FirstLineFiction beta

from Contest #9

It was the thing he'd always loved about her. The way she shaved his face. Horace Ford was sixty-eight years old and was paralyzed from the neck down. While driving to Memphis, Horace, along with his wife and two kids, collided into an eighteen-wheeler in 1970. His wife and two kids died on impact and Horace was left basically lifeless, and with no one to care for. His younger brother, Henry, started taking care of him until Henry died last year. Henry had a daughter that Horace had never met, so Horace had no other choice but to be admitted to the Wise Owl Retirement Home a few days after Henry’s death and would soon meet Lisa Andrews.

Horace sat in his rickety wheelchair and stared into the penetrating sun. Horace’s vocal cords ruptured during surgery after the accident, so he hadn’t spoken in decades. He was just about to fall asleep when he heard the wooden door separating him from another patient creek open.

“Mr. Ford?”

Horace couldn’t move or talk, so he only responded with blinks. One blink for “yes,” two blinks for “no.” He blinked once to the all-American, blond, and, based off of the fact she was wearing a wedding ring, married twenty-seven year old standing in the doorway.

“Hi I’m Lisa Andrews and I’ll be your caregiver for a while.”

Horace knew that “a while” meant until he died, so “a while” could be a day, week, or even a year till he kicked the bucket.

“According to your file, you’ve been living a pretty rough life.”

Horace noticed that Lisa had an accent, but couldn’t make out where she was from. Lisa’s index finger slowly skimmed Horace’s file and she started to speak again.

“It says here that your wife, Linda, and two kids, Jeff and Paula, died in the car accident. I’m so sorry about that.”

Horace noticed how passionate she sounded when she said “I’m so sorry about that.” He began to feel comfortable with her, and started to trust her, even though he had only laid his piercing hazel eyes on her for two minutes.

“Your brother Henry took care of you for over thirty years until he passed away last week, is that right?”

Horace blinked once.

“God, Horace, I’m so sorry. Well I am here to take care of you and will be here everyday from eight A.M. until ten P.M. when you usually go to sleep, how does that sound?”

Since that wasn’t a “yes” or “no” answer, Horace just stared at Lisa.

“Oh sorry, umm, does that sound good?”

Horace blinked once.

“Well I was told that your brother would shave your face every Monday and today is Monday and I notice that your face is a little scruffy, do you uh, want me to shave it?”

Horace hesitated for a second; he thought that her question was so forward for only knowing each other for nine minutes now. Then he blinked once.

Lisa walked over to the bathroom and took out a bottle of Barbasol and a woman’s razor. She took the cap off the bottle and put a handful of shaving cream on her hands and applied them to Horace’s face. Horace noticed how cold Lisa’s hands were as her fingers ran about his face. She then went back to the bathroom to wash her hands and then grabbed a wash cloth.

“You know, my Dad always told me that woman’s razors were the best, even for men.”

She pushed the blade against his face and stroked the blade down to his neck and repeated this movement until Horace’s scruffy beard was gone. She then wiped away the bits of shaving cream left on his face, and smiled.

“There ya go. Clean shaven. So we can go down to the Cafeteria now, do you want to do that? I could go for a slice of pizza.”

One good thing left of Horace was he still had the ability to create facial expressions. He smirked and Lisa took that as a “yes.”

She pushed his wheelchair out of the room and to the end of the hall where the Cafeteria was. She ordered two slices of Pizza and two Cokes. She then took Horace to a table and began to feed him. Horace didn’t feel like a child when she was being fed because he just felt so comfortable around Lisa. She was so caring and so giving. She deserved the title of a “caregiver.”

“My Dad always told me, when eating Pizza, to fold it like a hot dog. He said that there was “no other way to eating a good slice of pie.””

New York. That was her accent. Horace could tell Lisa was from New York.

They finished their meal and Lisa took Horace back to his room.

The day turned to night and soon Lisa placed Horace in his bed and left Wise Owl Retirement Home for the night.

Horace dreamt of Linda, Jeff, and Paula and how much he missed them. Horace met Linda on a blind date and married her only three weeks after their date and he never felt so right about something until he married her.

The night soon turned to day and Horace woke to a stranger standing in the room.

“Hi Horace. I’m Jessica and I have to talk to you about something. A woman named Lisa Andrews took care of you yesterday, right?”

Horace blinked once.

“Well she isn’t a staff member here and we were wondering if you could help us figure out who she is.”

Horace’s heart dropped. Though he had only known Lisa for a day, he still couldn’t believe she wasn’t who she said she was. He then began to remember something Lisa had told him and began to flashback to yesterday.

“You know, my Dad always told me that woman’s razors were the best, even for men.”

He then remembered the other significant thing she said.

“My Dad always told me, when eating Pizza, to fold it like a hot dog. He said that there was “no other way to eating a good slice of pie.””

It then hit Horace. Both things are stuff Horace’s brother, Henry, used to mention all the time. Horace began to tear up and Jessica then spoke.

“What is it Horace? Well, I know you can’t respond, but do you know who that woman was?”

Horace froze. He realized that the woman was Henry’s daughter that he had never met. He stopped tearing up so that he wouldn’t have to reveal who was the one that cared for him for only fourteen hours.

Horace blinked twice.

“Well I promise you, we apologize for the inconvenience and will get you your right caregiver as soon as possible. Now I have to go but if you remember anything specific, please let me know. Sound good?”

Horace blinked once.

Jessica left the room and Horace began to stare into the sun. The rays penetrated the glass window and warmed Horace’s clean shaven face. He closed his eyes and dreamt of Lisa and her hands against his face. Though he only had contact with his niece for fourteen hours, Horace felt a sense of completion and connection.

Soon the day turned to night and Horace was assisted by his new caregiver, Jennifer, to his bed. Jennifer left the room and Horace stared out into the sky at the glittering stars and he began to sleep.

back to Contest #9