The Photograph on the Ice by Carol Egan
You meet Diane, a retired woman who lives in a small apartment above a quilting studio. You question whether she gets lonely, living such a quiet life and spending her time reading novels and knitting hats for children. She assures you that she is content and, in fact, is the happiest she has ever been. You wonder if that is the truth, but you hate to argue with her opinion. What right do you have to do so?
You volunteer with Meals on Wheels once a week, and every Wednesday you bring lunch to Diane. She's your last stop, so occasionally you take extra time to sit and chat with Diane. You think you're doing her a favor.
Over time Diane tells you about her life. You learn that she grew up in Ottumwa, Iowa but never really liked it there. When she met and married Virgil she was happy to follow him to Minnesota where he owned a "Five and Dime" store in the Frogtown area of St. Paul. You actually remember shopping for candy cigarettes in that store when you were a kid, and you wonder if it was Diane who waited on you. Whoever-it-was always looked a little askance at you for buying pretend cigarettes. You don't know why she sold them if she thought they were so terrible, and really, you ended up being a non-smoking adult, so what harm did it do? You moved out of that neighborhood when you were 12, so you're really not sure it was Diane waiting on you, but she says she and Virgil owned the store during those years when you lived there.
Even as a kid, you liked old people. Your sister was afraid of them, but you thought they were fascinating and funny. The best was when they would get starry-eyed and tell you stories of their own young lives. They had such funny lives, like riding horses and not even having dial phones. That's why you enjoy chatting with Diane, even when you are busy and should get going to your other chores. You like to see her get starry-eyed.
Diane tells you about her son, Fred. She had him late in life, when she was 30. Virgil died in a car accident when Fred was only two. Those were tough years for Diane, raising Fred alone and trying to make ends meet on the income from her little dime store. But she made it through, sold the store and retired, and now she is content living in her little place, keeping herself busy. She is happy helping others by knitting them hats. She also loves watching Hallmark movies on TV. You wonder if her son, Fred, visits her often enough. He lives in Duluth and is a professor of anthropology at the University of Minnesota Duluth. He is married to Karen, but they don't have any children. Diane tells you that she is fine not having any grandchildren, but you wonder if that is the truth. Don't most older women thrive on having grandchildren?
You met Fred once, but you weren't too impressed. He was pretty quiet, even awkward and a little weird, you thought. But Diane sure dotes on him! She told you that he has almost mastered the language spoken by a small group of Inuit Indians up in a corner of northern Canada. Not too many non-natives have ever even been there, much less learned their language. But Fred did, and he is helping record some of their stories. He loves seal meat. Sometimes they eat parts of it raw when the hunt is fresh! You think that sounds awful, but Diane is impressed. Once Diane had some seal-jerky that she gave you, but you only ate a tiny bite to be polite and then threw it away when you were outside. Maybe a squirrel liked it.
You decide to take a vacation to London. You want to meet your cousin who is well-known by everyone in the family except you. You inherited a little money from your grandpa, so you decide now is the time to go to England. You deliver the last Meal-on-Wheels to Diane, at least the last for this month while you're gone. You hope it isn't the last of your life, because you look forward to telling Diane about your trip when you come back.
You go to Diane's on the last Wednesday before your flight to London, and you deliver her a warm meal of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans. Diane doesn't like chocolate pudding, which is the dessert, so she gives that to you. Diane is excited, because she recently got a new photograph of Fred. It's a picture of Fred last summer when he and Karen were on a fishing trip at Lake Nord near Aitkin. Karen thinks the picture of Fred is only so-so, but Diane loves it. She loves it so much that she printed up 50 of them to hand out to relatives and friends. She is so proud of Fred!
Diane gives you one of her precious photos of Fred. You notice that on the back is printed 38/50. She has already given away 37 copies of the photo, and you got #38. (You like even numbers, so this is cool.) You thank her and wonder what you're going to do with it. You're really fond of Diane, so you decide maybe Fred isn't so bad and that you will post that #38 on your refrigerator, to honor Diane.
You're getting a little flustered about how much you have left to do before you leave for London tomorrow morning. You say a quick farewell to Diane and she wishes you Bon Voyage. You grab your purse and your folder of papers you got from the travel agent and rush out. You are kind of nervous but excited about going to London tomorrow. You think "oh, I need to stop my mail. I need to clean out my fridge and give perishables to my neighbor, Ann. I need to check in and get my on-line boarding pass." You have so much on your mind. It has been snowy and icy lately. You're hurrying to your car and you slip on the ice, nearly dropping all your papers, just regaining your balance before you fall . "Oooh," you think, "that's the last thing I need is a broken ankle the day before my trip!" So you slow down, doing the penguin walk to your car, and fall into the seat, thankful that you made it safely. There won't be any ice in London. You're so happy about that.
You buckle up, check your hair in the mirror (it still looks fine - Diane even noticed how pretty it was today), and you take off. You have to go around the block to get headed in the right direction. You notice that there is a woman in front of the quilting studio above which Diane lives. She is holding a pile of quilts. She is standing at the spot where you almost fell on the ice. She is looking down at the ice. She is looking a little puzzled. You wonder if you dropped something or if you even got a scratch and bled on the ice. Then Quilt Woman bends down and picks something up. It's a small piece of what.. paper? A flyer? A photograph? Just then the car behind you honks, and you can't sit and stare any longer. You have to go, and by the time you make your left turn, you have already forgotten about the Quilt Woman who picked up something.
You go home and start the many tasks you need to finish before boarding the plane at 7:00 AM tomorrow. It's going to be a short night. Something is in the back of your mind. You suddenly remember the picture of Fred. Where is it? Did you stick it in your purse? You look for it briefly, but you are so frazzled by your tasks to complete that you distract yourself and forget all about posting Fred on your refrigerator.
You don't know that the woman with the quilts has picked up a photograph - it's Fred! Quilt Woman doesn't know it's Fred. She wonders who it is. She looks on the back, but all it says is 38/50. The picture is in rough shape. It was on the ice, and it looks like it got stepped on. She takes the picture home and stares at it for a while. She doesn't know why it captivates her, but it does. She decides to write a fictional story about Mr. 38 and post it at her blog. She wonders how many readers she can fool with her made up story.
You forget all about the picture of Fred. You fly to London, you meet your cousin. You and your cousin get along famously, and your cousin shows you all around London. You love getting an insider's view of the city. Your favorite (or favourite, as Londoners would say) part is getting a tour of Buckingham Palace. You can hardly believe you are in the queen's very own home. It's so beautiful! You buy a postcard and send it to Diane. You will tell her all about it when you get home. Diane said to have fun and that she will be fine with a substitute Meals on Wheels driver, but you wonder if that's the truth. You think she'll really miss you a lot. Because, look at how nice you've been to her.
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This story is entirely fictional and was inspired by Julie P. of Iowa. I decided to challenge myself and write it in 2nd person. That made it just quirky enough, I thought, to fit the mood I was going for. Fun challenge.
Oops..it was Cathy of Iowa who suggested I write this, not Julie. Sorry, Cathy. Thanks for the idea.
