The patio was ten feet wide and ran the width of the house with both the twin doors to the living room as well as sliding doors from the kitchen and from the main bedroom also letting out onto the view that was provided by the deck. The house itself was placed halfway up a mountain and the patio extended from the house out into nothing but air and overlooked the valley at the bottom of the mountain as well as other craggy mountains of the Allegheny on the other side of the valley.

Mike sat in one of the rocking chairs on the deck with a glass of sweet tea on the small table beside his chair. The smell of pine and hardwood trees in early summer wafted up the side of the mountain and across the patio with a breeze. Mike smiled and closed his eyes for a moment. He heard an eagle call out in the distance and shook his head in disbelief at the holodeck program. He could almost swear he was at home! If it were later in the day, he might be talked into partaking some of Grandpa’s medicine! He took a sip of tea and looked down over the valley and felt relaxed for the first time since he had come on board the Viking!

Ensign Mike Jones MD