"Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in only six words. His response? “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” He is believed to have called it his greatest literary work ever. Can you write a story in six words?"
Instead of writing six words (although I'll give it a shot when I have the time), I'm going to write the actual story based on "For sale: baby shoes, never worn.", because brevity has never been my strong point.
For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn.
Every mother dreams of having their child in their arms, nurturing them, hearing them speak, watching them grow, playing with grandchildren. Not every mother is that lucky.
Sarah was always a simple woman, living in a quiet village in the southern area of Belgium. She cooked for her husband, cleaned their simple house, sometimes indulged in a little gardening. She didn't ask for much, and her husband never gave her much. He was not a sentimental man, nor was he pragmatic. He worked at a factory in Maastrich, making tyres for cars in Germany, and what little money he made he squandered on cheap whiskey. But Sarah was a kind woman, and she never hated him for it, instead she worked odd jobs for sympathetic villagers, helping them watch their children or doing their shopping, and receiving food and necessities in return. She was content, save for one thing. Sarah wanted a baby.
Sarah's husband Nicolas used to be an energetic, lively young man. His energy and confidence, in and out of bed, was what drew Sarah to him. However, since the day they were married, she felt he was distancing himself, many nights, he was making love to his bottle rather than her. Sometimes, he would come home in the middle of the day, inebriated and angry. She would ask him, gently and caringly, why he was home. He would just look at her, with his dark, attractive, but angry and mindless eyes. His energy and confidence transformed into rage.
Her friends seemed to go along with her lies, but they all knew what he was doing to her. Sarah was never outspoken, always quiet and diligent, and as much as they tried to help, she didn't let them into her world of pain, and she kept smiling. One particular friend, Aurelie, was an officer at the local station, and she, more than anyone, tried to get Sarah to share, to testify against her irresponsible husband. She would sometimes make surprise visits, to find Sarah sitting in the middle of their sparsely furnished living room, tears rolling down her face, over her bruises. Aurelie was infuriated, but for Sarah's sake, she never confronted Nicolas unless Sarah allowed it.
On the nights when they did make love, it was quick and rough, and Nicolas fell asleep immediately after. However, despite his lack of affection, Sarah still felt content on those nights, because every one of them brought her hope of finally having that child. One dark morning, while she was sweeping the stone steps outside her house, she suddenly felt nauseated. To most people, it would mean a bad case of diarrhoea, but to Sarah it was a wondeful feeling, not only because she had only drank water for breakfast, but because she knew it was a sign of her wish coming true.
From that day on, Sarah worked harder than ever in the village, saving up as much money as she could. The villagers, who heard the news of her pregnancy, were only too happy to give her a little bit more. Her husband wasn't so elated. In fact, the night she told him the news, he became even more enraged, and lashed out at her. She had hoped he would slowly come to love her unborn child, but he came home later and later, and on some nights not at all. Sarah perservered, and continued cooking him meals, and putting them into the little fridge in the kitchen, while saving money at the same time. Her friends became more and more worried, and asked her if she needed any help. They said she was becoming paler and weaker, and she looked ever so fragile, but she happily replied that it was just the pregnancy taking its toll.
One day, in her seventh month, she took a little trip to town with her savings, and went to the only baby store, located between a kitchen appliance store and a grocer. While she was there, she looked around, and finally found what she was looking for. There, amidst a sea of fluffy toys and rockers and prams, she found the most beautiful pair of shoes. They were a pale lime colour, and had little stars with mirthful faces on them. She joyfully took them to the counter, and took her little bag of coins, saved up over the past six and a half months, and poured them out on the counter. The cashier, looking somewhat unsettled, counted them and gave her back two coins and wrapped the shoes up in thin paper. Sarah went to the grocer, bought two potatoes and returned to her home with a smile on her face.
Sarah returned home in the late afternoon, and after putting the potatoes onto boil, unwrapped the baby shoes and looked at them adoringly. Her mind started picking, as it often did in times of silence, names for her child. "If it's a girl, Helene, Charlotte or Laura, if it's a boy, Quentin, Jeroen or Thomas.". She thought about getting ideas from Aurelie when she came over to visit later. She wondered what Nicolas would want to name their child. She didn't hear the sound of footsteps, the glaring eyes at the shoes on the table, not until she felt his arms tossing her at the wall did she realise he was there.
There was a pain in her stomach. She felt the tip of his soft soled boots against her side, over and over again. She heard gunfire and screaming. Then it was all black.
When she awoke, she was in bed, feeling faint. Aurelie was by her side, as was the village doctor. When she saw their faces, her tears began to flow.
For Sale: Baby Shoes, Never Worn.
For Sale: Baby Shoes, Never Worn. - Edition Two
Mrs. Tan enjoyed her life, working for a prestigious accounting firm, keeping her portfolio profitable She was a meticulous about everything in her life, even her choice of husband. Mr. Tan was well-groomed, clever (but not as clever as her) and religious. He was grinding his way up as an engineer in a medium-sized company, but he was simple, and fertile (Mrs. Tan made sure of that). Mrs. Tan's mother, who lived in Singapore near her mahjong friends and was always telling Mrs. Tan to give her some grandchildren.
It's not that Mrs. Tan wasn't trying, she just never seemed to be lucky. They were both healthy adults, so why couldn't they bear children? All of Mrs. Tan's friends had their children already, and she sometimes felt like she was missing on the fun, the motherly chats (her friends had told her that discussions of the latest stock developments wasn't as interesting as she thought.) . So she decided to try something new. One evening, Mr. Tan came home to the smell of wonderful curry and to the texture of beautiful steamed fish, and his wife's body.
A few weeks later, the plus sign appeared. Mrs. Tan started spending all her time purchasing various baby accessories. Mrs. Tan even bought a pair of shoes, in a colour that would be suitable for both genders. (She didn't like to waste hard earned money.). Even Mr. Tan would put in the effort, preparing a room in their house for the child. Mrs. Tan's mother booked a flight over, and sent her daughter various baby jewelry. Mrs. Tan started reading books about baby care in her free time.
The day the baby was born was a Friday, and the kind Australian doctor who delivered her baby brought the little boy to her, smiling. "He's beautiful" the doctor said (even though Mrs. Tan thought that was quite obvious.) As she slowly unwrapped the child, she noticed something unusual. Where his feet were, there was an unusually large bump. "He has incredibly large feet too," said the doctor "But don't worry, it's usually a sign of a tall child". Mrs. Tan frowned.
For Sale: Baby Shoes, Never Worn.
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complacent
lazy
melancholy