Answer.

I told myself if I got five comments I'd let it ride, so without further ado; the first and maybe only installment of:

Fishing For Pennies

Part 1

Fae sat still. Very still, almost like the discarded garden statue of an angel she sat next to on the wrapped and sagging porch. Fae listened intently while staring at the angel. At first she saw youth frozen in time. No fine lines; recognizable bone structure, perfect symmetry. Or is that all we seem to see from the other end of life? Existential queries aside, she peered at the statue closer. It was rusted over, arms outstretched in a gesture of profound sadness and confusion. The angel looked upward. Wholly unlike herself she thought sarcastically.
Ripped from these thoughts, impending voices loomed. Fervently hoping she would not be noticed, called upon to engage in useless conversation, or worst of all; fussed over she quickly scooped up a magazine with some ridiculous pint-sized celebrity on the cover.
Fae, it’s upside-down. Quick, turn it right-side-up so they do not resolutely assume that you are losing the remainder of your mind. She knew who they were before she actually saw them. Brushing the corner of the old house, two identical women walked purposely towards her. Fae straightened up, resurrecting the veneer she had laboriously constructed. Then with the harsh clarity afforded by age and experience; she knew it had come. It was as if she had been desperately waiting for and dreading this moment for the entirety of her long life. And now finally, it had come full circle. The moment was now.
“My girls! Doing charitable work today or is visiting your grandmother now a monthly quota?” Fae said with smiling eyes. Somehow even she noticed the smile hadn’t reached her lips. Smoothing the gap created by the buttons in her shirt she bent forward to take the blow.
“Nana, you look absolutely grand today. Almost regal…” said Frankie as she trailed off on the last word. And she really did. Almost as if Fae understood she was strong enough now. Time was running on, but it could not run on endlessly. Frankie glanced at her nearly mirrored reflection and silently they both agreed; something has shifted.
Taking a chance, Romi broached the subject before the niceties had commenced. “Nana, we need to know. You understand that now, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do.”