i hadn´t thought about mrs. morgan for years, until i read in the paper
that she had died. when i was a boy, mrs. morgan played solo with my
mother every tuesday afternoon. there were two other women there, but
i can´t remember their names anymore. monkey, magden, something like that.
mrs. morgan collected opals. her husband ted owned a circus, which kept
him away and out of the picture most of the time. i´d come home from
school and the women would be hard at the cards. i liked mrs. morgan, she
always had a little chip of opal for me, and said that i should save it for
a sweetheart. i came home one day and mrs. morgan was crying in our kitchen.
my mother told me to leave them alone. i learned later that a boy from the
circus ha dfallen and died. he used to ride the trapeze. mr. morgan went out
of business and they moved away. i´ve still got the opals. it´s funny how
someone you´ve never met manages to stay with you.