The Last Man Standing
It’s a battle Earl is going to lose sooner or later
It was the last one. The precious. The beloved.
The rust-colored nub that sat to the left of center in Earl’s mouth.
He wore dentures sure, but they fit snugly over the tooth. A kind of shield as it were.
Earl didn’t know why he cared about the loss of this particular canine, but he did. It had been in his mouth for decades and when it went, there would be no others.
Just like his hair.
So it was a real dilemma then that presented itself during Friday movie night at Shady Acres Senior Living.
They were watching Cocoon — for the twentieth time — and Earl scored the catbird seat, next to Marilyn Turner with her French cuff shirts and her wide-leg pants and her perfectly imperfect teeth.
When the attendant passed the little bags of popcorn down their row, Marilyn took two and then handed one to Earl.
“I’ve got some M&Ms in my purse,” she murmured.
Earl felt a chill on his neck from the sweat. He took the bag, grazing Marilyn’s finger. When she shook some M&Ms into his hand, they jittered with his nerves.
