Flu Season

“I’m not getting very far here.”

Andrew had started a thousand piece puzzle. He was confined to home. Not because he had been put under house arrest by police, but by the flu. The annoying flu. Andrew had been in bed for two days. He dragged himself out of bed, aching and restless. His wife took their children, two boys, to school then went to work at the Technology Institute. Andrew was home alone. His wife, Elise, had left salad and soup in the refrigerator. He could manage the microwave and to make tea and toast. He wasn’t completely alone. His old terrier, Max, followed him from bedroom to living room.

For awhile, he just sat in his easy chair in the living room, the sun streaming in the front window. He put his head back, closed his eyes and soaked in the warmth that wasn’t yet spring. He could almost feel himself stretch into the warmth, but was still too exhausted. After a short doze, he willed his muscles to move. That’s when he went to the hall closet and pulled out a puzzle from their vast collection of puzzles. He didn’t decide on a particular one, just took the top one and carried it to the dining room. He and Elise kept a card table in a corner just for jigsaw puzzles.

The tea kettle pierced the quiet house. Andrew needed some tea while working on the puzzle. He looked at the picture on the box. A gigantic tree in full leaf with red flowers, dwarfing a two story house in the corner of the picture. A tiny piece of sky. He pulled his housecoat tighter around him, his feet warm in old socks and slippers.

“I don’t know about that tree, but the sky…..” Andrew began turning over each piece of the puzzle. His muscles felt so weak. The tiny cardboard pieces felt heavy. Andrew had a principle for putting together any puzzle. Restore order. Start by turning over all the pieces. Get the corner pieces out. Andrew sat heavily on the card table chair, leaned forward and began. He forgot his aching and weak muscles as he began the search for the picture. Matching colours and shapes. Forgetting he was just barely recovering.

Andrew got up once for his glasses and another cup of tea, moving a bit more easily. He let Max out and then in again. Loving the quiet of the house, he returned to the puzzle. The house was built, the tree trunk started and that piece of sky was complete. Sitting up straight and stretching his back, he reached down and scratched Max’s ears.

‘Come on, boy. Let’s go have a nap. This tea is cold and the rest of the puzzle can wait.”

“Everything is hard before it is easy.”

~ Goethe