Lunchtime read: Short Stories by Dreiser

A rather sad and moving story to get through on a lunch break and as you finishing reading and then snap back into the reality of the computer screens and voices drifting across the open plan office it seems better in Dreiser’s world.

The Lost Phoebe
* An old couple who have lived together for years are finally separated by death with the wife dying first and after the husband Henry refuses help life seems to settle down to the quiet existence of a widower

* But one night he thinks he sees his wife and after that he is on a mission to find her that takes him to all of their old friends and even beyond and after the authorities take the view he is harmless he is left to wander looking for Phoebe for seven years

* Finally he sees her and rushes to catch up with her and with happiness at the end of his quest he jumps off a cliff and is discovered with a smile on his face at the bottom of it

More tomorrow…