Attention Span and Other Stories

e been painted on by hand. Then she noticed the man, sitting in the shade, bent over his task. Methodically, he topped and tailed the glossy fruit: slice, slice, then dr

earth and a faint peaty smell told her the crops had been watered early in the day. The sweet peas had been well-picked, as is necessary, to encourage fresh growth. She wondered who was the lucky recipient of

Joan managed to carry her tray outside to the terrace. That's when she saw the fruit, and its hand

shuffled by. She never used to start conversations with stranger

neral direction. His face was round and weath

dn't fancy the indignity of grappling with one of the furl

efore lowering herself carefully towards a narrow wooden chair. Her joints shrieked and she had to allow

o wipe his fingers. It was lying on the table next to

, nodding as she underst

hen added the tea, served, as it should be, in a pr

o's going to want a hot pudding on a

pie, then?' She sippe

e, slice, plink. 'I don't de

ion and she saw his cloudy eye

d to plan wh

ional Trust, ' he said. 'Before the family ran into problems, coul

nowing she was staring. She guessed he was in his seventies

th Taylor, once. Trout, it was. Trout with almonds.' He stared off into the distance

n't cook, becau

A blind chef isn't

adn't happened in a long time. 'Hav

my eyeballs.' He sniffed. 'I don't trust ho

. 'I don't t

d, for starter

She coughed

My father neve

ardly you

't talk about her, drunk or sober. I spent the nex

hat hap

di

dy rhythm of his work. The plink of falling gooseberries had

, obviously. I got by just fine with no friends: found a corner of the playground and kept my head down. But one day, out of the

h no mother and a fa

s, sat down and offered me half his ham sandwich.

d the bag with her teaspoon. Loose leaves would hav

spital for his prostate. Routine, the

he would know s

e places now.' He stopped s

end, ' Joan said. 'But I can tell you, ho

are you the

he said crisply.

se you worke

aediat

they sent her to oncology. There, she witnessed white pain and dark suffering that twisted her stomach and sent her running to the toilet to retch

e gap in their family threatened to swallow her. She went to the hospital administrators and told them that unless they transferred her to paediatrics,

Joan told her gooseberry friend

many of t

ell, not many who weren't

'Thanks, bu

topic. 'I just came from the walled g

troll down there in the early evening and eye up what might be ready t

d bought when they were first married. Her vegetable bed was growing more weeds than food this year

sh to cook?' she asked hi

asy.' He smil

me

rots, potatoes, pastry, everything from scrat

see that on men

o lazy, I don't know which. But I bake a wonder

today.' Joan's patch of shade was shrinking

ber, November, when the nights are getting chill

if he were looking out across the estate,

I need a hip replacement and there's a six-month waiting list. My

to hear it,

P, who'd send you to a specialist, and then they'd probably do it in day surgery. Yo

ky lass.' He g

ther. She found her stick, then hoisted herself up

be making game pie thi

he said slow

or it on the menu,

But with his eyes so foggy, there were no clues, just

slice,

~

was originally published in To