“She’s into witchcraft,” Stanley’s wife whispered to curious womenfolk.
Ita ignored all gossip. She took solace in her garden, amidst the company of fruit trees and the everblooming Calibrachoa.
Unknown to others, Stanley didn’t hear well. He pretended to understand everything said to him, even when he forgot to wear his hearing aids.
Martin was amused by how his own words had turned to something irresistibly laughable.
For what Stanley interpreted as ‘witch Ita’ was in reality ‘Wichita’ — a silvery-blue juniper.