Teddy Larkin spent some time inside the bathroom of his house looking in the mirror and pruning his bushy eyebrows with a small scissors, he took note, that the mirror was the same since he was a small kid, only the image has changed; he was looking at a seventy year old wrinkled man now. He then returned to his living room to watch the afternoon races on his T.V. He figured that if he was blind he would have no trou- ble finding his way around the small enough Council house as he has seventy years of practice behind him. He knows every nook and cranny that has not altered since 1947. Silly thoughts like that seemed to be popping into his head quite often now, over the last twelve months or more. Why that is happening , he has no idea, its the first day of the Cheltenham Racing Festival, and as he picked out all his selections before dinner, made his way to the one minute away Bookies to place his bets. He has nothing more to do now only watch them on the big screen in the comfort of his own living room, and watch the entire afternoon as they tumble and fall before his very own eyes, if they all fail, he ́ll be down fourteen Euro, which is quite a lot to a pensioner like himself., but as its only the first day, he has five more days to recoup his original stake or add to it. Anyway this is only once a year and the gambling money is surplus to requirement plus his fridge is full, plenty of eggs, cheese, milk, potatoes and greens, hamburgers bread , plus the fruit bowl is full, He has enough grub to last him until next Friday morning pay day again., He won’t go hungry, the correct stock piling is borne out of years of practice, and he has it down to a fine art by now, he did get it wrong many times in earlier years, when he drank too much at the weekends and left himself short for the long week ahead. He swore each time it happened that it wouldn ́t happen again, but it did many times to his annoyance. He swore too that he wouldn ́t get a cat again , as it was bad enough he being half starved without a cat looking up at him an crying, starved as well. The cat got old and one day or night disappeared altogether, must have gone off to die someplace, maybe in the nearby park, Teddy never saw him again, he did ask the neighbours, 5 if they had seen him dead or alive, but no the reports came back in the negative. He did keep his word on not getting a cat again after Snowy disappeared, but he did get a small Jack Russell dog, he felt he needed someone to talk to as he was all alone once he shut that front door., at least the dog would jump up on the sofa and force him to go for a walk in the nearby park. Crow the Jack Russell dog suffered a few lean days too in his short tenure with Teddy Larkin. He didn ́t exactly go hungry but the quality of the grub had dropped somewhat on those days.,.It was mashed potatoes with mushed bread dipped in a bowl of dubious milk, it filled his belly alright and kept him farting for hours after in tandem with his owner. On those lean days , the mutt, Crow, suspected his master, Teddy was much more friendly towards him and took him out walking for longer spells.: If Crow had the mental capacity to reason this change in behavior he would have concluded that his owner was feeling Guilt at not providing for him properly, besides the very obvious Guilt of leaving the Mutt undernourished ., other types of Guilt began to invade Teddy ́s innermost thoughts as he walked Crow by the banks of the river Blackwater on those occasions, sometimes they appeared at rare times unexpectedly on his own. He could recall something vividly, something he felt ashamed of, so vividly in his minds eye, just like it was yesterday, some incident from forty years ago that never left him.. How can he remember those events from the distant past so clearly, its as if, he regularly recalls them in sequence, go over them to make sure he has got it right, and store them away again for some other day or night just to torture himself again., but why ?..most of those embarrassing inci- dents happened when he was drunk or partially drunk, alcohol taken for sure. Well that’s not really true, if he was fully drunk he would not remember anything at all., and they all occurred when he was much younger, in his worst years of alcohol abuse. It was his short term me- mory loss that impelled him to see his medico about three weeks ago. He didn ́t get to see his usual Doctor on that visit,but a lady Doctor , new to the practice.,she assured on that visit that his memory was not fai- ling, she explained a few things that went straight over his head, she did suggest though,maybe, just maybe, he wasn ́t exercising his brain quite enough.... ̈Its most important for people of a certain age, not to neglect exercising their mental capacities ́ ́.. read the papers, do the crosswords, 6 Sudoko, or quiz ́s.....and I think for you Mr. Larkin, as you mentioned having ́Flashbacks, or clear memories of the distant past,this is only my own theory, she continued, is to buy a large fools cap or writing padand start to chronicle all the events you bring to mind, make it your work,record each year and write down all the worldly events that happened,that you can remember, for example, what year you finished National School, and what year you started in the Technical School, what exams you passed, when you passed your driving test whatever was so important to you in those years, Its like a C.V. in a way, except it’s a long life story, you understand,! Say for instance, older people can remember where they were when J.F. Kennedy the American President was assassinated in 1963, but where were they six months or a year after that historic event ?, you will surprise yourself when the book starts to fill up, also add any photos appertaining to that particular year or as near as you can remember. .....Please come back to me in six months time , as I would love to know how you got on, will you do that for me Ted, Mr. Larkin. Teddy left the Surgary, the medical centre in high spirits that day until it started to piss rain, he had to thumb it or walk back home as the Center was out in the sticks as far as Ted was concerned.As for the driving test she mentioned that’s one thing he never done...Drive...he never drove anything in his entire life, he had no need for transport as he lived in the town, that’s what he told anyone who might ask him why he didn ́t drive a car. I ́m a Townie what would I need a car for...! Luck was on his side this rainy day as a car pulled up alongside the kerb, He could not see who was inside the vehicle until a window opened and a hand waved him to enter . ́ ́Come on in Teddy ́ ́ hop in the voice intoned Ted went to the passenger side of the car and got the shock of his life when he opened the door, “ Jesus Christ, Myles ̈ what the fuck are you doing here, I mean, “ yeah I know ̈ said Myles I thought t ́was you alright as I was getting into the car in the parking bay..., you passed down... they both blurted out so many questions to each other on the short journey to Ted ́s house in Barrack Street, Myles told Ted he had been in town for four days as his Mother in law was on the way out the wife was with him too, he was probably going back to Limerick that very night, and may not have any time for them to go for a few drinks.