Though the Frost Was Cruel
Central Manhattan late afternoon, two weeks out from Christmas, was no place for a frail old lady, one whose entire possessions barely half-filled the rusted shopping trolley she trundled before her on the sidewalk. Not immediately obvious to the occasional on-looker, but her wheeled companion served its purpose as much for support these days, as for its meager storage capacity. Cataracts had eroded Lucy's vision to the point she had to squint hard to make-out objects in shop windows. Crossing Madison Avenue at 59th Street was a risky prospect at the best of times, conferring the onus of road safety on the driver rather than the elderly pedestrian, as she made inevitably slow progress towards 5th Avenue, where she turned the corner and headed south. She looked up as a few flakes of snow drifted on to the already cold handle of her trusty old cart. She stopped under a nearby shop entrance and withdrew a pair of threadbare woolen gloves from one of the supermarket bags in the cart,...