by Peter Cherches
It's January 27 in Norman, Oklahoma, and Wallace Stanton, eighty-seven years old, Wally to his friends, thrice married, thrice widowed, now alone, sits in a tattered old armchair, holding a seashell to his ear, the left one, the good one, from daybreak till nightfall, just sits, shell to ear, waiting. It's January 27, and Wally listens to the shell, just as he has every January 27 for the past sixty-two years. January 27, Wally's anniversary, as are April 14 and June 11, but January 27 was the first one — Wally's first wife, Wally’s first love, Amanda. January 27, the day they married and the day she died, one year later, their anniversary, a vacation in the South Pacific. January 27, the day she drowned. January 27, the day on which, every year ever since, without fail, without explanation, though wives two and three, Christina and Jane, certainly must have asked, Wally listens.
6S
Peter Cherches blogs about food and travel here.
20090127
Wally Listens
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9 comments:
Peter, this is great!
So good I read it twice! :)
Loved it...really!
Nice.
What a great story. Luv it.
Peter -
Keep the good works coming!
I read it over and over again, picturing Wallace sitting, shell in hand, pressed against his ear...staring off while reminiscing about a dearly departed first wife.
life
This was fantastic.
I fell like this man's history, his whole life, happy and sad, was given to me in exactly the right way.
Not so it was overdone, just so I understood.
Awesome stuff...
:]
Your first love will always whisper in your ear, no matter how many years and spouses have passed. Peter, you have told this story beautifully.
I didn't read it twoice. I read it three times. Had to take it in my head. Good post!!!
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