Purrycat Sims

When Timothy attended the funeral for Arcadia McCarthy, his mother’s best friend since college, he knew that this was the start of it all. Will Mum be next? he wondered sadly.

Arcadia and Blair’s son, Paul, had just returned from college and had just bought a new house in preparation for his marriage to Katherine Hill. He was keen to get on with his new life, but he didn’t feel comfortable leaving his father on his own. Blair hadn’t been the same since his wife’s death, and Paul worried that the next time his father wandered off in the middle of cooking dinner would be the death of him too.

After talking it over with his fiancé, they decided to ask Blair to live with them. It took a lot of talking on Paul’s part, not to mention repeating things since Blair was a little hard of hearing now, but eventually he got his father to first understand what he was asking, and then to agree to it.

A little worried that Blair might not last long enough for a long engagement, Paul and Katherine married the same night they moved in to their new house in a very simple ceremony with their family in attendance.

(It took a fair bit of convincing to get Timothy to stop hanging out with his daughter, and even then he stayed sitting down throughout the ceremony!)

Since they’d only just moved in there wasn’t exactly a lot of seating for the guests, but that wasn’t really that much of a problem for Katherine and Paul. As far as they were concerned, less furniture meant more room for pillow fighting, their favourite activity in college.

Sadly, Paul and Katherine didn’t have much longer left with Blair. His health and his mental state had deteriorated faster than they’d feared. He’d already adopted a Golden Retriever named Otis, called out repairmen when nothing was broken, and kept ordering food they didn’t need. When he heard Otis howling mournfully in the front yard, Paul knew that this was it. Just one day after finding out he was going to become a grandfather, the Grim Reaper came for Blair.

The next morning, Katherine and Paul, still upset by their loss were shocked to discover that Blair had ordered something one last time before his death. This time he’d called an adoption agency and adopted a little boy called Brian Jones. Brian’s parents were soccer fanatics and had died in the stampede when fire had broken out in a football stadium.

An already pregnant Katherine took one look at the little boy and fell in love with his big smile and red hair. “We’re keeping him,” she told Paul firmly. “Your Dad wouldn’t want us to send him back and he won’t be much trouble. Besides, he’s adorable!”

(Actually, it wasn’t Blair that was going crazy – it was me. I could have sworn I was getting him to order a repairman, but it wasn’t until I’d clicked automatically on the “yes” button that I realised that that was actually the dialog box for the adoption agency. Oops!)

Although Katherine had moved out and married, Thomas had yet to tie the knot with his fiancé, Marie. Even though he hadn’t really got on well with Dixon when he was a kid, he made the decision to stay home and take care of his parents for as long as they needed him. Dixon appreciated the gesture, but he still wasn’t sure why his son felt the need to wear dark glasses everywhere he went.

“Oh, leave him alone, Dixon. You were young once remember?” Aneleh teased.

“Maybe so, but I didn’t keep bumping into furniture like he does,” grumbled Dixon.

Lately Dixon had been starting to feel his age. He started spending more time finishing his novel, “The Case Files of Dixon Hill, P.I.” and was nearly done. Aneleh, also starting to feel as if their time together was numbered, spent hours in the office as well, just keeping Dixon company.

His only other activity in the last few days of his life was cuddling his wife and making sure she knew how loved she was.

Katie came for lunch one day and Dixon made the only meal the women in his life trusted him to make, Caesar Salad. He’d served it to Aneleh and Katie (Thomas was out working), and was just about to take a plate for himself when he felt the kitchen drop in temperature. Without turning around he knew who was behind him.

“Time to go, Dixon,” a ghostly voice whispered behind him.

“I know,” he replied, sighing. “I know.”

Aneleh and Katie ran into the kitchen but it was too late: Dixon had already passed away.

Katie stayed with Aneleh until she heard Thomas pull up outside.

“Thomas is here,” she said as she hugged Aneleh tightly. “I need to get home to Alex and I don’t want to break this to him over the phone. Will you be okay?”

Aneleh nodded and wiped her eyes. “I’ll be fine, Katie. You go be with your boy.” Then she caught sight of the salad still sitting on the table and the tears started flowing again. “He… never… *sob*… got to… eat his… *sniff*… salad…” she sobbed.

Aneleh’s days became mechanical. She’d always played chess with Dixon; now she played alone. She read but didn’t remember a word of the book once she’d finished. She tried to watch television but usually ended up switching it off before long. Having Thomas staying home was a great comfort to her, but his hours were often unpredictable, leaving him sleeping for most of the day and working at night.

The only pleasure she got out of life now was a stray cat that she ended up adopting.

Sake was a friendly, Burmese with eyes as green as Aneleh’s own. She was always demanding hugs and amusing Aneleh with her antics. Aneleh spoiled the cat outrageously, letting the cat jump up on counters and sleep on the beds. Thomas frequently used to come home exhausted and find his bed already occupied.

Aside from Sake, the only other happiness in Aneleh’s life seemed to be when she was asleep when she was free to dream of Dixon and forget about his death. She hated waking up again though. It would always leave her crying; empty and angry that she hadn’t died in her sleep.

Just when she’d begun to think she’d be waiting forever, the Grim Reaper answered her prayers and came for her. He offered her a drink and a suitcase. She took the drink readily enough, but looked in confusion at the suitcase.

“What’s in the suitcase?” she asked.

“Memories, Aneleh,” the Grim Reaper answered, with what sounded suspiciously like a smile in his voice. “Lots and lots of memories. Drink up – Dixon is waiting for you.”

Aneleh swallowed the drink quickly and smiled blissfully as she faded from view. “Oh, Dixon,” she whispered.

Sake stayed exactly where she was when Aneleh had died. She didn’t stop meowing for her friend until Thomas came home from work half an hour later.

The urns for Aneleh and Dixon have been placed in a pre-prepared crypt for Aneleh and her descendants in the Lonely River Memorial Gardens.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 10th, 2006 at 8:39 pm and is filed under Lonely River. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.