A Tale of Pennies

Nurse Larrieux looked down at Mr. Poole’s lost expression.

“Remember the strawberry-rhubarb pie? You used to get up early Saturday mornings in the springtime and start baking pie. I remember how you always played the radio. There was one song you loved to sing along with. Something about it raining pennies.” His voice broke with panic. “I can’t remember.”

She felt pain in her chest as she noted his confusion. “‘Pennies from Heaven’,” she whispered.

“That’s it! You used to sing that song and we’d dance in the kitchen.” His face lit up like a child‘s. “You remembered.”

“Yes, I remember.” It might have been wrong to lie, but she couldn’t bring herself to tell him the truth. Let him have this small illusion, she thought. “Mr. Poole, it's time now to take your medication.”

As she turned to get the pills off his nightstand, Mr. Poole grabbed her wrist. Unprepared for the touch she was bombarded with his emotions. Wave after wave of sensation hit her as their minds began to link. Suddenly she felt everything he felt. His loneliness. His uncertainty. Most of all, his pain. “Don’t leave, Della. Not again.”

At his final plea, her resolve cracked open. Power rose through her body, up her throat, bursting with the need to be set free. As Larrieux opened her mouth, the damaged vocal chords gave way to her true voice.

The song that swept softly through the room was haunting and ethereal. No words. Just a pure melody that reached out from deep inside. She watched as his body slowly began to relax and his mind began the process of healing, her siren’s voice fixing the damage. And as the last note lingered in the air, Mr. Poole drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face.

Word Count: 300