"Hey Grandma" I said walking into the room. It was a simply furnished room, with just the bed, a chair and TV. The only sign that any though had been put into the look of the room was the paintings on the walls, but even these were cheap, unoriginal, boring landscapes. I seemed to me that none suited my grandma's life, or at least what she had told me of it, which was too much, too often. She never seemed to talk of anything other than her formative years; it got boring after a while.
"Ah, Katherine, how are you?"
"It's Katie grandma,"
"Oh yes that's right," My grandma Scout said absently as she slowly sat up. In the corridor I heard the busy, slightly harassed staff rushing past, their feet echoing on the cold hard tiles.
"Ah you're growing up fast, I remember when I was your age…" at this point I got out my phone.
"Listen to me, I didn't fight for the rights of women and blacks just so you young girl can waste them on fitting into the social role of a teenager. You know the story of Tom Robinson, don't put his life to waste."
"Okay Grandma" I said humouring her and rolling my eyes, it wasn't my fault that she always told the same stories.
The distinctive stench of stale, urine covered up with cheap floral scents filled my nostrils. The whole place smelled of it, it was one I the reasons I disliked it so much here.
I grabbed out a pack of cards, and we played games for the next half hour until the nurse came round.
"Hello, how are you today?" He asked. He continued to make polite small talk as he did his work.
"Ah, kids now days," he said, as if he himself was old enough to be in an Age care facility,
"They have no respect for the way God wanted them to be." At this point grandma frowned and I grew interested in how the conversation would go.
"They just don't know how things should be done. Girls With Girls, boys with boys, some of them even have the audacity to change what god made them to be."
At this point I was ready to kick the man, but before I could move from my seat Grandma spoke out.
"I would like you to leave now," she requested, "Your views are unwelcome, perhaps you should have some of the respect you were talking of earlier. You have no more idea than I do about what God is thinking, however, I do believe he would not be happy with such displays of hatred." She continued, as if talking to a troublesome child.
"How are you so calm, I would have shouted at him if I could"
"Ah, that's something I learnt from my Father," I looked out the small window and saw a small bird on the ledge outside.
"Ah, it's a mockingbird, we see less and less of them these days"
"Grandma what's a mocking bird?" I said getting up to leave.
As I left a saw her eyes follow me sadly.