The blue digital lights of the dashboard clock glowed 6:11a.m. The view of the Pittsburgh skyline from the interstate was still outlined in grey without the morning sun. Mike’s fingers twisted the radio tuner, searching for a station. Static and scramble came through until he finally landed on an AM radio station.

 

              “Good morning, Pittsburgh. It’s a beautiful Wednesday morning here at 560 WFRB. Traffic right now is clear on highway 62. The first day of summer should be a hot one as temperatures are expected to get into the mid eighties this afternoon, so taking the kiddies to the pool to cool off might be in order now that school is officially over.”

 

              Mike pulled into the parking space of an empty lot outside a small, fading brown one-story building. He walked through the empty parking lot up to the automatic sliding glass doors. A smiling receptionist gave him a wave when he entered.

 

              “Hey, Mike.”

 

              “Hey, Nicole,” he said. “Is my dad ready to go?

 

              “Should be. He was finishing getting ready when I walked past him this morning. I’ll give him a buzz.”

 

              “Thanks.”

 

              A few elderly folks with walkers emerged from the hallway into the waiting room where Mike sat. Their liver spotted hands gripped the steel-grey handles of their walkers. The green tennis balls at the bottom slid across the carpet propelled by their slowly shuffling feet.

 

              Ulysses walked down the hallway weaving in and out of the shrunken, hunched over, elderly obstacles and walked right past Mike without looking at him. The automatic sliding glass doors chimed open when Ulysses passed through them and headed for Mike’s truck.