Walking, Talking, Dead

I felt fine when I agreed to take my mother to see her parents. We hadn't been there in almost a month, so it was time for a visit. I must admit, that the past three weeks I've been fighting a sore throat that keeps coming back and a cold/flu thingy in between. Friday night I went to bed kind of early and woke up unable to swallow at 2:00am. My neck was sore from swollen glands, but after taking a couple of cold tablets it seemed to disappear.

We had discussed the visit earlier in the week so after the Friday night episode I debated all day Saturday if I really should risk going to see them or not. I wouldn't want them to get ill.

In the end, we decided that it should be ok. My throat seems to be on the mend, so we left aroud noon.

It takes about an hour and a half to get there. I have to take the less travelled toll highway, the 407, because my mom is nervous on the busier 401, so the distance is a little further.

The sun was shining today and the sky was filled with big fluffy clouds. A perfect day for a drive.

Grandma and Grandpa were very happy to see us and I took a seat in my favourite recliner. It actually was my mom's but she let my grandpa have it when she moved back with me.

It is one of the most comfortable chairs I've ever met. It seems to really like me. I actually think that I'm it's favourite. Whenever I sit in it, it feels like it wraps itself around me, urging me to relax.

My grandfather was talking to me. Something about when he worked at the box factory, heavy work, very heav..y....


I could hear dishes clattering faintly in the distance. The noise started to get closer and closer, then suddenly my eyes flashed opened and I could see that an hour had disappeared. I looked around the living room and noticed that it was empty. I could hear my grandfather and grandmother talking in the kitchen.

"Where's mom?"


"She's next door visiting Kay."

"Oh, ok."

The recliner hugged me closer to it and the chatter of my grandparent's started to drift away until it was a soft drone in the background.

I don't know where I was, but it was a warm, comfortable place and the next thing I remember was hearing my mother's voice mixed in with my grandparent's. I have no idea what they were talking about and it seemed to take me a long time to come back to consciousness.

Another hour was lost by the time I forced my eyes open. Mom and grandpa were talking about having a piece of lemon merangue pie and my grandmother was sitting there listening to them.

I felt terrible. We don't visit often and the last time I was there, the same thing happened. That chair seduced me to sleep.

We left shortly after that and the drive home was uneventful. My guilty thoughts kept nagging at me for sleeping through our visit and I hope that they will understand. I'm sure they don't, but what can I do? It's the chair's fault.