As I mentioned on the other thread, for me this didn't meet the genre, which meant I mentally removed it from consideration. Some members won't care, but if you want to maximise your chances of getting votes, it's always best to stay within the genre's broader outlines so that pernickity people like me don't dismiss it out of hand. And since you prefer things to be difficult, it's clearly harder to make a story like this fit into the SFF genre than not, so you missed an opportunity to stretch yourself!
I recall someone posted a 300 worder a while ago which hinted at the character having dementia, but, if I'm remembering it correctly, there was a possibility that actually he was completely sane and the care home really had been taken over by aliens. Here, for instance, if you had toyed with the issue of time travel, and left it open-ended as to whether he was suffering or not, that for me might have done enough to bring it inside the SFF genre. Of course, that wouldn't have allowed for the revelation ending which you presumably wanted, so you'd have to decide which is more important to you. Though to be honest, for me it was obvious where the story was going from the start, so there was no sense of surprise when I reached the final paragraph. To my mind, if you want to write surprise or twist endings you need to be better at disguising where you're going, so you lead the reader in completely the wrong direction, and then the end has to be short and sharp. Blowing my own trumpet, if you like those kind of stories you might be interested in
this one of mine. (Sorry about the dreadful small font -- when it was posted it was much larger.)
Another problem is that for me -- and this is very much a personal reaction -- it actually read as somewhat superficial and even trite. My father suffered from dementia and we cared for him in his own home for some years until we could no longer cope -- and yes, he wandered, too -- and my mother-in-law is currently suffering, so I've seen close up how it affects them. Though the temporal confusion is real with the victim caught in both the present and the past and unable to reconcile the two, and you hint at the evasions and lies they tell themselves, to my mind there's none of the desperation and fear and confusion that I saw. Had you shown some of that agony, that to my mind would have made it immeasurably deeper and more touching. As it was, this fell between two stools for me, neither showing the possibility of ambiguity and laughter as the alien-dementia story did, nor a real exploration of what the dreadful disease actually costs the victim. Sorry. Personal reaction, as I say, and doubtless I'm alone on that point.
Anyhow, plot-wise I had most problems with your final paragraph. Even if I hadn't cottoned on earlier, you give the whole game away with "Dad!" and you've still got close on 100 words left, and all of that is basically long-winded filler, explaining everything in words of one syllable, as if you're worried your readers won't understand. There's no need to talk down to your readers -- assume they're intelligent enough to get hints without laying it on with a trowel. Though having said that, you can't under-explain either, as otherwise people will get confused! It's a narrow line to tread, I'm afraid. For me you'd have been better off by leaving out "Dad" and the phone call, and having the strange woman guide him home while he wonders who she is, so keeping the ambiguity going longer until the very last lines.
As a technical point, you need to break that final para into at least three separate ones so Richard's shout isn't embedded in the daughter's dialogue. I think I see why you've done it -- in his confusion it's all jumbled together -- but when using non-standard devices of that kind it's important for them to work on their own terms, and for me it doesn't work since there's not enough of the father in that para for it to be clear it is his confusion. The first 4 paras are all him with plenty of internal thoughts, and suddenly they're gone, so we're at a distance, which for me vitiates all that you've tried to do earlier. Where's his worries that some stranger is dragging him home? What's his mother going to say? Why isn't he asking questions?
The whole lack of engagement is to my mind worsened by the talk between the couple, which rather comes over like badly-scripted Public Information Film. Endings are as important as beginnings, but even if you don't want a shock-twist ending, I'd argue that you still need something snappier than this long drawn out whimper. I'd certainly remove the argument as it stands, since that adds very little, and perhaps have made it more chilling by having the car from the care home arriving to take him away which Richard has arranged despite her tears.
Sorry I can't be more enthusiastic about it. Patently it touched a chord with a lot of people, and as I've said before when that happens, they forgive what might be perceived as mistakes more readily. However, to my mind you wouldn't have lost any votes by getting a better, snappier ending, and you might have converted some of your short-listings into votes.
In any event, well done with it, and good luck with the next 300 Worder!
