Blue Carpet

It had finally happened. As Amber stepped across the threshold of her mother's room one thought pervaded her mind. Her mother was now a little old lady and there was no going back.

The change had been ever so gradual. First she had gotten worse vision. Then she had fallen at last Christmas and once more during her summer break. Finally, after years of protest she had reached the point of no return. After recent house renovations Amber's mother had had blue carpet laid down.

Everyone knows that your senses dull as you age and your sense of color is generally the one that bites the dust last. Instead of sticking with muted tones on the spectrum of beige and gray older people tend to rebel like children and start painting there walls mint green or fuchsia. Amber's mother had done the unthinkable. She had installed blue carpet in her bedroom. Not just any blue either. This wasn't powered blue or royal blue this was what Amber jokingly called "little old lady hair blue."

"So, what do you think of the renovations?" Margo's voice seemed to bring all of Amber's thoughts to a screeching halt. Amber was never one to censor herself but she was so taken a back that the only thing she could say was, "Everything looks good. I am happy everything is finally done." Try as she might her mother's tired eyes could see right through her generic answer. But true to her mother's fashion she just smiled and said nothing. Margo's passivity was a constant in Amber's life. It was something she could count. Just like her father's asinine outbursts of anger and rebellion. Amber was pretty positive that the aging process was fucked up.

Truth was she hated her mother's aging more than anything. It made her painfully aware of the age difference between other parents and hers. Which lead to thoughts that her mother would never see grandchildren from her only daughter let alone ever see her married. Amber's eyes met her mother's. She looked for a long time at her mother. She was a short woman of a shrinking 5'5". She dyed her hair religiously from Amber's birth, after a woman thought she was Amber's grandmother is a supermarket. Her mother had a convex back that seemed to snap her back symmetrically. Her face was tired as were her brown tiny mouse like eyes. She had a pixish nose that accentuated her tiny round face. Amber had always been jealous of her mother's nose. Amber felt like there must be some Jewish blood in her family to be blessed with such an unfortunately big nose. Finally, Amber's gaze rested on her mother's hands. She remembered hearing from some source that age is shown in the hands. Her mother's finger bones we highly exposed and the blue veins seemed to pop out like a eerie type of henna that couldn't be dulled by washing. That same blue just like the carpet.

............

Not a final edit.