Sorry for the loss
Sorry for the loss is a short story written by Bridget Keehan and is from Eagle in the Maze- An Anthology of Stories from the Rhys Davies Short Story Competition 2008. Mainly the story deals with contrasts and how you see people.
It is always hard to deliver bad news, especially when you do not know how the receiver will react. Evie, a female prison guard, shall in the beginning of the story tell about the death of a grandmother to Victor a prisoner. It is the first death notice she will deliver alone, therefore is Evie is worried about how Victor, a prisoner she does not know, will react when he hears the bad news "(...) her question is really about whether Victor is the dangerous, unpredictable type who might want to throw a punch at news of his loss." This does not only show how her workplace is but also she had tried to tell bad news before, where the imprisoned acted violent. Even though Evie has been a prison guard in over 1 year she is still uncomfortable and find the environment of prison "abrasive and intimidating" . Evie is very religious and uses her "breaks" to pray and calm down, praying is her shot of heroin. Luckily, Victor does not tend to lose it . Actually is Evie confused over how well Victor receive the news about his grandmothers dead. All he do is quoting Shakespeare´s tragedy King Lear " Why should a dog, a horse, a pigeon have life and Nan no breath at all?" Evie get the feeling that Victor is more concerned about the pigeon which his neighbor teases than the death of his grandmother, whose death he is unable to show emotions. Victor is not like how Evie think he would be "Victor Zamora is not the angry man (...)but a slight, good-looking boy who appears barely old enough to be in an adult jail. " " His eyes have spark and his olive skin makes the blue of his eyes appear all the brighter" The prisoner is therefore a good-looking young man. He can quote Shakespeare which mean he is intellectual but his language is still poor "No I'm safe
It is always hard to deliver bad news, especially when you do not know how the receiver will react. Evie, a female prison guard, shall in the beginning of the story tell about the death of a grandmother to Victor a prisoner. It is the first death notice she will deliver alone, therefore is Evie is worried about how Victor, a prisoner she does not know, will react when he hears the bad news "(...) her question is really about whether Victor is the dangerous, unpredictable type who might want to throw a punch at news of his loss." This does not only show how her workplace is but also she had tried to tell bad news before, where the imprisoned acted violent. Even though Evie has been a prison guard in over 1 year she is still uncomfortable and find the environment of prison "abrasive and intimidating" . Evie is very religious and uses her "breaks" to pray and calm down, praying is her shot of heroin. Luckily, Victor does not tend to lose it . Actually is Evie confused over how well Victor receive the news about his grandmothers dead. All he do is quoting Shakespeare´s tragedy King Lear " Why should a dog, a horse, a pigeon have life and Nan no breath at all?" Evie get the feeling that Victor is more concerned about the pigeon which his neighbor teases than the death of his grandmother, whose death he is unable to show emotions. Victor is not like how Evie think he would be "Victor Zamora is not the angry man (...)but a slight, good-looking boy who appears barely old enough to be in an adult jail. " " His eyes have spark and his olive skin makes the blue of his eyes appear all the brighter" The prisoner is therefore a good-looking young man. He can quote Shakespeare which mean he is intellectual but his language is still poor "No I'm safe