“How are you today, Mrs. Pottom?”
Silence.
“I got you a sandwich; bologna, cheese, mayonnaise, and your favorite, cottage cheese.”
Silence.
“Okay, you eat your sandwich, and I’ll put on I Love Lucy for you.”
Mrs. Pottom smiled widely. Her white hair laid in curls on her shoulders, and her blue eyes smiled at the television. Ayden put on I Love Lucy, and Mrs. Pottom drifted into past remembrance of her childhood.
It was the first of June, 1951. Annie was twelve years old and her family had just bought a television set.
“Annie, why must you constantly be inside watching television? You need to go outside and play.”
“But momma, this show is funny; it makes me laugh.”
“You can watch it anytime. Now, go outside.”
Annie bounced away as her mother turned off the television. Annie was a big girl, not heavy, but broad with manly shoulders. When she walked, she caused slight tremors to shake the floorboards; her facial features consisted of a dry yam, and her mouth resembled a hound dog’s. The only thing soft about her was her deep blue eyes and long eyelashes; it was the only thing that made her mother proud.
She was often confused with being slow, but the only thing slow about her was her movements. She was quite brilliant, and often very witty. On the other hand, her mother was a beauty queen, and oblivious to her daughter's intelligence; she’d won the title of “Miss Mississippi” in 1939, but she stopped that year due to an unexpected surprise.
Annie was running outside due to orders but soon learned to have fun. She sat on the tire swing, enjoying the rare cool breeze when her mother shouted for her to come inside to eat supper. Annie turned and got out of the swing to go to the porch when her thick foot got caught in protruding root and fell. Her thought was to cover her hands to protect her face, but when she made an impact, her hand opened her jaw and it slammed shut on her tongue. It flopped like a fish out of water on the ground, and the only sound was the murmured cries of a little girl.
A nurse walked in and saw Mrs. Pottom sleeping. She turned off the television, and suddenly Mrs. Pottom awoke, whining.
“What is it Mrs. Pottom? Are you okay?” The nurse said with a mocking smile.
Mrs. Pottom continued to whine.
“Leave me alone, leave me alone”, Mrs. Pottom shouted in her head.
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Pottom. I have your medicine right here,” the nurse said with a sinister grin.
Mrs. Pottom’s little, frail body fought with all its strength to fight off the wicked nurse and her evil afflictions. But the nurse pinned Mrs. Pottoms’ hands and feet with her own and forced a spoonful of sleeping syrup down her throat.
As Mrs. Pottom drifted into her last sleep, she remembered the feeling she had always gotten when watching I Love Lucy, and always thinking if her life could ever be that happy.