Painting For My Grandpa | √Wattys 2016

Painting For My Grandpa #5

"You," Grandma began, pushing a broom to me,"go clean Grandpa's room. The rags and mop are in the basement. After cleaning his room, you need to help clean his bathroom and then give him his medication at 12.30 before his lunch. I will be preparing lunch while you do as I have asked."

I was about to protest but she interrupted me with a click of her tongue, a thing she does when she's getting annoyed.

"Okay okay!" I gave in, putting up my hands in surrender.

"Good." She smiled and patted my cheek, then whisking off into the kitchen as she hummed a tune to herself.

I gripped the broom tightly and walked slowly towards Grandpa's room. As I popped my head around the door frame into the room, a putrid stench penetrated my sense of smell.

I don't think I can ever smell again.

There was a strong smell of pee all over the room.

I held my breath, careful not to suck in some of the "pee air", and tip toed into the room.

Grandpa was asleep on his bed, his mouth opened wide.

This is what my dad would call "The Venus Flytrap."

I glanced at the wooden floor, wincing at the thought that there may be a lot of dried pee or other disgusting substances that have been on this floor along with the many balls of tissue paper.

I resisted the urge to barf and started off by sweeping the mountains of tissue out of the room to the dustbin outside.

I used my thumb and index finger to pick each ball of tissue into the bin cautiously.

I used the least of my fingers possible to pick up the tissue and eventually I finished throwing every single ball of disgustingly mysterious tissue into the bin.

You never know what could be lurking in the folds of those balls of tissue.

Imagine me trying not to puke right now. And imagine my current misery.

Woe is me.

I then proceeded to get the rags and mop from the basement to start the next, worse stage of cleaning Grandpa's room.

Mopping the dried pee from the floor.

§§§

In the end I was able to finish cleaning every single crook of Grandpa's room and bathroom about what seemed like a millennium later.

(A/N: haha MILLENIUM FALCON. Poor Aspen had to clean SOLO. I'll stop now. #notsorry)

I sighed with relief and half walked half dragged myself to the kitchen to get Grandpa's medication.

"Grandma!" I whined slightly, dragging out almost every word I said. "I'm done. Where's. The. Medi. Cation. Kept."

"Stop whining you lousy excuse of an adult." Grandma nagged, taking a white pill box from the refrigerator along with a glass of water from the counter.

I took these things from her and shuffled back unwillingly to Grandpa's room.

As I stepped into the ,now much cleaner, room, the floorboards creaked in the loud sharp and annoying way.

Grandpa stirred under the blanket and his eyes opened. He slowly turned his head towards me and he broke into a toothy smile.

"Henrietta!"

I groaned for the hundredth time.

"Aspen." I corrected through gritted teeth.

"Oh! What a weird name laddie."