Vignette for Lesson One

Lesson One: Vignette -Central Character (Link to char. sketch and prose synopsis at the end of vignette.)

She sat in a cold sweat holding the sticky note with his name and number. It was Aiden's dad. He left when he couldn't deal with Aiden's diagnosis at the age of two. She never bothered to call him and he never bothered to ask if the doctors were right. Now he wanted to talk to her. For what, she had no idea but she could guess. She didn't even know he knew where she worked now.

She looked at her son's picture on her desk, his eager grin, the missing front teeth, the story she told him about his dad that she feared would blow to smithereens the delicate trust she had established with him.

The phone rang. It was the hospital seeking a bed for a woman needing rehab from a fall. She let out the breath she'd been holding. She took the woman's name and arranged for her medical file to be faxed. Sarah was waiting on the fax when a loud noise came from the hallway outside her office. "Ms. Tanner, their killing me!" echoed down the hall. Ms. Epps again, Sarah thought. "Be right there, Ms. Epps."

Being the social worker for a retirement village, Sarah also had the honor of managing the senior care center where the neighborhood elderly are dropped off during the day so their adult children can work for a living. Ms. Epps was a housekeeper for a wealthy family and they have vowed to continue to care for her beyond her ability as a housekeeper. But now, everyone must work to keep the estate afloat and Ms. Epps has been scaring off the visitors to the owner's new B & B. She thinks everyone is out to get her. The doctor says she has dementia. But according to Ms. Epps, the doctor is trying to kill her, the doctor and all the other staff. Everyone, that is, except Sarah. Ms. Epps has learned to trust her. Sarah worked hard for that honor, something she has learned being Aiden's mom. As a mother of a child with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (formerly considered Asperger's), trustworthiness is more important than any other human quality. Failure to follow through with what is promised takes days, weeks even, to woo him back and to regain his trust. (Note to self: try showing this more).

Sarah shoved the sticky note in her slacks pocket and rushed to Ms. Epps. She made eye contact with the staff and signaled with the jerk of her head for them to back away and leave her to the task of calming Ms. Epps.

She held her hand out to Ms. Epps, giving her the choice to accept it or not. This was a tedious process but Sarah was glad to have the distraction from what awaited in her pocket.

"Tell me about young George, Ms. Epps." Young George was now in his 40's but in her mind, he was still her young charge. She lit up.

"Oh, Miss Sarah, he is growing so tall. Nearly six years old now. He wants me to take him to the park and I promised him I would. But now, these buffoons you've hired won't let me leave here. I promised to take him. He'll throw a tantrum if I don't and I'll be fired directly. I want out of here. That man..." she pointed a crooked finger at him, an orderly, and poked at the air. "That man said I'm not allowed to leave here without a chaperone. Why, I'm a grown woman. I can leave when I've a mind to. He was being fresh, he was. Grabbed me and tried to throw me down. I've got places to go, Miss Sarah. You'll let me out of here, won't you?"


Ms. Epps' pleading eyes tugged at Sarah. "Let me call George's parents. I'll see what I can arrange, Ms. Epps. Until then, there's a lunch in there waiting on you. Why don't you have your meal and I'll join you in just a moment." Placated, Ms. Epps pushed her walker into the cafeteria, Emily following. Emily, the new intern in school to be a social worker, was about the only other staff Ms. Epps could tolerate. "Emm, order me a coffee too. I'll be right there." She smiled and nodded.

"Come on, Ms. Epps. Tell me all about that handsome fella. George, is it?" Emily got her talking all the way to the table. Sarah watched them, smiling. Distraction was an amazing tactic for child and antiquarian. Worked most of the time. But not always.

"George Hamilton, please," Sarah spoke into her cell phone. Walking down the hall, she kept her voice quiet. "Hi, listen, it's me again. Sarah Tanner from the center." She assured him of his housekeeper's health. "Listen, I wondered if you could bring your son up here sometime soon. She's singing your praises again but now you're six. I figured your little man was about that age. You think we can humor her a little. She wants to take you to the park. You think your son would be up for it?"

"Good thing he's named after me, right? If anyone calls him something other than George, he'd set them straight in a flash." They laughed as she thought of Aiden and his concrete thought process.

"I understand. Mine too. So black and white at that age." "Today?" "Oh, that would be terrific. See you at 2. And George, listen, thanks so much. There are so few she trusts nowadays. I appreciate you guys being so responsive. Most families aren't like that, you know."

That problem solved, Sarah returned to her desk to see if the fax came in. She watched the papers flood in, pulled them off the rack as each rolled in and walked to the nurse's station. It was a team approach around here. That's how the owners envisioned this outfit. What they didn't realize was the competition between social worker and nurse manager had the potential to cause some stepping on of toes.

"Ms. Patten, Sarah here." She waited outside the office. One would think their equal status would allow both be on a first name basis. Ms. Patten was in nursing when white hats and starched aprons were mandatory. No scrubs with Hello Kitty for her, no way. White hose, white shoes, the works. She was a relic but she was devoted to her patients. And, she balanced out Sarah's soft-heartedness. If there was ever a "good cop-bad cop" situation, Ms. Patten relished her role as the no-nonsense seasoned detective to Sarah's wide-eyed rookie. For that, Sarah was happy to have Ms. Patten around. But there were some disadvantages. Standing outside her office, now, waiting to be acknowledged brought to Sarah's mind memories of the principle's office in third grade.

"Come in, Sarah. Well, don't stand there all day with your mouth agape. What it is?"

Feeling hot with irritation, Sarah said a quiet prayer for patience. "We have a new prospect for the rehab center. Here are the medical records. I know you like to look through them first before I promise a bed." Sarah started to lay the folder on her desk.

"Eh, Eh, not there. You know I dislike the clutter. Hand it to me." She flipped through the folder without dismissing Sarah. Five minutes later, pulling a single sheet of paper from the file, she handed it to Sarah. You find out if they can pay and I'll call you when I get through reading this. Go on, then."

Times like this put Sarah square in her son's shoes, being told what to do and when to do it. No wonder Ms. Epps gets so frustrated with the staff. Oh, shoot. Ms. Epps. Sarah remembered she had a cold cup of coffee and an expectant client. Practically jogging to the cafeteria, she found Ms. Epps and Emily still conversing. She waved at Emily who motioned her over. "We were just talking about her roses, Sarah. Ms. Epps, will you excuse us for just a moment. I think I'll fetch me a cup of coffee while Sarah warms hers up."
1347
(Still working on this)



LINK TO CHARACTER SKETCH AND PROSE SYNOPSIS OF CENTRAL CHARACTER:

Character sketch and prose synopsis   (E) Lesson One, central character -sketch and prose synopsis. #1933564 by SWPoet