Concerning Sally

Professor Ladue has spent his life hunched over papers and specimens, his modest study a gallery of fossils, a skull, and a half‑mounted reptile. The autumn light outside his window paints the surrounding trees in copper and gold, a scene he watches without truly seeing, his mind weary of endless research. A sudden need for distraction pushes him to abandon his work, slipping a cigarette into his pocket before stepping out into the chilled morning.

At his side appears his daughter Sally, a serious ten‑year‑old with eyes that seem to pierce any pretense. He asks her to tell her ailing mother that he will be late, hinting at an urgent matter at the college that may keep him away past the last train. As Sally bows her head and repeats his words, an unspoken tension settles over the household, suggesting that the professor’s departure will stir more than simple inconvenience. The story gently unfolds around duty, curiosity, and the quiet currents that shape family life.