Sneak Peek: Chapter One of my WIP!!

This is something I've never done before—a sneak peek at the novel I'm currently working on! This is only the first draft, so I'm sure it'll change some once I've finished writing and get into the editing process, but this is Chapter One as it currently stands. It's available only to the top few tiers of my Patreon subscribers. I hope you enjoy! 

CHAPTER ONE

Evelyn opened her eyes that morning and, as usual, had no idea where she was. She rolled over on the rickety twin mattress and saw another slumbering figure in the identical bed beside hers. Only about ten feet of space stretched out between them, filled by a set of matching nightstands. The wood on the furniture was old and faded, the carpet worn and matted down after years of wrinkled feet shuffling across it.

Sunlight trickled in through the blinds of the window beside her. Slowly she sat up, her body not able to move as quickly as it used to, parted the blinds and gazed out at the half empty parking lot. It was never completely empty. There were always people coming and going—not that she ever recognized them anyway. Past the parking lot was a grassy stretch of lawn and then the trees began. Tall and stretching high into the sky, the green leaves swaying in the morning breeze. Evelyn didn’t know what day it was, but she thought it looked lovely out there.

“It must be spring,” she said aloud. The person still asleep on the other side of the room didn’t stir.

A minute later, the door to the room opened. A tall woman in a dark blue nurses uniform walked in, gave Evelyn a quick smile and said good morning.

“Look at all of them out there,” Evelyn said, pointing at the window. She was referring to the trees, of course, but the word ‘tree’ had momentarily escaped her memory.

The nurse, confused but accustomed to not understanding much of what the residents said, simply nodded and said, “mhmm.” She continued with what she was doing, pulling clothing out of the closets and dressers, grabbing a fresh adult diaper from the cabinet in the bathroom.

She laid one outfit on the chair across the room, near the still sleeping woman. The other outfit she brought to Evelyn—a pair of purple velour pants and a black cotton shirt, with the diaper sitting on top.

“Here you go Miss Evelyn, here’s your outfit for today.” Evelyn looked at the pile of clothing in the nurse’s arms and then back at the nurse.

“Are you sure those are mine? They don’t look like mine,” Evelyn said.

The nurse sighed. “Yes Evelyn, these are yours I promise. Why don’t you stand up and take those pajamas off and get dressed. Breakfast is in thirty minutes.”

Evelyn took the pile from her and held the diaper up. “What is this? I don’t need this,” she said.

This was a debate the nurse, Sylvia, had had with Evelyn almost daily since they had started her on the diapers six months ago. It wasn’t all the time that Evelyn needed to wear it, most of the time she could make it to the bathroom on her own, but the nurses quickly tired of having to deal with soiled clothes. It was easier to just stick them in a diaper.

“Evelyn, we’ve been over this. I know you don’t need it, but let’s put it on just in case, alright?”

Evelyn tossed the diaper beside her on the bed and went to her dresser to try and find a pair of regular underwear. Unfortunately she’d forgotten that the nurses had taken all of her regular underwear and put them in a box at the top of her closet, where she couldn’t reach.

“Now come on, let’s just get dressed and if you want to take this off later you can. But for now let’s get a move on, you wouldn’t wanna miss breakfast.” Sylvia knew that once Evelyn had the diaper on she would forget all about it, so the promise to take it off later was an empty one.

Exasperated, Evelyn finally grunted and began to change. The thought of missing breakfast was enough to get her moving. She loved breakfast.

Sylvia went to the other woman, who was now shifting uncomfortably in her bed, and gave her a gentle squeeze on the shoulder.

“Good morning Miss Dottie,” Sylvia said as she maneuvered the woman upright in bed.

Evelyn watched Dottie get out of bed with the assistance of the nurse. She felt somewhat put off by how difficult it was for Dottie to move around on her own. I don’t know why I’m stuck here with all these old people, Evelyn thought.

While Evelyn got dressed on her own, Sylvia helped her roommate change her clothes, go to the bathroom, and brush her teeth. Dottie still hadn’t said a word since she’d woken up. She simply stared out at the world around her, not recognizing anyone or making any eye contact with the two women who stood less than ten feet from her. She smelled faintly of urine.

Sylvia noticed that Evelyn had put her shirt on backwards, but she didn’t have the energy to correct it for her.

“Alright Miss Evelyn, we need to brush your teeth,” Sylvia said, standing by the bathroom door. Evelyn rolled her eyes and walked in. Sylvia took her toothbrush and toothpaste out of the cabinet and began unscrewing the cap to squeeze a blob of the blue goo onto the brush.

“I can do it,” Evelyn said, as she snatched the tube out of Sylvia’s hand. Her quick, frustrated movement caused a long stripe of toothpaste to ooze out onto the edge of the sink.

Sylvia sighed and took a deep breath. Evelyn tossed the tube of toothpaste into the sink and mumbled something about messing everything up. Then Sylvia ripped a couple pieces of toilet paper off the roll and used them to wipe up the mess, put the toothpaste on the toothbrush and handed it to Evelyn.

“Brush them good, then we can go have some breakfast,” she said, patting Evelyn on the arm. She left then to walk Dottie down to the dining room.

Evelyn held the toothbrush in her hand for a moment, hesitating as she struggled to recall what she was meant to do with it. She looked up at her reflection in the mirror and moved the toothbrush to her mouth, her muscles remembering the task that her brain could not. The minty flavor took her by surprise. She moved the toothbrush back and forth, recognizing the familiar feeling of the bristles scraping against her teeth. As the toothpaste foamed it began to spread onto the edges of her mouth. A line of minty saliva dripped down her chin and onto her shirt. She spit into the sink but didn’t know what to do next. The water was still running and her mouth was full of the partially foamed up toothpaste.  She spit again, let the water fill her cupped hand and took a sip so she could swish it around in her mouth. Once more she spit and then she turned the water off and left the messy toothbrush on the edge of the sink.

A few minutes later, Evelyn entered the dining room searching for a familiar face. She found none. A different nurse, in the same dark blue uniform, ushered her to a table with another woman already sitting at it.

“Here you go Miss Evelyn, sit here with Miss Hazel,” the nurse said before strolling off to help another resident.

“Oh yes, of course,” Evelyn said. This must be my friend, she thought, and she gave Hazel a smile. Hazel stared blankly back at her.

A plate of runny eggs, fruit, and oatmeal was placed in front of her. Evelyn didn’t notice the lackluster state of the food she was given. She ate happily, trying to make conversation with the empty shell beside her. Hazel nodded her head as Evelyn talked, occasionally adding her own thoughts to the conversation. Nothing Hazel said was a comprehensible response to what Evelyn said, and vice versa. It was like watching two people sit and talk to themselves.

There were half a dozen square tables spread out across the room, each with two or three people sitting at them. Forks and spoons clattered against the beige plastic dishes, a speaker somewhere played an instrumental version of a Frank Sinatra song. Two of the nurses stood in the corner gossiping while the rest helped the residents who couldn’t feed themselves.

It was dismal, but it was life at Pinecrest Village.