Absurdist Stories
The Lean
When Gerald notices the telegraph pole outside Mrs Fennick's house is leaning — possibly three degrees, possibly four — he mentions it, collects his newspaper, and goes home for lunch. What follows involves two spirit levels, a theodolite, a retired Ordnance Survey man, a journalist, and the slow, magnificent unravelling of an entire street, all because one perfectly reasonable man said what he saw and then completely forgot why.
The Watering Can
Bernard has wanted a watering can for three years. He has no garden, no balcony, no houseplants, and no rational justification whatsoever — which has never once reduced the wanting. A quietly funny and unexpectedly touching story about the things we can't explain, the people we haven't got around to knowing yet, and the precise moment a spider plant on a windowsill becomes something worth caring about properly.