A Room with a View

Lately and especially now that the economy has grown sour, there have been several sexual assaults on the grounds. The lack of money increases the need for forced sex, it seems. Once in a while the police would raid the more secluded spots around the lake, but the lake was so big and there were so many hidden paths for the men to take to escape, that the raid was more of a temporary scare tactic to appease the abutting neighbors than anything else.

There were no trespassing signs posted and notices that warned of arrest and prosecution for anyone found without clothes or being lewd and lascivious in their behavior, but that never stopped those who had grown to prefer this spot for sex as much as Ruth loved this spot for its view of nature and its natural order of things. The site had always been a very private place for nude bathers and sun worshipers, as far back as when she was a little girl and when her mother and grandmother were little girls before her. She named it her Garden of Eden and in the way that the grounds were cared for back then. With its great manicured lawns, colorful flower beds, and a grove of fruit bearing trees, the scenery made her think that Adam and Eve could have lived here. It truly was a special scenic paradise.

When the mental hospital was closed and before the site had become a nursing home, the grounds lay dormant for nearly thirty years. The seclusion and beauty of the location attracted throngs of people each National Nude Day, as well as other warm weekends. As she did then, so long ago, it was a place where lovers could celebrate the holiday and still have privacy, if they so desired.

Except for the public displays of nudity, nothing ever happened here. A time before major highways were constructed and when not everyone owned a car, it was a place that couples could safely walk to, come together, and enjoy while sharing some private moments in the woods without their clothes. An unofficial nudist spot, if you will, was now despoiled by naked men who weren't there to enjoy the majesty and splendor of nature and its natural wonderment, but were only here to have sex with one another or with themselves while leering at others, who were there without their clothes, as nature had intended all of it's creatures to be.

Ruth hated that her memory of this precious spot was now being ruined by an immoral society of perverted men. She wished it was the way it was back then when she took her college sweetheart here to not only explore nature but also to explore his body while allowing him to explore her body, too. Her college sweetheart later became her husband and she never told her mother that she wasn't a virgin. It was a big deal back then to be virtuous enough to wear white in a church wedding and she lied not to disappoint her mother and shame her family with the truth that she wasn't pure.

"Ruth, Honey, open the drapes and let the sunshine in the room," said Dorothy pushing open the drapes with a whoosh. As if someone had turned on all the lights all at once, the bright sun danced pyramids of glimmering rainbows across her white walls. "You live like a shut-in. This room is depressing enough. I feel like I'm living in a cave," said her roommate with a laugh.

"I close the drapes because of those nasty men," said Ruth standing up from her rocker on unsteady legs to walk closer to the window.

"Nasty men? What nasty men," asked Dorothy walking to the window and looking out at Ruth's view?

"There," said Ruth pointing a crooked finger while leaning against the table for balance. "There," she pointed again but in a different direction. "And there," she said watching her friend following her index finger.

"Oh, my, I had no idea. Are they doing what I think they are doing?"

"Yes," said Ruth.

"That is nasty."

"This used to be such a nice place," she said to Dorothy while her sudden rush of memories replaced her anguish with a smile.

"Here," said Dorothy moving Ruth's rocker away from the window and placing it closer to her bed. "If you sit back here, not as close to the window, you can still enjoy the view and can still see the lake, without having to see all that nastiness."

"Yes, I know, but that behavior bothers me because I know it's still there," she said walking back over to her window and closing the drapes. "And from back here, I can't see Robert."

"Who? What? What did you say, Ruth?"

"Nothing. Never mind."

"You were busy last night sketching, I see," said Dorothy looking at all of Ruth's sketches. "Why do they all have an empty space in all of your drawings?" She said turning away from the sketches to look at her friend, who had her eyes closed and wasn't listening or if she was listening, pretended not to be. "The sketches are beautiful until you see the space that you left. Then," she said turning to look at Ruth again, "it's shocking. I'm disturbed by the space, but my eyes are drawn to it. I feel your emptiness that there is something missing in you that you are unable to complete the picture."

"It's just a sketch, Dorothy. You read too much into it."

"Well, I'm going down to the recreation room to socialize. There are some new residents and I want to see if there are any cute men. Won't you come, Ruth? You never leave this room anymore. It's not healthy to keep to yourself in the way that you sometimes do."

"You go ahead without me, Dorothy. Maybe I'll join you later," she said but knowing that she wouldn't follow her friend. She hadn't left her room since she closed her drapes.

"Where's Ruth," said Ed, a retired cruise ship director, to Dorothy. Still a good looking woman, he missed flirting with Ruth, who enjoyed giving him a run for the money when she was in the mood. Many of the residents gathered around the big screen TV to watch the Bachelorette before arguing over what they'd watch next. Presently, the vote was to watch reruns of Golden Girls with one woman constantly and continually wanting to watch Bob Barker and the Price Is Right.

"I want to watch the Price Is Right with Bob Barker."

"We already told you, Rosemary," said Ed for the hundredth times. "Bob Barker doesn't do the show anymore. He retired. It's that heavy set comedian, Drew Carey, who does the show.

"Drew Carey's not heavy set," said someone else. "He has a hot girlfriend, that Jenny McCarthy, who was a Playboy bunny."

"Nah," said Ed with a wave of his hand. "You're thinking of Jim Carey."

"Are they brothers," said someone else?

"Who," said someone else?

"I didn't know Bob Barker and Jim Carey were brothers," said someone in the back of the room.

"They must have had different mothers," said someone else.

"Oh, never mind. Can someone put the Price Is Right rerun on the other TV for Rosemary," said Ed pointing to someone to wheel her out to the waiting room where there was a TV.

Ed had hoped Ruth would be there, no doubt. He had a crush on her and he had a fondness for sitting beside her and holding her hand.

"She's in her room," said Dorothy. "She won't come out. I told her that it was the Bachelorette night, but she's depressed because she can't look out her window."

"Can't look out her window?" Bill, an ex-state trooper who riled easily, once a Marine, always a Marine, turned in his seat ready to take action against whoever disallowed Ruth from looking out her window. "Why can't she look out her damn window? Who said Ruthie couldn't look out her window? That's an outrage. I never heard of such a thing. We're not prisoners here and the last time I checked this was still a free country. If she wants to look out her damn window then—"

"Ruthie? Why, Bill, I had no idea you were sweet on Ruth."

Apparently, Ed wasn't the only one who had a crush on Ruth.

"Yeah, well, just because I like her doesn't mean that I want to marry her. At my age, I like playing the field."

"At your age, you can't even find the field to play and if you could find it, it'd be too far away to walk to it," laughed Walter, a retired car salesman.

"So, what's going on with Ruth and her window," asked Sophie, a retired nurse?

"Yeah, why can't she look out her window," asked several others in the room nearly in unison who were now impatiently waiting for the Bachelorette to return from station break?

"During the day, there are those nasty queer men having gay sex with one another in the woods and perverts flashing their private parts to women walking in the woods or sunbathing," said Dorothy making a sour face.

"It doesn't offend me that they are gay," said Allen, a retired shoe salesman, who returned to the closet and hid the fact that he was gay after his gay lover of 30-years passed. "Some things should be done behind closed doors. Those men have no decency. They know that they can be seen and they don't give a care. Besides its just nasty how they can be with so many partners in one evening."

Everyone knew Allen was gay, only Allen didn't know that everyone knew. It didn't matter he was gay. Everyone liked him.

"Well, I still have a few connections and some favors that I can call upon to clean up the area," said Bill puffing out his chest.

They all figured that Bill was a blowhard and a pompous ass, and in most cases, they were right. Yet, this time, he kept good his word and the next morning the area behind the nursing home was thick with state troopers and local police. A helicopter that flew overhead directed the police where to go to apprehend and arrest the predators that lurked in the woods. They were surrounded and all the paths were blocked. With more than two dozen arrests in the short span of a few hours, the raid was deemed a success. Quickly the word got out to the rest of the gay and/or perverted men that this spot was now closed.

"Come look. I want you to see what Bill did for you," said Dorothy opening Ruth's drapes. "He directed a raid. All the men are gone."

Ruth ambled over to the window.

"Oh, how nice, I must thank him later, but first I want to enjoy my view."

"That's not all," said Dorothy catching her and pulling her to the window before Ruth had a chance to make herself comfortable for the day in her rocking chair to look at her view.

"What?" Ruth looked at her friend.

"It's a surprise."

"Oh, goody," said Ruth clapping her hands like a young school girl. "I love surprises."

"Do you know what day today is?"

"Of course, I know what today is," said Ruth hesitating to answer to make sure she got the day correct. "It's Tuesday," she said looking at her friend. "Isn't it Tuesday? Now, that I think of it, it could be Wednesday. No, I remember now, yesterday was Monday...I think."

"Yes, it is Tuesday, but do you know what else today is?"

"Other than July 14th, I think, I have no idea," she said with a vacant look in her eyes.

"Yes, today is July 14th. Today is also National Nude Day."

"National Nude Day? There's no such holiday, I mean, it's not an official holiday like the Fourth of July," said Ruth waving a hand of disbelief at her friend.

"There is," said Dorothy. "National Nude Day is a real holiday celebrated by people all over the world."

"I don't understand," said Ruth, while watching Dorothy suddenly removing all her clothes. "Why are you naked, Dorothy?"

"Because we are going outside," she said unbuttoning Ruth's blouse. "We're going to celebrate National Nude Day naked just like all those times you told me how they used to celebrate National Nude Day by going to the lake naked."

"I told you that? I don't remember telling you about the lake. I never told you no such thing."

"Yes, you told me how beautiful this place was and how people would gather to spend the day without their clothes.

"Outside? Naked? Certainly not. I'm not going outside without my clothes. I'll catch my death of cold."

"For gosh sakes, Ruth, it's 85 degrees outside. You'll get sunburned before you'll catch a cold. Look," said Dorothy turning her to face the window and pointing to a long line of nursing home residents walking naked towards the lake.

Arranged as if it was a view just for Ruth, walking out in the open below her window, even the nurses and orderlies who pushed some of the residents in wheelchairs were naked while other of the naked residents made their way alone down in their walkers and canes. With so many naked people walking towards the lake, it was as if Ruth was reliving how it used to be when her parents took her here when she was a little girl.

"Oh, how wonderful," said Ruth. "This is just like old times," she said looking at her friend and smiling. "It's lovely to see so many enjoy this view again."

"C'mon, Ruthie" waved Bill turning towards her window to give her a full frontal view of his manhood. "Last one down to the water is a rotten egg," he yelled.

"Oh, my," said Ruth thinking that he looked a little how she imagined Robert to look at this age when naked. "Bill is blessed with a rather large penis."

"I saw," said Dorothy.

Ruth looked at Dorothy wondering how much more she knew and if she ever told her about Robert. She couldn't remember.

"Did I tell you about Robert?"

"No, you never told me about Robert, but I figured you would in time," she said stripping Ruth naked. "You can tell me now while we walk down to the lake. C'mon, let's go have some fun," said Dorothy taking Ruth under the arm and escorting her out the back door naked.

"You go ahead, Dorothy. I have something that I need to do first. I promise I'll be right down in a few minutes."

"Okay, but if you don't come, I'll bring Bill up naked to carry you down."

"Maybe, I should stay in my room then and wait for him to scoop me up in his arms," said Ruthie.

True to her word, Ruthie hobbled down in her walker. Like all the others, she was naked and she felt again, as she did when she was a young girl. Her life had come full circle and she was now accepted and with her friends. She loved being here and all her sketches showed what this place meant to her because now the blank space was replaced by sketches of her and Robert holding hands.