Oswell Blakeston
The Present
She found it difficult to go into the geriatric ward. Surely,
as a voluntary visitor, she’d done enough going into all the
other wards and talking to the maimed and deliquescent. It was
a ghastly business, but she could tell herself that these pat-
ients might one day recover. In the geriatric ward there is no
recovery. She could not bear it. And yet the old creatures were
so grateful for a visit. There was one old man who always gave
her a little bag of walnuts. It made her cry. For a long time
she felt she could not possibly refuse the gift; but one day
she found herself saying, ‘Really you mustn’t give me these
things. They’re far too expensive.’ The old man cackled.
‘They don’t cost me a penny,’ he said. ‘The priest gives me
the nuts covered in chocolate. Well, my dear, my poor gums
can’t manage the nuts, so I simply suck off the chocolate.
You’re welcome to the nuts!’
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