A spring in the bed got her in the back. She ought to tell Mrs. Shultz to fix that. She certainly didn't want to spend her last six months sleeping on a loose spring. Spend her last six months!
She turned over on her stomach and pressed her face into the blanket. Her body was rigid. She tried to contemplate her own death. She should call her brother. No, she would die first.
"Hello, excuse me, my name is Vassi."
Julia raised her head and looked around the room. It was empty.
"Would you say this is a typical prior dwelling?"
Julia sat up. There was no one.
"Oh, I hadn't thought of that possibility. I suppose we don't have a similar frame of reference. You'll never understand my thoughts."
She got off the bed. She walked around the room and her stocking feet made little padded sounds on the cotton carpet. Then she crossed to the door of the apartment and pressed her ear against it.
"Are you a ventriloquist?" she said.