CADAVER, NEVADA

NOW...

'You sound like Dark Fader with that thing on...'

'It's DARTH VADER dad.'

'It's the same thing...'

'Don't try changing the topic. I could get you a nice place in Sacramento. They have amazing homes for the elderly. Me, Joe and the kids can come see you every weekend...'

'I already live in a home for an elderly.'

'But you're alone! At least get a dog or a pet, to keep you company.' Tana sat on a stool next to her father’s bed.

Earl laid there coughing. It was the type of cough that seemed to come from the bottom of the throat.

'Oh Christ!' she grabbed a cup from the bedside table and rushed it to her father's hands.

After chugging down a whole cup of water in one go, Earl said, 'I am NOT leaving.'

Tana got on her feet and turned the other way.

'Oh baby, don’t cry...'

'I don't want to lose you daddy...' her voice got all high-pitched and sweet. Her sulks sounded more like gaps for breath through the high tech respirator covering her mouth and nose.

Earl laughed, 'Ah... You've not faked crying in a while. It worked when you were a kid...'

She turned around with no tears in her eyes and sighed.

'Had to try...' she walked around the room in silence.

There was nothing but a bed, a chair, the bedside table and a wardrobe in there.

In the bedside table, there were three framed pictures of Tana and her two brothers which had promised to never step foot in stinky Cadaver after leaving for College, and they'd stuck to their word.

‘Come on,' Tana looked at him, with serious eyes, 'I hate to say this but... You know, at your age, you never know what might happen... And I'm just afraid that, next time I come over, you might not-'

'I'll be fine baby. This town has kept me alive for 70 years. I doubt it'll fail me now.’

She cried, he let her.

'I'll go get you some groceries in the closest town. It’s getting late and Joe can't handle the kids for too long without going bunkers.'

Earl nodded, 'Thanks.'

The home Earl had grown in was very simple. Downstairs: a bedroom, a kitchen and toilet. Upstairs: 4 bedrooms and a bathroom. A lot of room for an old man like him.

Tana looked at him once more before closing the door on her way out.

Earl smiled at her.

He waited to hear her car drive away. Then, Earl jumped up to his feet, went to the wardrobe and got dressed in white t-shirt, denim overalls and thick brown boots. Before leaving home, Earl took the wedding ring on the bedside table.

A last look at his own home, 'Sorry. I've gotta find out what's up there...'

Earl shut the door and, like every day, the stench of Cadaver got its way up his nostrils. Usually, it took his body a few seconds to get used to the smell, then it was barely an afterthought.

Tana didn't grow up in town, so she didn't have time to get used to the smell. Just one sniff of it, caused rumbles in her stomach for three days. The only way Earl could get her to visit him was pretend his health was deteriorating.

Earl smiled, looking back at his home. That was the last time he saw that house.