Thomas Hardy Was an Optimist : A Collection of Short Stories From the Plague Years by Circa24

Author:Circa24
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Prairie House Gallery Books
Published: 2021-06-27T00:00:00+00:00

JIGSAW

Alice usually slept until ten on Sundays, but on that morning, she was too excited to sleep. A quick check of the alarm clock told her it was only six a.m. Gingerly, she slipped from the bed, being careful not to awaken Nancy, who still slept quietly.

From her wardrobe, she chose her blue and purple silk dress that she reserved for special occasions. "Today qualifies," she thought to herself. "How often does one celebrate her eightieth birthday?" She completed her outfit with the earrings and necklace that she had chosen during the night.

Quietly, she crept down the stairs of their old Victorian house and headed back toward the kitchen. En route, she passed the table that she and Nancy had dedicated to her jigsaw puzzles. "The hours that I've passed there!" she softly whispered as she gazed at the aged, crocheted tablecloth that draped over the edge. In her youth, she had made it for her own mother. Now, it adorned the table where Alice spent much of her own old age.

The tenacity with which Alice tackled a puzzle continually amazed Nancy. Over the years, Alice had pieced together hundreds of them. If she particularly fancied the results, Alice would tape the pieces together and frame it. Their basement formed a museum dedicated to her hobby. Christmas puzzles and puzzles that reproduced works by Tom Thompson and Currier and Ives lined the short stairwell down. Each wall held several complex candy‑bar designs in browns and golds, and scenic overviews of places where Alice and Nancy had gone on vacation. At first, Alice had saved every jigsaw that she finished. As their wall space became sparse, she only mounted extra special ones, such as the black and white Escher that Beth and her husband sent to her last year for Christmas.

Once in the kitchen, Alice started the coffee brewing, secretly hoping the aroma would rouse Nancy before her usual 9 a.m. Sunday wake‑up. As it perked, she went to the cupboard and chose a puzzle from the shelf. There were four of them, all new and all purchased only yesterday from the Walco discount store down the street. Mr. Sabatini, the manager of the toy department, knew her well, and he always kept a fresh selection of puzzles just for her. Indeed, her Walco probably had a better variety of jigsaws than any other dime store in Guelph.

"Ah! It's my favourite customer. You are picking an easy one today, aren't you?" he had noted yesterday as he watched her choose a landscape with only three hundred pieces.

"Yes, tomorrow is my birthday, and I will be too busy to do much. Beth and Hank will be coming over with the children. I just want an easy one that I can finish in the morning." Once she had started a jigsaw, Alice would work at it without pause, all day, until she completed it. This work had become so compulsive that she could never sleep until she had finished her most recent puzzle.

"What

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