Fuchsia

That's the title to a short story by British writer H.E. Bates...from the collection "Thirty-One Selected Tales"...mostly from the 1930's. I had never heard of H.E. Bates until I listened to Tim Bowler's recent "Bolthole Bulletin". Tim Bowler has been writing some of my favorite psychological suspense novels with a degree of depth that is astounding for any writer. He talks about his writing, questions from readers, and what he is currently reading...H.E. Bates short stories! So I took his word and checked out five collections of his short stories. I've only read three of his short stories and it was amazing writing! It was after church and I was on my way to return nine library items, but I picked up one of the nine...yes...you guessed it...and randomly flipped to one of the shorter tales called "Fuchsia". I sat in the parking lot with the window rolled slightly down and read...
"He wanted to put his feet up on his own fireplace, but
he was aware that twenty-eight weeks of idleness
had lost him that privilege."
That's the first paragraph. It somehow sucked me right into this world...
"He was a heavy-boned man, with loose grey flesh and
awkward hands rather like dead crabs. Twenty-eight
weeks ago they had laid him off at the tannery."
This is the story of a man who feels he is losing his wife and his twenty year old daughter is now the bread earner. His daughter's angry "who do you think you are" sets him walking and thinking...but it is his encounter in the market place...with a single fuchsia flower "ballet girl" that holds his attention...
"For two or three minutes he held the flower in his
large crab-like hands and looked at it. The slender
upper petals, of clear cherry-red, were turned back-
wards. The lower petals were gathered thickly to-
gether like a skirt which swung lightly under the
vibrations of his unsteady hands."
And this beautiful story ends with poignant depth...
"He was looking straight before him into space, his
eyes alight for a moment with happiness, with a
momentary illusion it was clear they could not sustain."
I didn't have the heart to return this short story collection yet. I could tell there are so many more treasures to discover...