Who Are You?

Who Are You?

a short story

The sunlight falls on me warming my face
As the comely woman makes her way to me
She kneels down beside me with a certain grace
Asking me if I want to take my pills with some tea

For the life of me I can’t remember who she is
So I ask of her, “dear who are you?”
Her eyes shut as if she’s pondering a quiz
“Well Mrs Cole I am Nurse Bell and I’m rather new.”

What a peculiar woman, I have no need of a nurse
I try to tell her this, but she smiles and remains
Her face is kind, but her voice is rather terse
She informs me that I have to take my pills to avoid pain

I take the meds from her and her relief is clear
But as she walks away I can’t recall
And so I call out asking, “Who are you my dear?”
However she did not hear me, and I find myself feeling quite small

~~~~~~~~~~

Sitting by the fire the heat warms my soul
As two graceful women make their way beside me
“You have a visitor today Mrs Cole.”
And with that the handsome woman flees

So I look to the woman at my right
And I ask her, “could you kindly tell me who that was?”
She informs me that her name was Nurse Bell, I think she surely is a sight
The woman looks at me as if she wants to speak, but something gives her pause

Finally she speaks, “Mom I came to visit.”
I look at her closely and feel something stir
She stares at me with a cautious hope in her eyes for a minute
But like a wisp whatever it was is gone with a blur

“Why do you call me mother dear?”
I can see she’s crushed as she says “c’mon Mom think it through!”
Her face is twisted in pain as her eyes fill with tears
But all I can do is look at her and ask, “Who are you?”