A scraping metallic sound startled me. Had I been asleep? I wasn't sure.

I looked down upon a room, as if I was sitting in a box seat at the opera. But I didn't feel like I was sitting - more like I was floating, face-down, in a pool of crystal clear water

There were two women at the door. An older woman in a grey uniform with little red crosses on the lapels of her jacket was greeting a younger woman who was entering the room.

The younger woman took off her coat, dusted with snow, and threw it onto an old leather chair that sat beside the door. I would guess that she was in her mid-40's. She reminded me of someone that I knew long ago.

"How was the day?" asked the younger woman. Both of them looked at an elderly man that sat in a platform rocker right below me. Somehow I hadn't noticed him before.

"He hasn't been a problem, Justine. He has just sat there most of the day."

The elderly man had a quilt thrown across his knees. Each square of the quilt had an eight point star in its center and each of the eight points was cut from a different cloth. The elderly man seemed to be working his way around each square and each star, staring down intently as if he was trying to decode ancient hieroglyphs.

"Well I guess that's how it's going to be" responded Justine.

The woman put on a heavy winter coat, nodded to Justine and walked out the door, tossing the words "see you tomorrow" over her shoulder as she pulled the door closed behind her.

Justine left the room and I heard her making noises that sounded like she was preparing a meal; chopping sounds, probably on a wooden board, the clinking of metal pots, then, after a good passage of time, the clattering of plates and utensils.

Justine came back into the room and laid a food tray on the knees of the elderly man.

"Suppertime, dad". He looked up from his deliberations and returned her cheerful smile but did not speak. After she had fed him a few forkfuls of pasta he reached out to her, his hand trembling slightly. She gave him the fork and he proceeded to devour the rest of his meal enthusiastically. She stood and watched, arms folded, comforted by his healthy appetite.

After she had cleared away his meal she left him to continue his investigations of the stars for another hour or so before coming back into the room.

"All done working for tonight? Ready for a good night's rest?"