“There’s a man in a boat down the street.”
“Now? You mean, right now? You just saw him?”
“Yes. He could be gone by now though I suppose, he was moving along at a good pace.”
Virginia pulled her still encapsulated arm from the mid calf, down filled, no messing around winter coat.
Kellie breathed in intentionally through her nose, counting for 4 seconds then let the breath out for an even 4. She wondered what else her mother had seen on the short drive over to her house on Friday morning at 7:00. “To think that she saw it on Peabody St.” Kellie heard in her mind.
Virginia returned from the front hall where she had hung up her coat and exchanged her boots for felted wool slippers decorated with a dog on one, and a leash and bone on the other. They were meant to be cute. And the felt dog was cute enough. But the right slipper that completed the pair struck Kellie as being a crappy stereo typed diminishing of a domesticated dog’s life. But they had been a gift, and if her mom liked them, that’s all that mattered.
“Would you like some coffee mom?” Kellie asked, raising her own rapidly draining cup to her lips.
“That would be nice. Don’t trouble yourself to make it though, I’m just as happy with tea.”
“It’s no trouble mom, I made a pot this morning.”
“A man in a boat.” Kellie thought as she pulled a mug out of the cupboard and poured a cup of coffee. She brought it over to the counter, then added a splash of milk. “Was this something to mention to the doctor today? It sounded like a hallucination right? What could be mistaken for a man in a boat? “ The idea of her mother still driving around town, when she was potentially seeing things that were not there, concerned Kellie greatly.
“Have you thought any more about moving out of your place?” Kellie asked once her mother had taken a few sips. “I think I’d jump at the chance to move into a place where someone else took care of the maintenance. If I never picked up a snow shovel again it wouldn’t make me sad.”
“Oh no. No thank you. I’ll die in that house.” Virginia responded without a second’s hesitation, or drama.
Virginia did hire someone to plow the driveway, and mow the lawn. But the walkway, the deck and stairs, she was on her own to shovel them unless Kellie or her brother could get there first.
And the yard needed more than just the lawn mowed. The shrubs around the house were beginning to scrape against the shakes, vines finding their way behind the loose ones. The house needed more attention than Kellie and her brother had time to give it. And there just wasn’t the money to pay to have it done.
“What time should we leave for my appointment?” Virginia asked.
“At 8:30.” Kellie responded.
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