John Vane: Dottie Trott

John Vane: Dottie Trott

Through the mist she saw a fox hurry along the top of her garden wall. The berries were as abundant as she had ever known, an ochre cascade to feed the migrant birds. She’d lived alone, now, for 20 years and a guilty part of her knew her empty nest was much too large. The thought of leaving pained her, though: she liked her local friends, fellow veterans of struggles without end; she loathed the thought of anywhere shiny and new. Only rarely did…