Excerpt: Night Nurse

Everyone was tucked up in bed. It would have been nice to say silence reigned, but that was one thing Harmony Haven never experienced, certainly not during the night anyway. Televisions blared from several rooms, with a number of different programmes blending into a cacophony of noise. As you walked down the corridoor you moved from the late night news to a symphony orchestra to African drums to a blaring rugby match, and the weather in China.

It had worried Catherine the first few nights on duty, but she had learned to live with it. As long as it didn't worry the residents, why should it worry her?

Snores issued from some of the rooms. A woman shouted in her sleep. A sixty-year-old called out for his wife who had gone home long ago. The carers had told him, but he was confused and kept calling.

From Mrs Cartwright's room came the sounds of talking. Tonight she appeared to be entertaining friends. She sat in the one chair in her room, and passed tea and cake to her imaginary friends. Her usual shocking pink gown hung open, this time with a long green night dress and the inevitable black high heel shoes that clattered when she attempted to walk. Her hair stood straight up in the centre, where she had a comb jammed into her silvery locks. Her cheeks were splotched with the same bright pink as her lips and the night nurse wondered how long it would take for the colour to fade.

Catherine slipped into her office and relaxed in the chair behind her desk. For now, she had time to write. She didn't know how long the peace would last, so she'd better get on with it. She wanted to write a devotion for a book of meditations. According to the writers guidelines, they were looking for amusing devotions, and she knew just the one she wanted to submit. She dunked her rusk in her coffee and started to type.