The New Coat

Coup of Owls/December 2021

Meryl slid the hangers along a rack, one by one, perusing the hodgepodge of thrift-store duds. She came upon a thin coat, pulled it out to take a closer look – Wedgewood blue with a sort of a raised print. She shrugged it on and looked in the mirror. Admiring its large buttons and swingy cut, she turned this way and that. She felt like an artist, thinking a beret would be a nice addition to the look. 

​‘That’ll hide a multitude of sins,’ the old man at the cash register commented. 

​At one point, this probably would have bothered her…