I need a place to post my mental meanderings.

The Day Room

The gentle sounds of a distant memory danced freely above the upright piano in the corner. A woman, lost in another place and time, caressed the ivory of a long ago baby grand. The out-of-tune keys could not hide the talent of she still possessed. But this impromptu concert was marred by the conversations of elderly men, none of whom would admit their deafness and each shouted to be heard.
A wreck of a man sat hunched over in his wheelchair alternately wheezing and cursing; a small existence made empty by his own contempt. Holding court in the center of the room, seemingly oblivious to the others surrounding them, were The Ladies; three women who wore their house coats and orthopedic shoes with dignity. A life time of back fence gossip spilled forth as they clustered together around a jigsaw puzzle that never quite got finished. These spurious stories of people long past were the thread that help them together but separated them from the possibility of more.
An outsider looking in might wonder at such a place. At first glance the social atmosphere seemed pleasing but the harsh fluorescent lighting and institutional furnishings quickly brought even the most casual observer back to focus. This was the dayroom and these were the Forgotten.