Looking for the light-
when the future is dark...
Paid subscribers at noon today receive a short story titled Wade in the Water about an old man at the end of his tether who finds a way home at last. Everybody gets for free this photo of a chestnut sprout striving for the light against all odds. Here’s a taste of the story-
“Mister Will, would you like some dessert? We have apple pie with ice cream, or peach cobbler. You can have ice cream with the cobbler, too, if you like.”
The pretty young woman in the blue smock startled William, concentrating as he was on the last spoonful of his beef stew, trying to decide whether to continue wielding his spoon, or lay it down and attack the remains with his fork. The spoon was safer, but his hand still remembered the fork.
William smiled. She really was quite lovely, he thought. Bright and cool as the morning. Her smock matched her eyes. “Could you keep the pie and just bring me a spoonful of that ice cream, dear? Forgive this old man, if you will, but I can’t recall your name.”
“Caroline,” she said, returning his smile magnified and enhanced. “You got it, Mister Will.”
“Ice cream,” William said again. “Don’t forget.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t forget. I’ll be right back.”
“I was talking to myself,” William said. They both laughed.
If you’re a paid subscriber, show up at noon for the whole story, and you will also get access to the complete Drovers Gap fiction archive.
