The frigid morning wreaked havoc on Glendora’s knees as she descended her staircase. With each pop she murmured under her breath about holding off on knee replacement. Although she was in her sixties Glendora felt youthful and hid her ailments from her daughters. She swore she’d never turn out like her own mother complaining about her pain, “If I woke up and nothing hurt, then I’ve probably died.” Glendora’s pain was trivial, and she didn’t feel the need to share it with the world.
At the bottom of the stairs Glendora slid her feet into light pink house slippers and slowly strolled to the kitchen. She placed a kettle on the stove and turned the burner on high. As she reached for her Folgers Instant Coffee her cat Hershey jumped onto the counter.
“You know you’re not supposed to be up here.”
Hershey nudged into Glendora’s stomach, purring and crying with hunger. Setting the coffee aside she walked into her pantry and grabbed a can of cat food. A loud howl came from the stove and Glendora scurried over to remove the kettle from the heat. She scooped the Royal Canin into Hershey’s bowl and placed the spoon in the sink. As she bent over Hershey jumped off the counter and started weaving between her legs. She placed the food on the floor and stroked his back as he devoured his food.
When she stood upright a cloud of dizziness surged to her head. Holding tight to the counter she regained her balance and went back to making her coffee. Pouring hot water over the Folgers sent an aroma in the air that filled her senses. She shook two packets of Sweet’n Low into her cup and topped it off with milk.
After retrieving the newspaper from her porch, she thumbed through each section until reaching Sports. She folded it perfectly along the crease and placed it onto her husband’s end table; just as she did every day since the day he passed. Glendora sat in her double recliner, let out an uneasy sigh, and pulled out the Entertainment section. Reaching into the recliners console she pulled out her erasable pen and a dictionary. Glendora carefully crimped the paper into a perfect square around the crossword puzzle.
“One across. World’s largest rain forest.”
Just as she was writing the “n” for Amazon, Hershey jumped onto her lap. “Listen here cat, you’re going to have to curl up on your blanket, your mommas got some sleuthing to do.” Glendora spread a blanket in the adjacent recliner and placed him in the middle. Hershey persisted through five “nos’” before lying down. She pushed her glasses up to meet her eyeline and focused back onto her crossword.
“Five down. The Crown streaming provider.”