The Vase

Management brought Ada the tall flowers. We had carried them upright on the bus.

She put a low bowl on the kitchen counter.

“They could go in here.”

We asked whether she had anything taller.

She found a glass vase. We held the stems while she filled it, then carried the flowers through to the table.

At supper, Nell sat opposite us. Above her plate we could see two hands and the edge of a blue sleeve.

She was telling Pat about the walk from the station. The footbridge had been shut.

We leaned to the right.

“Which way did you go?”

“Past the allotments,” she said. Her face appeared beside a leaf, then went away again.

Ada came back with the scissors.

“Shall we take a little off?”

We steadied the vase.

“They look rather good like that.”

“Or I could put them on the sideboard.”

We pulled our chair a little to the left. Nell was talking to Pat again. We pulled it farther.

Now we could see her. Our plate was beyond our right elbow.

Ada passed us the potatoes. We took one and passed the dish on.

We turned sideways to cut it.