Dream CLXVIII

I was over at my friend Tom's house, and we were discussing which VHS tape to watch.

He was in favor of one called "P.H. Johnson," which he'd seen many times; I wanted to see what else he had (and I was pretty sure he was getting the title wrong).

Outside, we heard several cars drive up.  Tom's uncle was visiting.  He was actually a mob boss who looked like Donald Pleasance, and we were both nervous around him.  He was always nice to us, but he also gave the impression that anything could set him off.

So, he and several of his "associates" came into the room,  They remained standing while he sat with us.

"Boys, it's a special treat!" he told us.  "Your grandmother is coming for a visit.  Now, I'm putting you in charge of making sure she's comfortable."  We agreed to the task, and left the house.

The house itself was a large affair, with two wings meeting a central rectangle.  It looked like a motel that had seen better days.  We decided to spruce up one of the rooms in the central area.

We got it into what we considered good shape, and then Grandma arrived.  She had a huge head of white hair.  We brought her into her room and sat her down, and asked if she wanted anything.  "Oh, no, I'm fine," she told us, so we left her to go back to Tom's room.

On the way back, we heard his Uncle talking.  "One thing that really bugs me," he told his men, "is when an old person is just put in a room and left there.  That really makes me mad."

Feeling pretty scared, we decided to go back to Grandma just to be sure.  But we couldn't remember which room she was in.  The one I thought most likely was filled top to bottom with a fine white ash.