This was a controversial story about a difficult subject. Most people liked it, but a few didn't understand it at all: one called it 'unfathomable'.
It happened whenever a child came into his shoe-repair and key-cutting shop. Usually they came with parents, but this little local girl had visited frequently with her unsuspecting mother and had come alone for the first time.
The girl was there to choose a plastic key fob. Ten pence. He guessed she was around six.
Her presence brought bad memories flooding back, of computer images, of a jail sentence from hell, and of attempts to rehabilitate him. He so wanted to be cured, but could never be sure.
Trapped in guilt, he looked away.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
The girl was there to choose a plastic key fob. Ten pence. He guessed she was around six.
Her presence brought bad memories flooding back, of computer images, of a jail sentence from hell, and of attempts to rehabilitate him. He so wanted to be cured, but could never be sure.
Trapped in guilt, he looked away.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
