Room 1 Orchid

Orchid sat on the edge of the bed...staring. Her feet were resting on the side of her bed. She shared the room. Sometimes she shared the room with someone that she knew and other times with a stranger. This afternoon she knew the woman that lay asleep on the double bed across from hers.

Orchid was a small, size 8. She wore the same button up cotton blouses with a brown jacket to cover and polyester slacks. She stood 5'3" and was quick of movement, busy. A pleasant woman, well bred and polite with a kind smile and soft brown eyes that met a person but then drifted away.

She lowered her feet to the floor. She wore bare feet in her black leather slip on shoes. She lifted herself off the bed, onto the floor and walked across the bedroom floor, passed Viola's bed and went on into the bathroom. About two inches of water covered the bedroom floor and the same amount flooded the bathroom. She walked back to her bed, sat down again and lifted her feet up. She slipped off her shoes and set them on her dresser drawers. They were dry and her feet and ankles were dry as well as her pant legs. She lay down on her bed with her head on the pillow and covered up with a pretty knitted afghan and closed her eyes.

When Orchid received a phone call from a friend or relative, she was eager to talk. She would arise from seeming deep sleep and converse with avid attention and response.

During the days and evenings, Orchid was active with cleaning. She would go in the lunch room, in the area where the fridge, cupboards and sink were located. And the big 33 gal. plastic trash, full from the latest meal would be taken out and transported to her closet or someone elses-along with broom and dust pan. She would constantly be moving, moving. Until bed time. Then she would sleep. Ether in her bed or sitting up in the T.V. room with her eyes closed and arms folded across her chest.

©2009 Wendy Martin