Barry Friedman - The Old Folks At Home: Warehouse Them or Leave Them on the Ice Floe

Old Folks at Home:

Warehouse Them Or Leave Them On The Ice Floe

Old Folks at Home:

Warehouse Them Or Leave Them On The Ice Floe

Copyright © 2010 by Barry Friedman

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews,

ISBN 978-0-557-52181-4

 

 

 

Also by
Barry Friedman

 

Novels

Dead End

Assignment:
Bosnia

Prescription for Death

The Shroud

Sleeper

Hyde

Max

Fracture

 

Non-Fiction

The Short Life of a Valiant Ship

That’s Life: It’s Sexually Transmitted and Terminal

Acknowledgment

 

I am indebted to Carol Bargar who suggested a vital portion of the plot. In addition, her critical review of the novel was of enormous help. Then again, she is indebted to me since I paid her education tuition. What kind of father would I be if I didn’t?

Dedication

 

I dedicate this novel to the talented, eccentric, neurotic and loveable people with whom I live.

Also, to the woman who has endured me for so many years, my first (and only) wife, Sue

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer

 

This is a work of fiction. The names are fictitious and the places are fictitious. Any resemblance to places or people, living, dead or otherwise is a figment of your imagination. If you think there is a similarity between any part of this work and any one or any place, get in line and take it up with my battery of lawyers. Enjoy this fictional work of fiction. Can I make it any plainer?

 

 

 
Asiak walks across the sea ice to drown herself in the open water. At the edge, a piece of ice breaks free under her weight and she floats along on this small ice floe briefly before drowning herself. It’s possible that a conflation of these two episodes led to the popular idea of old people being set adrift on ice floes.

—Top of the World
(1950) by Hans Ruesch.

 

None of this is especially comforting when your kids start making noise about putting you in the Shady Rest and how much better it would be than an ice floe. I can only suggest pointing out the economic realities: Even the Eskimos didn’t do away with elders who were still providing free room and board.

—The Staff of The Straight Dope Science Advisory Board

 

Table of Contents

Acknowledgment
v

Dedication
.
vi

Chapter One
.
1

Chapter Two
.
8

Chapter Three
.
12

Chapter Four
13

Chapter Five
.
16

Chapter Six
.
19

Chapter Seven
.
23

Chapter Eight
28

Chapter Nine
.
30

Chapter Ten
.
34

Chapter Eleven
.
36

Chapter Twelve
.
41

Chapter Thirteen
.
45

Chapter Fourteen
.
49

Chapter Fifteen
.
53

Chapter Sixteen
.
59

Chapter Seventeen
.
64

Chapter Eighteen
.
68

Chapter Nineteen
.
72

Chapter Twenty
.
77

Chapter Twenty-One
.
81

Chapter Twenty-Two
.
84

Chapter Twenty-Three
.
86

Chapter Twenty-Four
90

Chapter Twenty-Five
.
93

Chapter Twenty-Six
.
102

Chapter Twenty-Seven
.
104

Chapter Twenty-Eight
106

Chapter Twenty-Nine
.
111

Chapter Thirty
.
115

Chapter Thirty-One
.
120

Chapter Thirty-Two
.
125

Chapter Thirty-Three
.
128

Chapter Thirty-Four
132

Chapter Thirty-Five
.
134

About the Author
136