Every morning when I take mum her cup of tea I move her pillows so she can sit up. I always ask ‘do you want to sit up?’ This morning she said, ‘no, I want to die.’

We discussed the potential ramifications of this. ‘I could just close the door and leave you lying here, but after a while you’d get bored, you’d get hungry, you’d need clean pads. I think in the end you’d get up and carry on as normal.’ She agreed just staying in bed till she died was not a good option.

Then I remembered the murder mystery we’d seen the evening before. The victim had been a chap in bad health; everyone had assumed his death was of natural causes – until they discovered he’d been smothered with a pillow! I made smothering movements with my hands ‘I could get a pillow like on TV last night! No one would question it; everyone would think it was natural causes.’

Mum nodded. I swear she looked a little hopeful. ‘No one would query it,’ she agreed.

‘But,’ I continued, ‘in the end the TV murderer was brought to justice. What if they did discover I had done away with you? Then I’d be sent to prison. That would be horrid. Sorry mum, I don’t think it’s worth the risk.’

So mum hauled herself up against the pillows, drank her cup of tea and we heard no more about it.

BTW: I have my New Fence!! And I also have my New Laptop. Now just have to get used to Windows 10.