Ernie's bad day

Ernie’s day was off to a bad start.

The excruciating pain in his right foot woke him up earlier than usual. He knew, without looking, that his ankle was swollen again and he could feel it pulsating. He sighed. Old age didn’t agree with him. He hated pain, he always has, even as a young boy. His late mother used to say that he was a big cry-

baby. He knew he was.

Ernie lay in bed, waiting for the pain to subside. He could see the outlines of the furniture in his room through the darkness. The sun wasn’t even up yet. He remembered being a younger version of himself, savouring every minute of sleep he could get. He recalled how at those past times he couldn’t seem to get enough sleep. And now? Now he would wake up in the middle of the night completely awake and fully rested. Sometimes, he would wake up due to the sharp pain in his limbs.

Ernie didn’t know how much time had passed since his waking up but the pain wasn’t as bad anymore. It was time to get up and go about his day.

Ernie couldn’t even fry some bacon without making a big mess out of it. He missed his wife and her cooking. He wasn’t much of a cook and the small fire in front of him proved just that. At the first sight of it, he had nearly gotten a heart attack but now he kind of just watched as his slow, old brain was trying to comprehend what had just happened.

Oh, yeah. The bacon. On fire.

The bacon was on fire.

Fire.

Ernie’s first coherent thought was ‘How?’ and then he was hurrying off, trying to remember what he was supposed to do in situations like this. First, he turned off the cooker and moved the pan away from it. He was so glad his daughter had made him replace his old gas cooker for an electric one or otherwise the whole house would be on fire now. This still didn’t make it much better because the bacon was still on fire.

‘Why me?’ Ernie muttered to himself as he took the first lid he found and put it on the pan. Cutting off the air helped, just as Ernie had hoped, and it was all done.

His breakfast, however, was ruined. He still had some eggs that he had managed to fry though. Putting them on a plate, Ernie smiled. He always liked to look at the positive side of things. This little adventure of his was the most exciting thing he had experienced in years. He even felt a bit like a brave firefighter himself.

A short laughed escaped his lips.

Ernie took his eggs and a piece of bread and went out of his cottage. There was a small bench right in front of his door and he sat on it, stretching his legs. He could still feel a faint pain, his foot was throbbing again. Ernie sighed and looked at the sky and the surrounding area. Ever since he had moved to the countryside, he couldn’t get used to the fresh air, the smell of flowers and greenery. He even had his own garden that his daughter tended to.

One of his favourite things to do during one of these days when everything seemed to be going wrong was to sit outside, admire the view and most of all, watch the sunrise.

In his old age, he had found a deeper appreciation for the small things in life. After all, he wouldn’t get any younger anyway.