The Appointment | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: The Appointment | Previous Challenge Entry
By Robyn Harbour
02/26/20
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‘That’s odd!’ Julie remarked to Grace, her manager. ‘Bertha is always on time for her hair appointment. She has been coming to this Salon for over thirty years and has always told us when she was going on holiday or cannot make the appointment.'

‘You’re right Julie,’ Grace replied. ‘The same thing every week; a wash, set in rollers under the hairdryer and a trim if needed. But then at 84, that style suits her.’

‘If she doesn’t turn up in the next half hour I will give her a ring and check on her.’

Julie continued with her next client, mulling over the problem of Bertha in her mind as she cut and styled Ann’s hair.

As soon as she had a chance between clients, she dialled Bertha’s number, there was no answer and the phone rang out. ‘She must have forgotten,’ was her immediate response to Grace.

As the morning wore on Julie couldn’t get Bertha out of her mind. She had a nagging feeling that something was not right.

‘I think I will drive over to Bertha’s and check her out during my lunch break,’ she told Grace. ‘I have a nagging feeling that something is not right.’

On arriving at the house, she noticed that the car was still in the carport, more disturbing was the fact that two daily newspapers were still on the front path where they had been thrown.

Julie rang the front doorbell, there was no answer. She went around the back of the house. There was the sound of water running in what she assumed was the bathroom. She called out, but there was no answer. There was a window half-open nearby. Dragging the rubbish bin under the window, Julie pulled off the fly screen and climbed through into what looked like Bertha’s bedroom. The bed was still unmade. She followed the sound of water to the bathroom.

On opening the door she saw Bertha lying on the floor, naked, it appeared that she had fallen over, she was still damp from her shower a few days ago. Her eyes were closed and she was moaning feebly. Bertha was still alive, but only just. She must have been lying there for a couple of days. She was only half-conscious and very cold. Two days without food and water, lying on cold tiles had weakened her. Fortunately for Bertha the weather was still warm or she would have already died of hypothermia.

Julie ran back to the bedroom and pulled the doona off the bed and tucked it around Bertha. She then went through the house looking for the phone to ring an ambulance. The ambulance was only minutes away. While waiting for the ambulance Julie dribbled water into Bertha’s parched mouth.

‘Seems like we have a broken hip here, the old dear is certainly in a bad way and very dehydrated.’ One of the Ambos told Julie.

Once they left, Julie, a little shaken, locked the house and went back to the Salon. She was glad that that odd feeling had persisted until she did something about it. She thanked God that she had followed through, recognizing that this was an example of the prompting of Holy Spirit.

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