"Henry! Henry! Come in here! You are going to catch a death of cold!"

Fat bitch. Who do you think you're talking to? That's what he wanted to say. Linda was his least favorite nurse after all. One of these young women who talked to all the residents in a louder than necessary voice, like provincial Americans speak to non-English speaking foreigners. We're not all deaf you dumb fucking cow!

He didn't say any thing of the sort. He just pretended not to hear her, taking the last few drags of the cigarette he was't permitted to have. That's when he noticed her.

The wind blew through her white hair like a gust through a snow drift. The younger woman with her, undeniably her daughter, kept trying to hold her arm, but the woman with the wild, snowy hair kept shrugging it off. "Sarah, if I needed a damn cane, I'd buy one!"

He admired her spunk immediately, but that admiration was bittersweet in his quick realization that the staff of Pine Grove would break her. Probably quickly. Poor old gal. His welcome to new "residents," who were lucid, contained a laundry list of survival tips, which he would surely attempt to impart to this woman, whose tall build and graceful features, whose pin-straight posture and clean lines, made her instantly out of place in the home's dreary reception area. Yes, although it probably woulnd't save her, he would share what he had learned over the last five years:

1) Never ever eat the pork chop dinner
2) Only take half of any of the pills they give you
3) Take walks when ever you find an unlocked door
4) Never play chess with Bill
5) Never sass Ms. Beth
6) 3 AM is the best time to sneak out
7) Make a copy of any keys you can lay your hands on during the weekly Wal-Mart trip
8) Don't watch television
9) Avoid Dr. Stevenson
10) Don't tell anyone they hit you.

Right now though, it all seemed distant. Pine Grove, the past might as well be tiny stars flickering in the slate sky overhead. Right now, Roy just wanted to breathe. The sharp night air felt good. The ground underfoot, hard with frost, crunched with each step. Maybe, Roy thought, he would start running through the orchards, over the sloping hills, just keep running. Never come back. -- RJ