Show THE FICTION ION CORNER WALTER BUTTONS IDEA by JOHN SHARDA walter loved his wife but wished she did not neglect herself or give herself so wholly to the art for which he knew she had no talent he found a way at lost last to make her understand his feelings ALTER BUTTON put the last WALTER spoonful of plum pudding into his mouth and swallowed slowly under the edge 0 of f his plate he tucked a generous tip and pushed his chair back from the table carefully he put on his coat and hat and sauntered to the cashiers counter he paid his check and casually selected a good cigar from the wide assortment of boxes after pausing to light it he strolled out of the restaurant outside he made his way quickly to his battered prewar coupe on the way home he reflected about the meal he had just finished emma his wife approve of such extravagance but it had been worth it he known that food could be so good that steak had been broiled until it was medium well done the way he be liked it the snowy white mashed potatoes topped with a delicious rich gravy tasted even better than it had looked and such service business had kept him in town several hours past his usual quitting tir time e he had phoned emma to say that he would be late and would grab a bite to eat on the way home he knew how she bated to go 90 to any trouble to rix fix him a snack whenever he had to work late at the office he turned his car into the drive that led small tin unpretentious pretentious home As he locked the garage he noticed a bright light upstairs in the bedroom walter shrugged his ders disgustedly ashes painting again he said half out loud why she have bave a good hobby like reading detective stories he was an avid reader of such literature himself emma had ta taken ken up oil painting almost a year ago much to walters contempt she considered herself quite talented and dozens of hideous pictures were displayed throughout the house more than half of the bedroom had been converted into her studio as emma fondly called it most of the time it was cluttered with half finished paintings easels eadels brushes and cans of paint walter entered the house and went upstairs it would be best to let her know immediately that he was home emmas harsh unpleasant voice greeted him before he was in the room got anything for you to eat she was busily daubing away at a canvas her hair rumpled and her face smudged all right emma replied walter 1 I stopped in at the regal restaurant after work what the regal restaurant 1 I cried emma walter button you know good and well we cant afford such fancy places it was a very good meal emma answered walter his voice meek and low 1 I dont doubt it one little bit his wife said with as much sarcasm in her tone as possible for the kind of prices they charge the food should be fit for a king she turned back to her work with a grimace walter stepped over a little closer so he could see what she was painting he studied it intently for several seconds then his face lit u up P a picture of a rainbow it Rain rainbow bowl emma shrieked that just shows how much you know about art walter shifted his feet uneasily well what is it if its not a rainbow he cautiously inquired its an abstract painting said emma though of course you understand that it represents a slice of bacon trying frying in a pan walter looked at the picture again and muttered something under his breath what did you say asked emma suspiciously 1 I just said I 1 think ill g go downstairs and read awhile said walter his wife sniffed contemptuously those sill silly detective stori stories esl walter gave no indication that he heard her last statement he went downstairs and picked out a magazine from the supply on hi his s desk with a sigh of contentment he settled down in his comfortable if old morris chair this is the kind of recreation a person should have he told himself it was long past midnight when he finally bayed down his reading and went to bed the great idea came to walter at breakfast the next morning he had come down ravenously hungry gloomily walter looked at his plate the bacon was only half done the eggs however were fried so hard that they were crisp the toast too was burned and the orange juice had been poured into an unwashed glass that had contained milk the night before there must be some way to get emma to improve her cooking he pondered and I 1 wish shed batch watch her looks more emma often lounged around the house with her hair unkempt and her face soiled from household chores she was also getting stout he vividly remembered the few occasions when he had dared to criticize emmas ways of doing things sud suddenly denly he knew what he would do it would take quite a bit of trouble and effort on his part but it would be worth it if it worked he managed to choke down the breakfast and in a matter of minutes he was birj indis his car and on his way to the office walter had found through long experience that the best time for him to think was when he was driving along by himself long before he reached a parking place his plan had taken form he would have a talk with emma A long heart to heart talk he would be tactful but firm hed tell her that she must improve her cooking and her appearance pe arance or else just what else meant walter quite know himself but and heres where the brilliance of his plan was evident first he must prepare for the talk with emma in the past emma had always countered with a long list of his faults whenever he mentioned one of hers As a result walter got nowhere with his line of attack this time he promised himself its going to be different ill 1911 keep a list of all the poor meals she cooks and ill mark down each time she forgets to do her hair or wash her face then ill have some concrete evidence to show her when I 1 get ready but before I 1 start on this list im going to concentrate on improving myself so she wont have any comeback he was talking aloud to himself in the solitude of his car the hours dragged by at the office at a pace which seemed much slower than usual walter could hardly wait to get home and put his scheme into operation at lunch time he hurried out and bought himself the new necktie that he had admired in a window di display p la y all I 1 afternoon his mind spun with excitement hed show emma T THE HE next two weeks were busy I 1 ones for walter in tact fact he was so busy that he almost forgot E emmas cooking and her appearance each morning he arose a full hur hour earlier than had been his custom so that he would have time to shave more carefully comb his hair with I 1 great exactness and shine his shoes until they gleamed during the day he practiced good posture walking and sitting with his chest out stomach in and back straight each day after work he would stop ip in af jh fh Y for a brisk workout or swim color came back to his cheeks and there was a new spring in his step in the evenings he cut down the time he spent in reading detective stories he made it a point to ask emma if there was anything around the house that needed repairing if there was he fixed it quickly and efficiently before he retired for the night he laid out his clothing for the next day selecting his apparel with unusual care at the office he worked conscientiously and took pains to turn out more than was expected his boss soon took notice of this and hinted that walter could soon look forward to a nice little raise one sunday morning walter woke up with the satisfying realization that he had indeed transformed himself into a new man he arose and dressed rapidly but with care he displayed pardonable pride as he looked at himself in the mirror today would be the day hed have that talk with emma shed have nothing to say no excuses she be able to find a thing wrong with him in return he busied himself in the living room while emma prepared breakfast I 1 while he tidied his desk and bookcase he thought of what he would say when his wife called breakfast walter he felt that his speech was all prepared he politely pulled out her chair at the table then he sat down himself ill wait he thought until were almost through with the meal it took walter only a few mouth fuls to realize that this was quite a breakfast golden brown waffles light and fluffy with plenty of maple syrup the chilled orange juice was served in a sparkling clean glass delicious sausage patties were also on his plate and that toast done to a delicate brown what sort of magic was this he glanced at emma then back at the tastefully prepared food and back to emma again her hair was gracefully arranged her face was immaculately clean and just the right amount of makeup make up brought out the natural beauty that walter had almost forgotten was there she was wearing a neat hous edress and she appeared decidedly slimmer he finished breakfast in silence he was wide eyed with amazement forgotten was his speech his heart to heart talk after only one cup of coffee he went hastily upstairs to the bedroom he must have time to think what had caused this change in emma it must have been gradual he sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the walls something was missing for an instant h he e figure it out then he knew the paintings they were gone and there was no trace of the brushes or the easel not even a paint can he stand it any longer down dow n the stairs he raced emma was in the kitchen washing dishes emma he said 1 I must talk with you she looked up and smiled what is it walter he gulped and blurted out ive got a confession to make emma and he told her the whole story when he was done his wife was silent for a ion long g minute then she spoke walter dear when you started to make yourself over a few weeks ago I 1 began to take stock of myself and I 1 decided that there were many thing that should be changed for the better it been easy but ive enjoyed every minute of it especially when I 1 realized you noticing because you were so intent on yourself walter groped for a chair and sat down heavily he was still in in a pleasant state of bewilderment I 1 oh walter said emma one thing more ive given up my hobby of oil painting id like to do some reading could you recommend a good detective story for me |