Patricia Rockwell - Essie Cobb 03 - Valentined by Patricia Rockwell Page B

of
porcelain birds—each one a different type—arranged in a casual pattern.  The
cardinal and the bluebird usually were on the left and the robin and blue jay
were on the right.  What?   She looked again.  Somehow, the little decorative
birds had apparently changed positions.  Now, the cardinal and the robin were
on the left and the bluebird and the blue jay were on the right.  She knew that
wasn’t how she had arranged them.  Or had she?  She was ninety years old.  She
supposed it was possible that she had put her bird collection in a different
order and forgotten about it, but she truly didn’t think so.  Ceramic birds
didn’t walk about on the top of a television set all by themselves.  They
needed help. 
    Essie let her eyes roam around her small apartment.  From
where she sat in her recliner against the far wall between her desk and the end
table by her two-seater sofa, she could see every part of her little living
room.   She could also see her small kitchenette if she turned her head far to
the right and looked over her shoulder.  In this position she could also see
the hallway that led to her bathroom and bedroom.
    Was anything else different or just the birds?  She started
with the television set and moved around her living room.  Next to the right of
the TV was her antique desk—not the one she used every day, but a fancy one she
had brought with her from her personal furniture and that she used primarily to
store important papers and items.  The little desk with the curlicued legs had
a front that closed and locked with a key that Essie kept with her at all times
in her purse in her walker basket.  On top of the desk stood a glass-covered
golden clock that one of her grandsons had given her.  It appeared to be
slightly off-center.  Essie was always very careful to place it in the direct
center of the top of her antique desk.  Next to this desk was another
armchair.  This one was gold and it circled around on rollers.  Marjorie always
liked to sit there when she visited.  Several stuffed animals that Essie had
received as prizes from various games and contests at Happy Haven resided on
this chair—always ready to greet incoming visitors with their cheery faces. 
Essie typically had the purple bear sitting on the left and the brown bear
sitting on the right of the seat cushion.  Now they were reversed.  Hmmm ,
she said to herself, pondering the change in her stuffies’ positions.
    She continued her examination of her living room, looking
around carefully from one furniture item to the next.  Immediately to Essie’s
left was her regular desk.  On this large piece of furniture, Essie kept all
other important papers and reminders.  She had a calendar propped upright in
the back center of the desk.  The calendar was open to the month of February,
and Essie had penciled in various appointments she had scheduled during the
month.  She also had a container of pens and pencils on the top right hand
corner and a stack of papers in the lower right hand corner.  At least, that’s
where those items were supposed to be.  As she peered over her shoulder, she
could tell that all of her desk items were just slightly out of place.  The
pile of papers on the right which included many envelopes and cards that she
had received and wanted to keep was dramatically changed from the way it was as
she last remembered it.  The cards and envelopes in the pile had been
rearranged and sort of shoved back together in a haphazard fashion.
    There didn’t appear to be anything different about her
recliner or the sofa.  Maybe some of the throw pillows were arranged
differently on the short couch, but Essie couldn’t tell for sure.  She was
always puffing the pillows and placing them strategically on the sofa for
maximum effect.  She had read once that pillows placed at an angle in the
corner of a sofa would make it appear larger—and as her sofa was about as small
as sofas came, she was willing to