Prick of the Spindle: Fiction: Vogrin: Apologies

Apologies
By Valerie Vogrin

I regret not being more knowledgeable about my town. I’m sorry the leaves didn’t fall picturesquely during your visit. Ditto that it rained each morning. I should have remembered your intolerance for dairy, scented candles, and tables that are not level. Bad form, I think, to tease you about the bruise on your forehead. I wish I had insisted one more time that you take my bed rather than the couch. The population is. The founder was. That small white flower you admired is a weed named White Campion, and is a threat to local crops.

You’re right. I should have taken the afternoon off work. I should not have sent a stranger to pick you up from the train station. I should have warned you to rebuke her advances. I’m sorry that I burned the soup. I really do need to install window coverings. You are not the first person to complain about St. John’s Angelus bell-ringing. I didn’t realize the dog had taken a nap on your pillow. I was under the impression that you could eat goat cheese. I thought you would enjoy the museum of lapidary art. Next time I’ll bake a pie.

I’m sorry that I didn’t plan more activities during your recent stay. That is disappointing news about your sister. The power has never gone out like that before. Though it is obvious to me now, I truly didn’t hear the understatement in your observation that you were “just a bit hungry.” Did you notice the new towels? I’m sorry about your shoes. I didn’t think the waiter was rude, exactly. More like inexperienced. I’m sorry that you found me to be disagreeable. My steak was cooked perfectly. We should have ordered a second bottle of the Zin. I thought we would have more to say to each other.

Valerie Vogrin is the author of the novel Shebang (University Press of Mississippi, 2004). Her short stories have appeared in Ploughshares, AGNI, Zone 3, The Florida Review, Natural Bridge, and elsewhere. She was recently awarded a Pushcart Prize, and the winning story will appear in Pushcart Prize XXXIV: Best of the Small Presses. She is an associate professor of English at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville where she also serves as prose editor of Sou’wester.