easy street haunt

The short term benefits of reverse aging were good enough for the insurance companies. Long term problems like overpopulation would be someone else’s problem. The only thing that mattered was that it was cheaper to reverse the age of senior citizens rather than pay for their nursing home costs.

I did the old man shuffle even though the nursing home staff encouraged me to walk “normally”- like a young man. They didn’t wait till I achieved this feat, kicking me out of the nursing home with a hundred bucks and a metal quad cane. I appreciated the cane, but they could have given me some clothes instead of these pajamas and slippers. 

Anyway, half way to the bus stop I tried walking “normally”. I lifted up my cane and took a good size step, struggling to remember how to take one, and then, I landed flat on my ass. It didn’t hurt as much as I expected. I used the cane to pull myself up and noticed the back of my hand for what seemed like the first time. There were no more unsightly brown spots on wrinkly skin with protruding blue veins. There were no more wrinkles or protruding blue veins. I resumed the old man shuffle while encouraging myself with little cliches like “easy does it” and “one step at a time”.

A nurse wrote down what buses for me to take to get to my son’s home. He wasn’t expecting me, although I’m sure he heard about the nursing home exodus taking place across the country. I didn’t know if I was welcomed, he never visited me once while I lived in the nursing home.  It didn’t matter I suppose, I was a young man again, so my son wouldn’t feel guilty for letting me crash at a homeless shelter.

“Andrew! Andrew!” The voice was familiar yet younger than I remembered. I looked up and saw my friend Bonnie at the bus stop. I held up a hand in greeting and shuffled up to her. I recognized her and at the same time I didn’t. She had the same face and build, but her skin was as smooth as a twenty year old’s skin. She no longer had crow’s feet around the eyes, wrinkles in general or even a divet or blemish on her face. Her long white hair was now black but still retained a white streak. Her green almond shaped eyes were striking and I could see why she worked in TV back in the day. Her petite body was fit, and her breasts were higher up than I remembered and bigger. To my surprise I started to get an erection. This was the first time I’ve gotten hard in thirty years and I was so embarrassed. I prayed for it to go limp again, so Bonnie wouldn’t notice.

“Oh Andrew, I’m so scared.”

“It’s ok, don’t be scared. I’m here with you.”

“I’ve haven’t been out of the nursing home in years and not on my own.” She nodded to the bus stop.

“I know, it’s been a long time for me too. Let’s have a seat and wait for the bus.” Bonnie nodded and she took my arm as we shuffled to the bench under the awning and lights. Bonnie lucked out a little more than I did in terms of clothes. They found her laundry in the nursing home, and she was dressed in a red sweater and black cotton/polyester slacks. She also wore a pair of red and green thermal socks with an alternating snowflake and tree pattern, and over those she had a pair of open-toe, tan sandals. Her socks looked very comfortable, and I kind of wished I had a pair myself.   

“Andrew, I don’t want to live with my granddaughter. I don’t want to be a burden.” I patted her hand and smiled. 

“Your granddaughter loves you very much. She visited you every week, didn’t she? If she didn’t want you to stay with her she wouldn’t have invited you.” 

“I suppose you’re right. I wished they’d let her come pick me up.”

“I know, but the anti-longevity faction is blocking the street coming in. It’s not safe.”

“This world has gotten so crazy. I’m sorry you only got a pair of pajamas. Aren’t you cold?”

“Oddly, I’m not that cold.”

“You use to get so cold in the nursing home.”

“I know, but I seem to have more meat on my bones now.” 

“I see,” Bonnie said, examining my biceps. She squeezed the muscle there and felt my big shoulder. Then she looked up at me and said, “Oh Andrew, what are we going to do? I haven’t worked in decades, I don’t have a chip implant or a bank account. What do people even do nowadays?”

“I’m not sure Bonnie. I think someone has to build those robots, or the self driving buses. Some of the kids on TV say it’s a “gig” economy again.” 

“I don’t know anyone in this town.”

“You know me.” I looked down and smiled at her. 

“Will you keep in touch with me?”

“I promise.” She rested her head on my shoulder and we waited for the bus. The eight wheel, trapezoid bus hummed gently as it pulled up to the curb. It was red with black tinted windows and glass sliding doors, and you couldn’t tell the front from the back. The glass sliding doors on the side whooshed open, and Bonnie and I carefully climbed aboard. There was a young woman on board with us. She was completely bald with green scales, which covered her head and descended down her neck. She also had a forked tongue, and her pupils were vertical slits agains golden irises. I couldn’t tell if the scales were fake or a genetic modification, but I was certain she was wearing contacts to get the vertical slits. She looked at Bonnie and me and nodded, “What’s up?” I politely nodded back as Bonnie and I found a couple empty seats.   

The first stop was mine, but I skipped it. I kept Bonnie company until we made it to her granddaughter’s house. We had to change buses once, and we stopped by a cafe during our layover. We had coffee and shared a piece of blueberry pie. We talked like we were still in the nursing home. Bonnie mentioned nurse Angie was pregnant, and Angie told Bonnie in confidence she wasn’t sure it was her husband’s. That was a good piece of gossip, but Bonnie made me swear not to say a word about it to anyone, and I promised. We talked about what we saw on TV and speculated about the girl with the scales and forked tongue. We reminisced and laughed a little at funny moments in the nursing home, and Bonnie became less frightened and more at ease. 

We left the cafe and took the next bus to her final stop. Fortunately, the final stop was only a ten minute walk from her granddaughter’s house (Lucy is her name as I recall), and the evening was warmer than expected. When we got there, Lucy was on the porch in a white bath robe wrapped around her. She wore black sweat pants and pink slippers.

She seemed really happy that Bonnie had an escort. I remembered her of course, since she visited Bonnie in the nursing home often. She looked a lot like Bonnie- black hair and almond, shaped green eyes. She was a little taller than her grandmother, but there was still the striking resemblance.

After we stood on the porch gabbing a bit, Bonnie gave me a big hug and kissed me on the cheek. “Are you going to be ok Andrew?”

“Oh yeah, I’ll be fine.” I said with a cocky smile, which I hoped was convincing. 

“Would you like to come in?”

“Please do,” said Lucy.

“Nah, I’ve got to be going. I don’t want to keep my son waiting.”

“Of course,” said Bonnie.

“Wait a minute,” Lucy said. She disappeared in the house and reemerged with a canvas jacket. “Take this at least. It’s my husband’s and he’s out of town right now.”

“Oh, I can’t accept that. Besides it’s warm tonight, and I feel fine.”

“Don’t be ridiculous Andrew. Take the jacket; it’s not that warm out.,” Bonnie said a little annoyed with me. “You can return it once you’re settled in at your son’s house.” Lucy nodded in agreement. I sighed and took the jacket and then, we said our good-byes. 

I got on a bus, but I didn’t know which direction it was headed. Maybe I’d find my way to my son’s home, maybe not. The first stop was near the cafe Bonnie and I just ate at, so I got off there because it was familiar. I realized I left my cane on the bus when the sliding glass doors whooshed closed, but I wasn’t worried. I was confident I could walk “normal” again. I looked at the directions the nurse wrote down for me and tried to figure out my next move. Maybe I’d explore this new world first and see where I fit in.  

By Jack L. Bryson