Wednesday, March 06, 2019

The Cactus

The Cactus is an 1882 O. Henry short story. You can read it online here or here. It begins,
The most notable thing about Time is that it is so purely relative. A large amount of reminiscence is, by common consent, conceded to the drowning man; and it is not past belief that one may review an entire courtship while removing one's gloves.

That is what Trysdale was doing, standing by a table in his bachelor apartments. On the table stood a singular-looking green plant in a red earthen jar. The plant was one of the species of cacti, and was provided with long, tentacular leaves that perpetually swayed with the slightest breeze with a peculiar beckoning motion.

Trysdale's friend, the brother of the bride, stood at a sideboard complaining at being allowed to drink alone. Both men were in evening dress. White favors like stars upon their coats shone through the gloom of the apartment.

As he slowly unbuttoned his gloves, there passed through Trysdale's mind a swift, scarifying retrospect of the last few hours. It seemed that in his nostrils was still the scent of the flowers that had been banked in odorous masses about the church, and in his ears the lowpitched hum of a thousand well-bred voices, the rustle of crisp garments, and, most insistently recurring, the drawling words of the minister irrevocably binding her to another.

From this last hopeless point of view he still strove, as if it had become a habit of his mind, to reach some conjecture as to why and how he had lost her.
You can have it read to you here:

12 comments:

  1. Just like O'Henry. Such a surprise ending. Enjoyed this one.

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    1. How he consistently has surprise endings when we know to expect a surprise ending amazes me.

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  2. I'm actually going to lunch today for the first time in over four weeks. I'll read it (or more than likely listen to it) when I get home. Thanks for the link.

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  3. I like O Henry but I haven't read this one. Off to check it out now.

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    1. I hadn't read this one either, that I remember. I hope you like it :)

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  4. I like O Henry so I will listen to this one this afternoon with my coffee! Valerie

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    1. I'm getting back into short stories lately, and there are so many of them freely available online :)

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  5. So funny! She was better of without him--hehe! ;)

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    1. Yep. Some people are just clueless lol

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  6. Like the suprise ending 😁. I hope you are having a lovely week! J 😊 x

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    1. His endings are always a surprise even when I'm expecting a surprise :)

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