The Installation

Joan managed to get down the stairs but it was a struggle. Her knees crippled her with pain. She felt every movement. Where stairs had once been easily navigable, they were now daunting. She remembered steps of the past: registry office, boardwalk hikes, temple tourist spots.

She had managed to get to the bottom when a shadow appeared in the glass and the doorbell chimed. This visit had been scheduled for weeks ever since the assessment and she had looked forward to it and dreaded it in equal measure.

"Hello, love." On the doorstep was a man, middle-aged she guessed, dressed in a uniform of sorts, holding an ID card. "I'm Mike and I'm your installer today."

She squinted at the ID and rather than embarrass herself at not being able to see, she found herself saying "Okay. Come on in."

She'd already done the paperwork so it was a case of keeping out of the way. Fred next door had already offered his bathroom if she needed it but she wasn't planning on drinking anything until it was done.

She went into the lounge, picked up her knitting and waited.

It took all day but eventually, Mike knocked the door.

"Hello again, love. It's all fitted. I just need you to come and sit on it while I explain a few things."

She obligingly put down her knitting and got up, knees protesting as she did. She sat while she had a test run. She had to sign something to say she'd had the instructions explained. Everyone wanted to sue nowadays. She was desperate for the bathroom.

"Okay, love. Well, good luck with it. Ring the number if you need any help," Mike the installer said and Joan closed the door on him with a small wave and a wan smile.

Watching him drive off, she sighed with relief. She looked at the installation. Sadly, she headed over to it. Resignedly, she sat on it. She pressed the button after loosely belting herself in. Slowly, she ascended.

Tears flowed down her face. The physical pain would be less but the manifestation of her descent towards death induced emotional pain that she would have to hide.

***

366 words

I have a bit of a thing going on at the moment with death and ageing. It's obviously on my mind.

I wrote a poem as well about it:

And this story sort of talks about mortality too, or a decline in health at least and confronting the possibility:

Thanks for stopping by! If you do read this, please do leave a comment as I love to interact with my readers.

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