9781250816214

That’s all the chairs have ever been or ever will be for. What else? Who
else?
How quickly the blue-green of twilight brings wildness to the mind.
To tame herself, she recalls Mr. Orpington’s shop that afternoon. The
sign above the door, painstakingly lettered in gold: Orpington’s Organic
Co-Op: Your Needs Are Our Wants. And just outside the door, in the same
pretty penmanship, that long, lovely poster announcing the summer show:
Tomorrow at the Arcadia Gardens Municipal
Amphitheater:
An Evening of Earthly Delights!
A Pantomime: Memories of Bliss to Come
To Be Followed by Ice Cream and Dancing
Presented by Your Gracious Hosts
Mrs. Palfrey, Mrs. Moray, and Mrs. Wolfe!
She remembers with pleasure selecting the peas from the barrel like
emeralds, sliding the silver scoop down into the infinite depths of little
green gems and up again. Smelling the heavy red pomegranates with all
those garnet crystal seeds inside. The basket of brown and blue eggs offered
to her by young Mrs. Orpington, her eyes shining with strange tears, her
beautiful black curls tumbling down her back, bashful and proud to have so
much to give her favorite customer. The russet hen that scampered across
the shop floor and leapt up toward Sophia with a crow of joy, the very bird
that rested now on the good china plate before her. How she caught the bird
and it snuggled into her arms, looking up at her with expectant adoration.
“She is yours, sweet girl,” Mr. Orpington said with moist, dark eyes.
“Enjoy her.”
“Are you happy, Sophia?” asked Mrs. Orpington hopefully, still
clutching her basket of eggs.
“Why does everyone keep asking me that?” Sophia replied. She
laughed, because it seemed the right sort of thing to do, but they did not
laugh back.
“It is important,” answered Mr. Orpington quietly.
Sophia frowned, and at the sight of her frown, Mrs. Orpington began to
tremble.