Out shopping the next day Edna looked at the queue ahead of her and nearly decided to turn around, leaving the purchase of a book of stamps for another day. The elderly customers patiently waited, resigned to accepting the delay in an already boring day. Did it really matter she asked herself. Nodding her head to the occasional familiar face her thoughts drifted. It had never been like this in the eighties. You could go to the Post Office, pay for your papers and have a chat to Mrs Burrows. Lovely woman that. Always had a smile and an encouraging word to make you want to come back. Nowadays you would be lucky to receive a civil hello, never mind the ‘hurry up’ attitude from behind the glass screen on the counter.
‘Makes you wonder what it will be like when they close it down and we have to walk into the town centre.’
Edna overheard the snippet of conversation from a gentleman three places in front of her.
‘Hopeless idea if you ask me. Did you add your cross to the petition?’
The reply had come from behind her. Yes, Edna thought, this little community has a major change in front of it. No bank; that closed a year ago, now the Post Office would be gone. She watched the flickering flat screen monitor above the counter advertising credit cards and low cost loans.
‘Time was you could just come and collect your pension and post a few letters. Now you’ve got to wait behind all the Post Office Bank customers,’ she said with a sense of outrage.
‘That’s right love,’ said the man in front of her. ‘I can’t believe it,’ he joked.
‘I can,’ said a woman from behind, ‘it’s all this new fangled technology. They use it to make more and more money out of us. When it doesn’t suit them, they close everything down.’
Another exasperated customer said, ‘come on, come on, I’ve got a bus to catch.’
Edna listened to the grumbling for a while then lost interest. She knew she had to wait. Her mind drifted, she thought of her box labelled The Children. Inside it could be found all the documents she had saved for Pat and David. Pat had been born in the evening. She remembered being rushed into the hospital at four o’clock. The birth had taken place at eight and by the time she and the new baby had been taken back to the ward it was midnight. Edna recalled the weeks of waiting followed by the elation of the birth. Jim returned home but had no one to share his excitement with until the morning. He sat down with paper and pen and made a record of everything that happened. The story of that night was stored in the box. Edna only needed to pick up the pages to smell the gas and air used to ease the pain. Jim cradled her head as she lay undignified in the stirrups. She imagined the nurse’s friendly face and how it became fearsome when she urgently ordered Edna to push. Yes it would all be documented in the box. What did Jim say? ‘It was a very special delivery. He now had two girls to love and adore.’ And he had given his all to them until his last breath two years ago.
The queue shuffled forward. Looking back it stretched out of the door. Edna moved with the flow. Smiling as the thought the tide of humanity came to mind. Her box had lots of official documents in it: the birth certificate, the record from the Baby Clinic and a certificate recording the godparent’s commitments. All tied together with a piece of ribbon. What ever happened to Pat’s godparents? Her thoughts were interrupted by a flurry of movement in the doorway. An oversized woman pushed through and started walking down the line of serving points. Edna recognized Angela Taylor straight away. An old school chum. They had not seen each other for nearly ten years. Well, well, thought Edna, who would have believed it, she has put on a lot of weight. Anticipating their meeting she started to smile, but Angela walked straight to a man already being served at the counter. There were another two people to be served before Edna.
‘She’s pushed in. Angela Taylor has jumped the queue,’ Edna blurted it out before she had thought about the impact.
The overweight woman slowly turned around and looked for the accuser. Fastening her eyes on Edna she pointed at the man and calmly said, ‘we’re together.’ She held the man’s arm and ordered a dozen First Class stamps.
Edna felt embarrassed. It was so unlike her to say anything in this sort of situation. Meek and mild had always been her best and worst characteristics. No one else said a word. The heavy silence continued until Angela and her man walked out of the door.
‘Next,’ a shout from the counter demanded attention. Edna rushed obediently to take her place. She made her purchase and left the long queue of onlookers behind. Feeling their eyes on her back she walked quickly and bumped into the couple who had been waiting outside.
‘Do I know you? asked the overweight woman.
Edna looked Angela straight in the eye and said in a cold voice, ‘no we obviously never knew each other. You looked like a friend I once had.’ With the stinging comment she turned and almost ran away. She was fuming. How dare they ambush her outside the post office? How could that woman push in front of the queue? She felt justified in speaking out. What a pity she’d not given her a piece of her mind. The problem was that she never had enough practice in being angry and nasty. In her mind she pulled out a box and threw the memory of Angela into it. ‘There, that’s dealt with the problem,’ she said to herself. The box label read, People I Want to Forget. Edna rarely removed anyone from this box.