The Visit To The Library

Edith Brown was near the library
So she thought she'd pop in and take a look
She'd always preferred the feel of words on paper
Compared to the modern e-book

She looked inside her purse
For her old library card
But she couldn’t find it anywhere
Even though she looked very hard

She reached into her handbag
And found a fluffy chunk of Thorntons toffee
No way was she going to pay
For a lukewarm milky coffee

She spied her neighbour Mary
Seated at a wooden table
She thought she’d try to sneak past her
But unfortunately she was unable

“Oh well, if it isn’t Edith
The aging spinster of Runnymede
I’m surprised to see you in here
I didn’t know that you could read”

Edith did her best to keep her temper
But Mary knew which buttons to push
She said “Why don’t you sit with me
Unless you’re in a rush”

Edith saw someone from her schooldays
And not a moment too soon
It was Cynthia who’d moved out of town
Clutching several Mills and Boon

Cynthia greeted Edith with a friendly hug
And said “Long time no see
I’d love to have a catch-up
Please come and sit with me”

Edith glared at Mary
And Mary glared right back
Mary had never forgiven Cynthia
For stealing away her boyfriend Jack

Edith sat at a table
And Cynthia sat at the opposite side
She said “I see that Mary hasn’t changed
She always was quite snide”

Cynthia earnestly told Edith
She’d married Mary’s boyfriend Jack
They’d moved away for a fresh start
And had no intention of moving back

Edith had often wondered
If they were still together
Jack had a Harley and Cynthia rode pillion
They used to ride past Edith ‘Hell for leather’

Cynthia and Jack had set up a business
And though they had great wealth
Edith was deeply shocked to discover
That neither had been in the best of health

Jack had suffered two heart attacks last year
Then last month he’d had a stroke
Cynthia said he’d regained the use of his limbs
But still had a struggle when he spoke

Edith was shocked to hear
That Cynthia had fought breast cancer and won
Even more shocked to hear Mary say
It was penance for what she had done

Edith rounded on Mary and said
“You only lost a boyfriend, Cynthia almost lost her life
You seem to get a sick satisfaction
Out of someone being in strife”

Mary banged her books on the table
And made her way to the revolving door
What Cynthia and Edith had just heard Mary say
Had chilled them both to the core

Edith took hold of Cynthia’s hand
And gave it a gentle pat
Then said “Mary will get her comeuppance one day
You can be sure of that”

As the two women parted company
Edith said she didn’t get out much
Cynthia gave Edith her mobile number and address
And said they must keep in touch

When Edith reached the bus stop
She saw Mary waiting without a care
Edith said “I can’t believe what you said
To Cynthia back there”

Mary stood there speechless
Wearing a heavy frown
Edith said “Talk about kicking
Someone when they're down”

Mary slowly walked away
She couldn’t be bothered to make a fuss
Edith let her go on her way
Then she went home on the bus

Mary never spoke to Edith from that day on
When she saw her out, she’d cross the road
She'd always been one to bear to grudge
And when she died she was alone

Four people attended her funeral
Edith plus Mary's two daughters and one son
The three of them couldn’t understand
What their mother could have done

To have hardly anybody mourn her
And not a friend in sight
They hadn’t seen their mother
When she was full of spite

Edith kept the truth to herself
It was best that Mary’s family didn’t know
That as their mother got older
How bitter and nasty she’d grown

Mary had borne a lot of grudges
And she’d bore them to her death
She had cursed the names of Cynthia and Jack
With her last dying breath

Edith visits the cemetery once a week
She stays a couple of hours
After she's visited her late mother's grave
She adorns Mary’s grave with fresh flowers

Carnations, roses and bunches of forget-me-nots
Mark the final resting place of Mary Elizabeth Scott