The quiet living room

wallpaper, toffee tin, straw, fob watch case, china cupid, parrot feathers

  The sound of a house occupied by an elderly woman is profound. It sits with you , gets up and follows you. You walk through it. Even the sound of a tv has little effect , its' reach extending only so far as the door , like the light from a fire. A radio has even less effect ;you can listen to a radio so quietly that you are only really hearing it in the back of your head.
 You sit and remember the past , turning the pages of your memory and reading them. You become reluctant to move because the sound of the house is all. Sometimes you make a cup of tea or boil an egg. You have to close the kitchen door lest the sounds of boiling water or gentle chink of china disturb the house. You and your house are in a deep meditative state.
 At dusk , the best time in the house , you can walk around. You can stretch and look at the things on the dressing table ;the glass trinket trays and faded  powder boxes. Your bedroom is almost foreign territory now because you mostly live in the living room.