six o'clock
* * * * * Lou and Emerald stayed fearfully awake almost all night , waiting to see what Gramps was going to do . But not a sound came from the sacred bedroom . Two hours before dawn , they finally dropped off to sleep . At six o'clock , they arose again , for it was time for their generation to eat breakfast in the kitchenette . No one spoke to them . They had twenty minutes in which to eat , but their reflexes were so dulled by the bad night that they had hardly swallowed two mouthfuls of egg-type processed seaweed before it was time to surrender their places to their son 's generation . Then , as was the custom for whoever had been most recently disinherited , they began preparing Gramps ' breakfast , which would presently be served to him in bed , on a tray .