Esther was sleeping. Her eyelids twitched. In her dream Babe was alive. Her little hands. Her rosy cheeks. Esther awoke abruptly. The room was dark. I’ve been sick, she thought. Yes, it was my lip. I had a sore removed. A little skin cancer. She went to the bathroom and turned on the light. She squinted at herself. Her head was almost bald. Just wispy around the back. She saw the bandage on her chest. She looked at her lip. It looks much better. Why is this here? She took the bandage off her chest and flushed it down the toilet. She saw that there was a freshly sutured incision.

Dick is an early riser, but at that hour he was sleeping. Merry was sleeping, and Velvet slept between them on the bed. Lucky was sleeping on the floor. Five years earlier, Lucky had had a stroke and Dick took him to the vet. The vet recommended euthanasia But Dick could not give up on Lucky. Dick kept the deaf, blind, invalid dog alive, in spite of its nightly crying sessions. Most of Lucky’s fur was gone. What remained was matted and host to fleas. Being deaf, Lucky was the only occupant of the room undisturbed by Esther’s call.

    “Dick?”
    “Yes Mom.”
    “My lip looks better.”
    “Your lip?”
    “But there is a cut on my side here…my chest.”
    “Mom, we took you to the doctor today and he put in a new pacemaker, remember?”
    “My lip…”
    “Last year, mom.”
    “He changed the battery?”
    “No, Mom. He changed the pacemaker.”
    “Dick, I took off the bandage.”
    “Don’t touch it, Mom. Go back to bed.”
    “Babe was in my dream.”
    “Oh yeah?”
    “She was a beautiful baby.”
    “Maybe you will dream about her some more, Mom. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
    “Will you take me shopping, Dick?”
    “I’ll get you tomorrow. Go back to bed.”
    “Sorry. Goodnight.”
    “Night Mom.”

Lucky started to cry. Dick got out of bed and carried Lucky to the back yard. Lucky peed all over himself.

Esther was dreaming again. Babe was alive. She had her tonsils out, but she’s alive. It was a dream, a nightmare honey. I dreamed you died and Dickie never met you and then Herb died and I was all alone. What happened to your hair, Mommy? It all fell out, Babe, I lost it. But I still have million dollar legs.

Merry was in a bad mood. Sometimes she would just be in a bad mood. Dick was not sure why. Sometimes Dick would think how stupid Merry was. She’s so dumb. No really she’s sick. I’ve made her crazy. She’s just in a bad mood.

Dick bought her a Datsun 280Z. it’s parked in the garage. Four thousand miles on it. Body in perfect condition. Everything in the house is in perfect condition. The books are all wrapped in plastic.

Merry keeps the house spotlessly clean. The kitchen has a new tile floor. It is covered in cardboard to keep it in perfect condition. The stove has never been used.

On Sunday, Dick and Merry and Lucky and Velvet were watching a rerun of Sanford and Son. Esther had called twice. Velvet farted. Lucky did not notice.

    “Dick!”
    “It wasn’t me, Mer.”
    The phone rang.
    “What’s my address, Dick?”
    “320 South Almont Drive.”
    “That’s the address I had in Bettendorf. How long have I been here?”
    “Fifteen years, Mom.”
    “Dick, I have a terrible feeling someone has died back home!”
    “No one has died, Mom.”
    “I wish I could remember. In Davenport. He was so handsome. Oh, Dick, what am I going to do about my memory?”
    “Forget about it, Mom.”
    “Are you coming today?”
    “I was there this morning.”
    “Oh sorry. I love you, Dear.
    “I love you, Mom.”

The news came on after Sanford and Son.  “…The debonair actor was stricken while in Davenport, Iowa on a speaking engagement.  Cary Grant was eighty two.”

Esther slept in front of the television. She was dreaming. She could not find the key to her mailbox. When she found her mail there was a letter from her grandson. Although he was a professor at an eastern university, in her dream he was still a student and was asking her for money. On TV a couple won a million dollars. Esther jerked awake. She went to her desk and got out a note card with flowers on the front. She took a pen and wrote.   

Esther sealed the card, walked to the corner, and mailed it.

    “Mom”
    “Dick?”
    “You wrote another letter.”
    “What?”
    “I talked to Bruce, Mom, and he said you wrote him a very mean letter.”
    “He wrote me.”
    “Mom, don’t write any more letters.”
    “I wrote to Mister Falk.”
    “I told you not to write him. If you get thrown out of this building I’m not helping you find another apartment and you’ll have to go to a home, understand?”

Lucky sat on the floor yelping continuously, his useless hind legs tucked underneath him. Merry sat in front of the bathroom mirror putting on her wig. Her mouth cut straight across her tight face. She was mad.

Dick hung up the phone and went into the other room to practice his piano. He was working on Bach. He’d been practicing this same piece for forty years. He always made the same mistakes.