[BP] Scenes In the Life of Possible Man #4
Tim Munn
Scenes In the Life of Possible Man #4
By Tim Munn
The World of Possible Man, I
~Scenes In and Around an Old Folks Home~
Possible Man stretched in front of the Heroes Alliance of America Old
Folks Home after his short and uneventful flight. It wasn't nearly
as often as he liked that he got the chance to fly anywhere; really, he
liked to fly, but just wasn't any good at it. Possible Man entered
the building, immediately turning right and into the one of the
patients' rooms. He stood inside the doorway, noticing the old man
sitting up in bed to the left of the doorway.
"Hey, Grandpa Elmore! How're you doing?" Possible Man said,
startling his grandfather.
"Who?! What?" Elmore said, glancing around as quickly as an
eighty-seven year old could.
"It's me, your grandson," he said, sitting next to his
grandfather. "Roger. Do you remember me?" Roger asked his
grandfather.
"Of course I remember you Roger. How could I forget my favorite
grandson?" he laughed.
"Your only grandson," Roger added. He hoisted the strap to the
book bag he was carrying above his head, handing it to his grandfather.
"I got you some of your favorite books and magazines for you in
there. I even got you this," he said, opening the bag and talking
out a brown package. He took the contents out of the package, and
showed them to Elmore. "The dealer said it was the entire
thirteen-issue run of Captain Omega," he said, waving his arms about,
signifying to himself that it was a big deal. "I don't know why
you read those funny-books anyway? What's so interesting about the
lives of fictional super-heroes when we live the same life everyday?"
Elmore seemed not to notice the question posed by his grandson, as he
flipped through the first issue of Captain Omega, cover dated July
1947. "I spent a lot of money just on those alone," Possible Man
said, once again waving his arms about. "A thousand dollars just on
that issue alone."
Elmore looked to him, a look of shock on his face. "Sweet Jesus! A
thousand dollars just for one funny-book?! That's highway robbery!
Why, back in my day-!"
So Roger heard a long spiel about his grandfather's memories of that
era and its funny-books. But not just funny-books, oh no!, but gas
prices back in the day; the price of a gallon of milk; the cost of a
college education; the cost of just about everything. But in reality,
thought Roger, not too bad for a man who had been living with
Alzheimer's for nearly five years.
After five or so minutes Elmore settled down again, picking up the
second issue of Captain Omega. "Grandpa," Roger said, looking at
the cover of Captain Omega #3. "Really, why do you read these?" he
asked.
Elmore sat Captain Omega #2 down atop #3. He crossed his arms and
thought for awhile. He sighed, and then gave his answer. "Roger, I
came into the world," he paused, but did not continue. Elmore looked
around and sighed. Roger noticed his situation.
"Elmore? It's me, your grandson, Roger Waldron. Would you like a
nurse?"
Elmore considered this a moment and whispered 'Roger'. Roger was
about to speak when Elmore spoke up. "Roger, I'm dying," he
whispered again, sounding far off. "Please, take me home," he
cried into Roger's shoulder.
Later the next day...
"I'm glad you could come with me Sam," Roger said to his friend.
They'd been friends for years, ever since Sam and his family had
moved next door to his grandpa. "Grandpa will like to see a familiar
face on our outing!"
"I know how bad off Elmore is, and I want to be there for him, the
both of you, in his last days," Sam said, getting emotional. "He
was more a father to me than my own father!" Sam covered his face
and slumped into the passenger seat of Roger's car.
"I know he was Sam," Roger said, starting the car. "He was the
same to me." Tears streamed down his face as he drove to the Home.
At the Heroes Alliance of America Old Folks Home...
"Hi, I'm Roger Waldron. I'm here to pick up my grandfather,
Elmore Waldron."
The nurse at the station, Carla, was nice and pointed himself and Sam
to the Directors' office. The Director of the Home, a middle-aged
man with a bit of a gut, looked at the paper work that confirmed that
Roger was who he said he was. The Director was amazed that Roger and
Sam were the only ones on Elmore's list. Roger hesitated answering,
and it was Sam who did provide an answer. "Well, the family is just
so spread out across the country now, it's hard to get anyone in here
on such short notice." That answer was good enough for the Director,
as he signed off on the paper work. The Director phoned the nurses
station and informed Carla to prepare Mr. Waldron and his belongings.
He rose and gave several handshakes, and officially announced Elmore
Waldron in the custody of Mr. Roger Waldron and Mr. Sam Locke.
"Are we going to have a party?" Elmore asked to no one in
particular. Sam leaned forward in between the seats.
"Yeah, I think we could do that for you,"' Sam smiled. "We
can have it at my place if you want, Roger?"
"Hey, that sounds all right to me! Can I invite anyone?" he said,
knowing of two or three people to invite.
"Fine by me!" Sam chimed.
"Thank you, Sammy," Elmore said, holding a hand up. Sam clasped
his hand, and held it for the distance between the Home and the city
limits. It was there, however, that Elmore had become agitated. Sam
darted his head from Elmore to Roger and back again.
"Roger, what's happening to him?"
"I don't know Sam," he said, pulling to the side of the road.
"A seizure perhaps?" His medical knowledge was limited to what was
taught in a super-basic EMT course, and even then, he didn't pay
attention to what was taught. He kicked himself mentally over that,
making a mental note to take the refresher courses. He lowered the
seat into its reclining position. Sam took Elmore's hand.
"Let me up!!" Elmore suddenly screamed. He sat up only with
Roger's help. Elmore opened the car door, and immediately bolted, as
fast as he could, to a nearby field. Sam and Roger were quickly behind
Elmore, trying to find the reason behind his agitation. Elmore
suddenly stopped. He laughed a little, which freaked out both Roger
and Sam. "You see?" he asked them, yet they say nothing more than
a pebbly field littered by various debris. "Roger, Sam, this is
where I came into this world! Grandma Rachel could attest to that!"
"I'm sure she could if she were around, grandpa," Roger said,
taking him by the arm. "But I don't think you're feeling well.
Let's go back to the car, huh?"
Elmore refused. "This is where I was born, and this is where I
die," he said solemnly. "Stuck here for fifty-eight years, and
I'm finally going home!" he said, before collapsing. Sam and Roger
dropped to their knees checking over Elmore.
"God, there's no pulse!" Sam screamed, as he started CPR.
A few days later...
"...And so, we give Elmore Raymond Waldron to the Lord's hands.
Amen."
"Thank you, Reverend Custer. That was an outstanding service,"
Roger said, shaking the Reverend's hand.
"It was my pleasure, as Elmore was one of this Church's strongest
supporters. It was befitting for a man such as him," the Reverend
said, remembering Elmore. He shook Roger's hand again before Roger
departed.
"Roger, about that information you requested?"
"What did you find out, dad?"
"According to Aunt Alicia, Grandma Rachel's sister, that land
belonged to their family. It was used as farmland and the local dump
before someone bought it. She didn't quite remember the man's
name, except it might have been Gray. Anyways, he put a movie theater
on it, but it folded up within the year. That gravel is all that's
left of the parking lot. There was never a house or hospital on that
property," he said, looking intently to his son. "Are you sure
that's what grandpa said?"
Roger only nodded. He walked to the edge of his grandfathers'
grave, where a few loose chunks of earth fell in. He thought only
briefly about the last mystery his grandfather bestowed upon him, as he
broke down and cried like he hadn't cried before.
*****
Author's Notes:
Copyright 12/22/2005 Tim Munn 3:22 a.m.
This is the largely re-written version of what was to be Scenes In the
Life of Possible Man #3. The only similarities between the two are the
opening paragraph, which made it through with minor touch ups. I was
at first confused by the funny-books, but was content with the answer
given by Roger (that's why _they_ call them funny-books); but it also
shows how close Roger was to his grandpa, I think, in his willingness
to spend thousands of dollars on him, when the underlying (and sad)
reason for their closeness is revealed later. This issue got off the
ground when a scene instantaneously flashed in my mind (Elmore's last
car ride), and right afterwards I started to write information on Sam
Locke plain out of the blue. I know a lot about Sam now, too bad he
isn't the main character (and really, I don't know if he'll be
making any more appearances, at least anytime soon). And just hours
before I wrote this, I loosely, and I mean loosely even to my
standards, planned out Possible Man to about #20. If it actually gets
to twenty issues, no one knows.
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