A Painful Case
After four years,  Mr. Duffy has returned to his normal life. However, he avoids concerts because he is afraid of seeing her. One night he reads in a newspaper of her death;  “Mrs. Emily Sinico, aged forty-three years, was killed at Sydney Parade Station yesterday evening."  After reading the painful news, he is disgusted by it. To him, she seems crude for having gotten drunk and then dying in such a shameful manner. He goes out to the pub thinking of the memory of her hand touching him. While he is drinking, he struggles with two images of her;  the lonely drunkard and the intelligent woman he was close to. He realizes that she is now just a memory. He wonders if he could have done something for her. He now realizes he loves her, but it is too late. Now, he thinks of their lonely lives. He knows that his life will continue in the same pattern until he dies. As he walks, even though it is extremely cold, he feels that she is there with him; it seems that he could even hear her voice, since his memory of her is so strong. He looks down at the wall of the park and he sees lovers lying there.  He feels that he is an outcast from human life. The lovers are aware that he is there and they wish he would leave.