Mrs Sugden, a retired teacher, lives on her own with her dog. She is lonely, addicted to television and constantly terrified of being attacked and raped by a stranger. Her fear of men governs her days and in particular a queasy exchange with a young, sarcastic man she meets when walking her dog. Her instincts tell her he is no good, yet she is forced to interact with him to help a fellow pensioner.
“She knew it was irrational, though there was logic in it, to feel better indoors. There were women who had found men waiting for them in the dark when they came home, women who had been followed and then pushed in quickly from behind, women whose windows or barred doors had been contemptuously shattered.”
Published in Sugar and Other Stories, Chatto & Windus, 1987
A Personal Anthology 