The Present
They say that blood is thicker than water, that our relatives are more important to us than others. Everyone was so kind to the old lady on her birthday. Surely her daughter would make an even bigger effort to please her?
It was the old lady’s birthday.
She got up early to be ready for the post. From the second floor flat she could see the postman when he came down the street, and the little boy from the ground floor brought up her letters or parcels on the rare occasions when anything came.
Today she was sure there would be something. Myra wouldn’t forget her mother’s birthday, even if she seldom wrote at other times. Of course Myra was busy. Her husband had been made Mayor, and Myra herself had got a medal for her work for the aged.
The old lady was eighty today. She had put on her best dress. Perhaps—perhaps Myra might come. After all, eighty was a special birthday, another decade lived or endured just as you chose to look at it. Even if Myra did not come, she would send a present. The old lady was sure of that. Two spots of color brightened her cheeks. She was excited like a child. She would enjoy her day.
Yesterday Mrs. Morrison, whom Myra had arranged for to light the fire and give the old lady her breakfast, had given the fist an extra clean, and today she had brought a card and a bunch of marigolds when she came to do the breakfast. Mrs. Grant downstairs had made a cake, and in the afternoon she was going down there to tea. The little boy, Johnnie, had been up with a packet of mints and said he wouldn’t go out to play until the post had come. “I guess you’ll get lots and lots of presents,” he said, “I did last week when I was six.”
What would she like? A pair of slippers perhaps. Or a new cardigan (羊毛衫). A cardigan would be lovely. Blue’s such a pretty color. Jim had always liked her in blue. Or a table lamp. Or a book, a travel book, with pictures, or a little clock, with clear black numbers .So many lovely things.
Paragraph 1:
She stood by the window, watching.
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Paragraph 2:
Almost sadly she tore the envelope open.
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