NANA

The year is 2030. Joe, a middle-aged man with rugged features is looking at his field. The field is void of most vegetation. His home is next to a beautiful lake, teaming with fish. He picks up a clump of dry dirt and crumbles it in his hand. He looks up to the sky and quietly says to himself "A little rain would be nice." His voice is deep, soothing , and drawn out. He continues his stroll through the field with disappointment. About 100 yards away, a van suddenly appears and slams on the brakes. The sliding door flies open and an elderly woman can be seen stepping out of it. Her eyes are like saucers, the skin around them cracking like the ground of his property. Joe watches as the terrified old woman takes tiny, quick, surprisingly careful steps away from the van. The passenger, a middle-aged woman, leans out of the window and shouts at the old woman " I’m sorry, Nana! We just can’t afford to keep you!” The driver reaches his arm out of the window and tosses a small, ornate plastic box. The box hits the old woman in the head and she falls to the ground. Joe runs up to help her shouting at the man "Hey! What the hell are you doing?" As the van drives away the passenger shouts back " We love you!” The passenger then quickly ducks her head back into the van as it speeds off. When Joe makes it to the old woman he notices a small cut on her forehead where the small, plastic box had hit her. He then looks at the van, still speeding away and shouts "Hey!" livid at what he just witnessed. She is moaning in pain. Joe reaches down to touch her wound but stops. He thinks to himself "I know I got some first aid back at the house." He looks at his home which is a few hundred yards away. "Well, I can’t leave you out here." he says to the elderly woman. Suddenly she mumbles something through her barely opening mouth. Joe responds "What?" in which she reply’s "Pearls..." Joe looks around. He sees the ornate plastic box on the ground and walks over to it. When he picks it up he stares at it for a second. The old woman continues to moan as he puts the box in his pocket. He then makes his way back to her. He looks back at his house and let’s out a deep breath "Here we go." he utters. Joe then picks her up, carrying her towards his home.

The old woman is bandaged up and resting on a couch in his old farm house. Joe has since given her the ornate box back and as she rests, she is clutching it. Everything in the house is in need of a touch up or repair. Joe is sitting in his rocking chair looking at an election flyer. "JACK JAMESON FOR SHERIFF" it reads. Joe grabs and sets the flyer down by a coffee mug stained from age and continuous use. He’s decides to give Jack a call since they’re good friends and perhaps he could provide some insight into this situation. The Sheriff picks up, "Sheriff’s office." Joe responds "Howdy Jack!” The Sheriff immediately recognizes his deep voice. "Joe! How ya doin?" Joe smiles and replies "As withered and dried up as my land. How’s the new edition to the family of mutts you got?". The Sheriff confidently rebuttals, "He’s a strong, young pup. Has a lot of fight in him just like his mother. He rolled over just the other day and he’s only a month old." As he tells this story indistinct voices can be heard on the Sheriff's end of the phone. Joe continues the conversation saying, "His mother was the same way." There's a pause between them. Joe takes a sip of his coffee. The Sheriff finally breaks the silence saying " I’m sorry, Joe. There’s a lot going on here today. Re-election is coming up. Can we talk at a later time?" Joe suddenly remembers why he called the Sheriff in the first place saying " Actually, something weird happened today when I was walking my field.” "What's that?" asked the Sheriff who now magically had some more time to spare. Joe begins to explain the strange occurrence of the old woman saying " Well, as best as I can tell, an old woman was abandoned on my property. Not sure what for or why." The Sheriff has now grown even more curious about the situation replying " Really? That far south? That's odd. Usually they drop them off a little farther north. A lot of well off families up there. They must not know this area very well." Without warning the old woman can be heard snoring, exhausted from God knows what. Confused by the Sheriffs reply Joe eagerly sets his coffee down on the table. "What do you mean?" he asks. As the Sheriff begins to explain himself Joe has a hard time hearing him over the old woman's snoring so he stands up and goes to another room. "We’ve had problems with Newly Abandoned Non-essential Aged Seniles or N.A.N.A.S as we call them. If you take her to the nearest shelter she can wait there until she’s either adopted or put down." explains the Sheriff. Appalled by the idea Joe shouts back "That’s murder!" Ashamed and embarrassed by what he just has said the Sheriff reply's "I’m sorry, Joe. I’ve got to go now bud. Are you still friends with Dan Wellsworth?" Joe replies "Yes, but I don’t see how that’s gonna..." before he can finish his sentence the Sheriff rudely advises "Take the Nana to him. He can tell you if she is worth keeping. I appreciate your vote!” Suddenly the Sheriff hangs up. Joe is still for a minute staring at his phone trying to comprehend what he just heard. He decides that all his answers can be found at Dan's place, it has been awhile since he's seen him. While putting his phone away he hears a thump. He goes back into the living room where the old woman is still snoring. The ornate box has fallen on the floor. Joe picks it up and sets it on the couch beside her. He then sits himself down and grabs his cup of coffee. Waiting for her to awaken he says “Once you wake up we’re getting to the bottom of this.”

Its midday now, around 2:40 p.m. Joe is driving his old red truck along the country side headed to Dan's home which is a little closer to the North. He looks at the old woman who is staring out of the passenger side window at the sun, eye's glazed. Neither of them say a word to each other. It is now 3:00 p.m. and Joe has finally made it to Dan Wellworth's beautiful Plantation styled home. As Joe steps out of his truck Dan is already waiting outside for him having heard the noisy, old, red , rusted machine come up his driveway. Dan waves, Joe waves back. Dan's 1800 styled home is reminiscent of the time period, furnished by white chesterfield pieces. Joe makes his way to Dan’s dinning room. He takes a seat at his table with a cup of freshly made coffee provided by Dan. The mug looks as if it had never been used before, the complete opposite condition of his cup back home. Dan is in the middle of his living room examining the old woman. While he’s doing this three other older people are seen lounging and scuttling through Dan’s house. One is cooking in the kitchen, another is crocheting in the corner of the living room, and the last one is playing solitaire on the other side of the dinning room table. Joe cautiously observes all three as he sips on his coffee. Dan's examination has led him to the mouth of the toothless old woman. To Joe it’s as if she's a show dog about to participate in a competition or something. Upon completing his examination Dan excuses her. “Go on now, make some friends.” He nicely demands and she immediately goes to the old person playing solitaire. She curiously observes the old mans game, transfixed by it. As Joe takes a sip of his coffee, Dan takes a seat beside him. "Well, she's not in the best shape." he reveals. "She’s high energy, which is good, but she's showing signs of dementia and those missing teeth are a major problem. If she had them she might be worth keeping." Suddenly Joe's Nana begins looking around for something, only muttering to herself. "I’m sorry...this is all confusing to me, could you explain, please?" asks Joe. Dan reply's saying "Without her teeth she isn’t going to be able to eat solid food." Suddenly the old woman shouts "Pearls!" Startled by this Joe sits down his coffee and then places his focuses back on Dan to continue their conversation. "I didn't come here to talk about her teeth Dan, I wanna know why an old woman was abandoned randomly on my property. I reckon you have three of them living in your house so what's all this about?" Dan dances around his question replying "Oh, well Nanas prefer the company of other Nanas. I think it’s so they can crochet, garden and eat lunch together." "That’s not what I mean." Joe rebuttals, becoming frustrated with Dan. "Your not gonna like the real answer either way." Dan explains. "Try me" declares Joe. Dan stands up from the table and faces Joe's Nana telling him the truth he tried to avoid. "Most of them are dumped because keeping a Nana is expensive. You know as well as I do that the cost of living assistance or Hospice care can be overwhelming even with health insurance." Just like Dan predicted, Joe is not satisfied with this answer. At this point Joe has given up his search for any clarity and wants to rid himself of this old woman. "Can you take on one more?" he asks. "Oh, lord, no. As you’ve noticed I have three already and I can only afford their care because I inherited a fortune from my folks including this very home. Judging from her condition I would have to spend all my time with her and I can't do that. The wife and I just started our retirement and you know how women get when they don't get the attention they want from their man. My peace would be ruined!" Realizing that he may have to keep this old woman for good, Joe finally asks Dan "What do you think I should do with her?" Dan sits down, leans close to Joe, and with the most sincere disposition replies "Give her a good meal and then...give her some peace." Joe knows exactly what he means by this and is disturbed to his core. As Dan stands up to go to the kitchen Joe sadly asks, "Why does it have to come to that?" Dan replies "The same reason why most things come to the conclusions they do in this twisted country Joe, money." As Dan leaves the dining room Joe takes a long look at the old woman who is now rocking back and forth on her feet watching Dan's Nana play solitaire. She continues to utter the word "Pearls”. Joe then takes another sip of his coffee.

Joe is driving with a purpose back to his home now. He looks at the old woman as she stares blankly into the sky through the window. He intends on making her worth keeping and decides since she won't say her name he'll just call her "Nana" for the time being. When they finally arrive back at his home Joe carries the sleeping old woman's frail body up the driveway, up the stairs, and through the front door. As she sleeps peacefully in his arms he sits her down in the rocking chair. He then leans her head back. "Can't have you falling over Nana." he says to her. Joe then walks to the kitchen to get her some food and Nana begins to snore yet again. There is a gun above the doorway into the kitchen which Joe keeps for specific, dramatic situations. Local kids have been breaking into peoples homes, stealing their China and jewelry. Joe is not trying to be a victim of that so having the fire arm between the kitchen and the living room just made the most sense. In the kitchen Joe can be seen making a simple dish he'd seen prepared for his own grandmother who was sent to Hospice a year ago before she passed, a nice warm bowl of homemade apple cinnamon oatmeal. Joe then takes the warm bowl to Nana who has since awakened from her nap. He sits it down on a propped up dinner tray that attaches to the chair but she doesn't appear to notice it. He attempts to reassure her saying "It was no trouble, really. Eat up." He doesn't want her to feel bad about herself since he’s done so much for her. Joe then nudges the freshly made bowl of oatmeal a little closer to her hopping she can smell the cinnamon and apple aroma. "Go on." he gently demands . Nana takes a short pause to look at Joe. "Pearls." she utters as she stares off into his eyes. Joe shakes his head. "How about this? I'll give you your pearls after you eat. You haven’t eaten all day and its almost dark out. You need to eat." Joe is worried that she's starving. He picks up the bowl and the spoon. "How about we give this a try?" he suggests. Joe scoops up a small amount of oatmeal and attempts to feed Nana, but she won’t open her mouth. "Come on. You’ve got to open up." Joe demands, fearing the worse. Nana opens her mouth a little bit and Joe gently puts the spoon inside of it but she spits it out onto her chin. Tears begin to weld up in Joe's eyes as he stares at the now cold oatmeal dripping onto her tattered, long sleeve black shirt. He attempts to scoop it back into her mouth, but is unsuccessful. "She can’t keep the food in without her teeth." he remembers. Suddenly one tear falls down Joe's cheek and he wipes it as quickly as it came. "You know, you remind me of my Grandma a little bit. She always enjoyed a nice evening stroll around the lake. Let’s go for a walk, just you and me."

Nana gets up and walks out through the kitchen door, Joe follows her grabbing the gun above the doorway on his way out. As the moonlight glimmers across the lake Joe and Nana are walking through some trees surrounded by allot of shrubs. Nana stops for a moment and begins to drift off, staring at the full moon. Joe aims his silver pistol at the back of her head, hands shaking. He’s never killed a person before let alone an old woman. Suddenly a single gunshot is heard echoing through the night. The sound of a few crickets follows the crackling fire of the 9mm pistol. After the deed is done Joe is seen walking through the front door of his home, head down, pistol swaying in his grip. As he sits in his rocking chair he notices the ornate box from before. He had placed it on the couch earlier not knowing what else to do with it. He walks over to it, full of guilt, and picks up the box. He opens it to see a set of teeth, denture paste, and denture cleaner with a note next to it that reads "Granny's Pearls". Joe places the box down and stares into the glimmering, beautiful moonlight, lost for words.

THE END