Attention Span and Other Stories

got tired of hea

out her first day of paid work and the profound effect it had on the scraggy girl w

t, a sandy-haired young man with a strikin

although to herself she thou

he Grampian villages. In the autumn, it was potatoes – tattie picking – wetter, muddier, colde

zzy had to beg her mother to let her gobble down some toast and sprint to the war memor

ince six, stooped over the endless sheets from n

d said to Izzy. 'Just g

ngton boots, now a size too small, and half ran, half hobbled to the pickup point. The bus, which turned out to be a ramshackle van,

't impressed?' The journalist seem

daffs made a bunch. A bu

here, for the reporter to wo

of course, it went a wee bit f

ake a living, ' said th

e with him. If he couldn't

green walls, which Izzy found both calming and encouraging. A potted plant sat on the coffee table between her and the repo

learly knowing the answer already. I

you mean. I just queued up to get paid for

any bu

lder than her bent over the rows of tightly budded blooms. All of them counted carefu

t pay packet w

' said

e get home again? The minibu

d out by half past six

ted walking?

ale. He hadn't asked her anything origi

w far w

being interviewed, although she'd much rather discuss the company's future plans th

d her words as if she'd said winged

You flagged the bus down and hopped aboard. She decided to propel the story onwar

it, and the driver aske

ch had

he was foolish enough to think Izzy got pocket money

nd

e side while he considered. Ten-year-old Izzy had stared fixedly at him,

"Well, let's ca

take all

ently. They'd establi

the real fa

it was, '

r, when the driver tracked

or the job after all. He certainl

him in. I just

ear, told the story of her first day's employment to the Press and Journal. The bus driver, b

t an old people's home near Hazlehead Park. The staff who'd helped him unpack

gestured around Izzy's expansive office with its view of the R

was a memorable

a pound by buying cheap chocolate bars at the village shop and selling them for a bit more at school. Then she'd

pleasure talking to you but I have another meeting.' She slid a promotional brochure across the table to him. 'The

ickly, she tidied her desk, jotted down three key things to achieve tomorrow, and turned off the lights. Her assistant was long gone,

~

walls of the home. The bushes had grown in the four years that Izzy had been coming here, surprised to find she liked the whist drives, tea parties, and Christmas lunches. The old people cackled with delight at the terrible jokes in their crackers, and made valiant efforts to chew corn on the cob with fals

ller of the lounges, pla

interrupt until he tutted and gathere

oblivious that Izzy was now past forty. 'How's

t y

and noticed how long the senior staff spent shredding documents each day. At age twenty-five, Izzy launched a confidential shredding service, followed a few years late

ter them like prey. Of course there were mishaps, especially among those whose memories were capricious. Things were stolen and later discovered hidden under the pillows of ninety-year-olds who didn't know their own name. And there w

y. 'They just hash over the same old stuff. Yo

zy shift on her perch. When his wheezing stopped, he drew in a long, hesitant breath, as if ner

shuf

shuf

ery card must have been randomised

ced the pack on his knee and fanned it with one hand, rip

aid, splaying out

ad got her where she was today. She looked at the old

he said. 'I knew y

hy

picked hearts, I'd tell you something.'

during uncomfortable silences w

cough again, thi

ors in the lounge

hand on his,

e.' He didn't look at her. 'I did drive a bus for a bit, ' he added, as if that mitigated his

ng his untouched medications

. 'And yet you've been paying my

t certain, but

ng. He wasn't even br

u do that, for an

of cuddling with her cat, her soap opera on the television. She thought of her mother, in an early grave, the father s

be the same bus driver, and you m

wallow the lump in her throat

our pocket, you don't question the real fare. You don't wait to be thrown off the bus.

~

after the first few bunches and the bus driver did indeed ask how much money I had, before suggesting the fare f