Pennies: A Short Story

“She as a veil down to the slender waist Her unadorned golden tresses wore Disheveled, but wanton ringlets waved As the vine curls her tendrils, which implied Subjection but required with gentle sway”

She went home and pondered on how she was going to get Jim this gift. When she came to the conclusion of selling her hair, she went straight to the hair dresser and asked her how much she would buy her hair for. ““Twenty dollars," said Madame, lifting the mass with a practiced hand. "Give it to me quick," said Della”1. After cutting her hair off, she went and bought the chain for Jim pocket watch.

9 At that time, "Auntie" had already hired a Mrs. Liu to dress her hair. Mrs. Liu wore a huge red bamboo pin in her hair and puffed and panted as her large duck feet carried her short plump body along. She came every morning at ten to fashion all different kinds of coiffures for "Auntie"-the "Phoenix," "Feather Fan," "Entwined Heart Twist," "Shallow Tail," etc. She was always changing the style. The coiffures accentuated "Auntie's" delicate skin and willowy waist, which more and more drew delightful smiles from Father. Mrs. Liu advised Mother, "Madam, why don't you dress your hair a little more fashionably?" But Mother, shaking her head, pursed her thick lips, and walked away without saying

When Jim gets home, Della just tells Jim that she sold her hair to get him a present and he doesn’t get mad because he did the same thing. “They’re too nice to use at the moment. I sold the watch to get the money for your combs,” (p. 251). Jim knows that it is okay that they don’t have anything to use their presents with and they can just sit with each other and be happy.

Shee as a veil down to the slender waist Her unadorned golden tresses wore Dishevell’d, but in wanton ringlets wav’d As the Vine curls her tendrils, which impli’d Subjection, but requir’d with gentle sway , And by her yielded, by him best reciev’d, Yielded with coy submission, modest pride, And sweet reluctant amorous delay.

four more doors down, then he’d reach the room his mother was in. he felt unnecessarily nervous. his small palms sweaty and his fingers jittery. he hesitated outside the door. in his hesitance, he heard more voices. he didn’t want to be punished or abandoned. and he was sure it was because of what he said last week.

He was stripped from his happy, comfortable life and dumped in this twisted new reality in which there was no escape. He stood out, with his white cane and dark glasses. He could feel the stares as he walked along the street, the hairs on his neck standing straight. The feeling of incompetence was destructive, not just to him, but to his wife as well. Tina was always with him every waking moment, talking him through every problematic event - from accidentally stepping on the cat to a close encounter with death.

The smoky smell of the fire, the scent of meat that was being cooked, all the noise, the prying strangers, and the barking dogs, was overwhelming. When Mrs. Cleary tried to force Ina to eat some food all she could do was become nauseous. But Mrs. Cleary continued to fuss away at Ina still trying to force her to eat. She kept pushing a spoon at Ina saying "You must eat something dear....you must eat something....just try!" Christopher kept crying and was unhappy at all strangeness and noise of the people and dogs around him too.

“Amelia, it’s going to take a few hours.” Her mother cautioned, pointing her eloquently painted nail toward the wooden stool before her. With a defiant groan, Amelia made her way into the room. Alise carefully unhooked the dress from the stand and made her way toward her daughter. It had been made by Amelia’s aunt, in the traditional fashion of past wedding dresses. The blonde slowly slipped into the silk like material. The dress fit

A brisk wind ran its fingers through the tall hemlock down by the riverbank, causing it to sway perilously. She sighed as she looked out of the window. The garden was neat and orderly, as was the house – she made sure of that. The little gate at the end of the lawn rattled in the wind, and she noticed the dustbin lid had been blown off. She must see to that. It was 8:15, and Catherine was tidying away the dishes of a breakfast in which they had shared petty formalities, and the marmalade.

The sweet smell of soul food met them as came up the walkway to his mother’s front screen door. He pulled at the door, but the latch held it closed. “Mom!” he hollered, and he saw her come out from the kitchen.

The letters stopped coming all of a sudden. His mother got worse soon after, her face sullen and her skin pallid. It looked like the world just ceased to exist for her. She scoured those letters fervently now, every day every second was spent clinging onto the ink on the paper as if hoping for some sort of salvation.

Rose didn’t know what to do, so she hung up. Different emotions hit her all at once unable to control the tear, she let them come out. They came out like a waterfall she laid down on her bed and covered her face with her blanket. The soft, silk-like material soaked up her salty, uncontrollable tears. She wasn’t close to her mother but they had been, before their argument. Mason knocked on her door but rose didn’t bother to open it. Rose stayed in bed and told him to go away. He knocked harder and harder but she couldn't hear them no longer because her eyes started to close and her ears gave in.

they started to chat about their life when they were toddlers and how Timothy and Jim to used play ball with Della and Stella. Upon finishing their meal, the two guests set off to to walk home before getting asked to stay for a bit longer.“Thank you for the meal Della, but if you’ll excuse me, night is approaching and I must walk home”, explained Stella.“Well let’s not be hasty now, we cannot allow a beautiful lady like yourself to be walking the streets at dark, how about you stay over and go during the morning, you too Timothy” replied Jim.“We would most humbly obliged, if the Mrs wouldn’t mind that is” answered Timothy for himself and Stella.Jim turned to get approval from Della, but she just looked at him with hesitation, and forwhat seemed like an eternity finally nodded in approval. Timothy and Stella were given a guest room to lodge in for the night while Jim and Della slept in their bedroom. Later that night, Della couldn’t seem to get any rest

There was a parade of emergency units around the apartment. As Darlene looked around, a flow of tears fell down her face. Lynn parked and not trusting her mother’s nerves, she rushed to help her get out of the car. She knew what her mother had said about