs?", she asked Mrs. Ellerton.
This one beamed. "Girl, I will never forget it! Down and down it went, stairs by stairs, and creepily along narrow corridors . And finally I arrived in a room that looked like a command center and to my amazement nobody was there except my Nick! Remember, I was only twenty-two and hadn't seen much of the world except a week of southern England with a cousin! And then all those calculating machines! Huge things, I tell you, and in the middle of them my Nick and then he tells me: My dear Hatty, the war is finally over and I really wanted to see you and give you something."
"What was it Mrs. Ellerton, what did he give you?"
Natalie saw that Mrs. Ellerton had woven herself an exciting story around her life and she would be the last to spoil the fun. Mr. Green vis-à-vis had already vividly told her how he dined with an Indian sheikh in the Orient, entertaining her in a most excellent way.
"This one!" Mrs. Ellerton, opening her hand, showed her said compass, which she used to carry around in her bathrobe.
"I give it to you now because I don't need it anymore. It will show you the way." With sparkling eyes she continued: "Down there, in the bunker, Nick has told me that a wormhole will open. In three years, to be exact. Well, he is no longer and my time will come soon. That is why you should have the compass, my dear. It will guide you, so that you know where to go! Promise me that you will use it, yes?"
"I promise." The compass that was still warm from Mrs. Ellerton's grip slipped into Natalies pocket.
Later, when the old lady had fallen asleep, she would put it back. Then Mrs. Ellerton yawned and returned to the pillows. Soon her eyes closed. Natalie sat with her for a while, then smoothed the blanket, rose and quietly left the room.
Photo by Jordan Madrid on Unsplash
After a short steemit break I couldn't resist to write the finishing part to @calluna s story. It touched me and I wanted to write for the elderlies in the nursery homes.
Here you find the details about the great @bananafish s initiative and other contests as well. Have fun!