Exceptional A chapter in my ongoing book, Phone calls from Caroline. Phone Calls from Caroline : The Death Contraption by BethShelby

Ringgg….Incoming Call Hello? Hello, I was trying to call Beth.  Do I have the right number? Caroline! You've got me.  Can’t you tell it’s me? Well, who was that who answered the phone?  You got company? No, I was the one who answered the phone. I’m the only one who lives here. I’m all by myself. I know I heard another voice. What are you doing? Who else is there? You may have heard the TV. I turned it off. I was about to have lunch. Well, your lunch is going to have wait. I’ve already had mine. Why don’t you eat when everyone eats? I need to talk. Ok, It can wait. How are you doing? How do think I’m doing? I’m old. I’m ninety-five. Don’t nobody seem to realize I’m old. I’m too old to be shuffled around like this. That’s what I want to talk to you about. What’s the name of that day that’s coming up where everybody eats? You mean Thanksgiving? Yeah! I think that's the one. You know they put me over here in this place with all these other old people. My mother says she can’t take care of me anymore. I’m not going to get to have a Thanksgiving this year, and my mother’s mad at me. She's not your mother, Caroline. She’s your daughter. She's up in her seventies herself. She thought you’d be happier with people your own age. They're paying people to take care of you. Why do think she's mad with you? She wanted me to go over to her house on that eating day, and I told her I’m not going to go. They put in this death contraption in their house, and they claim they put it in there for me. They made me go over there to try it out, and I thought I was going to die for sure. I was lucky to survive. I’m not going back. What are you talking about? What does it look like? It’s this bucket thing. It’s down in their garage. They put it on the side of their steps. You've got to sit in it and get buckled up. It goes up the steps all the way to the top; to the main floor. I had to close my eyes. I just knew I wasn't gonna’ survive. I could have got hurt bad. That thing could kill you.  Oh, that’s just a chair lift. They aren’t dangerous. You said you were buckled in. You can’t fall out. You aren't able to climb the stairs. How else would you get to their dining room? If those things were dangerous, they wouldn’t be on the market. No, It’s a death trap for sure. I’m not getting in that thing again. It goes up real slow and you have to turn around at the top before you can get up. Mama can get mad with me if she wants to,  but she needs to figure out another way so I can eat. I’m too old to be jerked around this way. Maybe, you three could go out to a restaurant, and she wouldn't have to cook. No, we're not doing that again.  We did that last year, and it took them a whole hour to bring us something to eat. You can forget that.  Well, you are old enough to make up your own mind. If you don’t want to ride up on the chair lift and have a nice dinner with your daughter and son-in-law, tell her to bring you a plate, or else eat your Thanksgiving meal at the center. I’m sure they will be making a nice special meal for those residents who have no other place to go. A lot of good it did me to call you. I thought for sure you’d be able to figure out something better. Go eat your dinner. You're no help. Recognized Author Notes Based on phone calls from my cousin.

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