User:DoctorWho42/Golden Acres

"Golden Acres" is a short story by American author Kit Reed. It was first published in the 1967 book Mister Da V. and Other Stories.

Plot
Hamish and Nelda arrive. Nelda finds no place for a knick-knack shelf. Hamish thinks there's no room for them. Hamish wants to go back to Waukegan. Nelda unpacks. Their home is here. She sets children's pictures on the dresser. A young man enters with a bearded old man. The young man places the pictures in the dresser. He is Mr. Richardson, the manager. The old man is Cletus Ford, the second oldest resident. Mr. Richardson tells them the rules. Hamish hears a distant cart. Cletus hears it too. Richardson tells them there are always attendants and doctors. The tall white building is the Tower of Hope. Cletus sleeps. Richardson kicks him. Cletus talks about clubs. Cletus says he walked miles never reaching the edge. Cletus hates everything. Hamish asks why he stays. Cletus notes the Tower of Hope. Hamish asks about the tall black building. Cletus tells them it keeps him alive. They hear the cart. Cletus scuttles off. Nelda unpacks. An old lady Lucy Fortmain asks about Cletus. Nelda offers her a Life Saver and compliments Lucy's collar. Lucy tells Nelda her daughter made it. She has seven. They have two. Lucy thinks they take something from her. Sometimes she doesn't know who she is. Nelda asks Lucy why she stays. Her kids don't want her. Lucy leaves. Hamish calls it a jail. Nelda wants him to stop. There were rules at home. Hamish put up with it as they were family. Nelda thinks they outgrew them. Hamish looks out. He tells her how they would put the old people in a barn. They remain frozen until spring. Then they unthaw them so they can help with planting. Nelda thinks that's awful. Hamish reminds her they were needed. He wonders who needs them now. Nelda wants him to promise to stay. Cletus hides in the shower. Lucy catches him. Cletus wants his shot. Lucy tells Cletus it's his time. Lucy takes off her dress. Cletus wears the dress and hides in the Ladies Room. Lucy knows about the dead cart and the Tower of Sleep. She leaves. The cart rattles outside. Hamish packs. Nelda knew. She thought he would like it. She unpacks. Hamish is going back. Nelda will miss him. He tells Nelda he'll get a job and come back for her. Hamish leaves. He hears the dead cart distantly.

Reception
In 1969, Analog Science Fiction / Science Fact's P. Schuyler Miller decided "it is cruel, bitter and probably accurate in its picture of an old couple dumped into a glamorized "Golden Age" resort somewhere in California." In 1970, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction's Joanna Russ reviewed Best SF: 1968 "[i]t leans toward the obvious and toward stories which have one good, clear, conventional idea" counting "Golden Acres" among them.