Resentment and Remembrance

By Richard D Ross

Diane Donovan, Senior Reviewer- Midwest Book Reviews:

 

"Resentment and Remembrance is a novella embracing themes of resentment and love when the paths of two disparate characters cross and clash.

 

Ted Bolton is an old man with a wicked sense of wry humor. The starkness of his vision as he confronts old age, alienation, and end-of-life challenges is portrayed with a razor-sharp edge of irony and inspection that will attract readers with deliberately candid presentations:

 

"Ted huffed and pulled the bed sheets further up to his chest. It wasn't fair. He'd struggled all his life. He knew what it was like to be hungry and poor. Dammit, he'd even fought a war for these kids who didn't appreciate what it was like. These damn young people with their cell phones, computers, earrings, tattoos all over their bodies and stupid girly fashions. Mass marketing victims, that's what they were! Where was the respect? Had it all vanished into thin air? It seemed anyone elderly or in authority was a fair target for abuse and that even included teachers, police, and health care workers. He coughed, wheezed loudly, and dozed off into another world."

 

As Ted dozes through memories that lead him to review his life, a chance encounter with a member of the younger generation tackles the bitterness and reflective angst that seem to permeate these final days of his life, injecting them with a sense of love he'd long felt was absent.

 

As readers learn of the reasons for Ted's 'monumental struggles with living' and absorb the healing lessons of a love which emerges from a completely unexpected place at the end of life, a winning story emerges which is touching, compelling, realistic, and holds many thought-provoking lessons about life connections and disparate personalities.

 

Libraries and readers seeking high-impact novellas which grasp attention and move mind and heart will find Resentment and Remembrance a satisfying contrast in life perspectives. It will resonate with readers interested in understanding pathways to more meaningful, purposeful living and life influences."

 

Diane Donovan, Senior Reviewer - Midwest Book Reviews.

 

 

 

 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steel Door Publishing
• Release date: Jan 2, 2024
• ISBN: 9781739015428

Book preview

Chapter 1

Ted Bolton sat up in his bed and pushed his thinning grey hair to one side when he saw the duty nurse enter the large hospital ward. He pointed a boney finger at the patient opposite him and rasped out, ‘Hey, nurse! I think that old geezer over there’s just kicked the bucket!’

He noticed her allow herself a wry smile as she shook a finger back at him. ‘Oh, Mr Bolton, that’s the third time this week you’ve said that about another patient! This is becoming a habit!’

‘No, I’m telling you, this time it’s true. He’s a gonna!’

‘Alright. Thank you. I’ll take a look.’

Squinting hard against the bright overhead lights in the ward, he watched her approach the patient lying still in his bed. She felt his pulse, checked her medical watch, and then bent down and gently lifted each eyelid. She stood upright, took in a deep breath, and quickly closed the curtains around the bed. After several minutes, she came back out into the ward, scarcely looking at him.

‘Told you, didn’t I nurse! Hey, you couldn’t make us a cuppa tea, could you?’

Ted turned to the younger patient in the bed on his right as the late afternoon rays of December sunlight filtered through the window between them. Screwing his eyes up, he observed the man huddle up in the sheets, tucking them up under his chin. A mop of tousled red hair rested on two pillows.

‘Hey Nick, wake up! That old guy they bought in this morning has croaked. I kind of had a feeling this might happen as soon as they wheeled him in.’

‘Leave me alone, will you? I just want to sleep.’

Ted patted his bed sheet hard. ‘No, I’m telling you. He’s snuffed it!’ Nick blew out a long breath and struggled to prop himself up on one elbow.

‘Bloody hell Ted. What are you? Some kind of Grim Reaper or just a nutter or something? I got news for you mate, we’re all gonna snuff it, it’s a matter of when.’

‘Yeah, but I can tell, can’t I?’

‘Seems to me, if you’re in hospital in the first place, then there’s a pretty good chance you’re gonna die. What is it with you old guys, anyway? All you ever do is talk about people dropping off. I suppose you read the obituaries in the paper every day? Maybe it’s a turn on; you’re still here and they’re not. Last man standing and all that, is that it?’

Ted straightened himself up and looked back at Nick. Perhaps he had become the prince of darkness, spreading pessimism everywhere. It reminded him of his wife, Gillian, who’d passed away some years ago. When she was fed up with him and that was often, she’d call him a dreary old bastard. He perked himself up and pointed at Nick.

‘You young’uns have no idea the kind of life we’ve endured and how we’ve had to struggle from a young age.’

Nick smirked. ‘I didn’t know Grim Reapers were ever young!’

Ted blew out a large breath. ‘I can tell you a thing or two about life, mister.’

‘I’m sure, but I don’t want to hear it. I need some peace and quiet right now!’

‘There you go, you see. You kids just don’t want to listen!’

‘Shut up!’

Ted huffed and pulled the bed sheets further up to his chest. It wasn’t fair. He’d struggled all his life. He knew what it was like to be hungry and poor. Dammit, he’d even fought a war for these kids who didn’t appreciate what it was like. These damn young people with their cell phones, computers, earrings, tattoos all over their bodies and stupid girly fashions. Mass marketing victims, that’s what they were! Where was the respect? Had it all vanished into thin air? It seemed anyone elderly or in authority was a fair target for abuse and that even included teachers, police, and health care workers. He coughed, wheezed loudly, and dozed off into another world.

He was in the snooker hall during school time around the corner from his secondary school in Bordesley, Birmingham, with three of his friends. They were about halfway through the second frame when ‘chrome dome’ the headteacher walked in and caught them all red-handed. They practically pooped themselves. Still in his teacher’s black gown, ‘chrome dome’ marched them straight back to his study at the school, where they each received six vicious lashes from his dreaded cane. His friend Graham had an extra two lashes for asking if they might finish the frame first. Ah, the good ole days. Swanning around in his reverie, he then found himself in the school cloakroom, otherwise known as the ‘fondling room,’ with his girlfriend known locally as Lucy Lastic. She had popped in from the girl’s school nearby.......

‘Mr Bolton. Mr Bolton! You need to take your medication.’

Ted twitched and gradually came to with a smile on his face, desperately trying to remember Lucy. He yawned, shook his head and muttered, ‘Hey, you didn’t wake me up to give me a sleeping tablet, did you?’

‘Nope. Not this time!’ The same nurse, still on her shift, held a small stainless-steel tray containing several tablets in a white dish together with a glass of water.

‘Thanks. I must have dropped off.’ He peered at the smorgasbord of tablets. ‘Hey, that orange one won’t light me up, will it?’

The nurse chuckled. ‘I don’t think you need any more lighting up,