In the Bag
Here's a short story for #StomaAware Day. More information at Colostomy UK
It was a lovely day in the park.
It was a dry, sunny day, warm for the time of year.
The little old lady sat on the park bench, feeding the birds. She had been there a long time. She was worried she would soon run out of bird feed, or that her bags would be full. It had been a long time since she'd been to the loo, she'd not dared leave her post.
The leaves had begun to fall, and most of the acorns were down, but some were still falling, startling the pigeons and sparrows that they fell near.
Unusually, squirrels were not begging for nuts. They were all busy collecting the best acorns, eating some, but burying most. Or pretending to bury them to disguise their nut caches from their rivals.
The lady was well dressed, with loose dark slacks, a fawn jumper and a pale blue jacket which added nothing to her pale complexion. Her face was not memorable, and showed signs of strain and pain, but she seemed cheerful enough watching the antics of the birds and squirrels. Her hat matched her jacket, with grey hair showing underneath.
A bird landed on her hand to feed. She looked up in triumph and delight, flashing a triple gap-toothed grin at the man who happened to be passing by, to his surprise, and surreptitiously took his photo. He looked back at her as he rounded the corner.
As soon as he was out of sight, she moved behind some bushes, reversed her jacket so it was brown, took off her hat and the grey hair with it to reveal her own shorter salt and pepper hair, and put in her dentures. She took out a rucksack and put her bag and the hat in it. She checked her bags - her leg bag was full but not her urostomy bag, so she should have no problem completing her mission.
She nipped through some bushes to a path which merged with the one the man had taken and set off after him. Once it was clear which exit he was heading for, she hurried ahead of him and stood at the bus stop just outside the gate.
As soon as he had passed, she replaced her brown jacket with a grey cardigan, and took out a floppy grey hat and a collapsible cane and followed him once more.
She managed to get a photo of the house he went to and the person who opened the door, then walked on towards the next entrance to the park. As she turned in the entrance, she was surprised to see he was following behind. She got out her radar key and entered the disabled toilet there. She called for transport, emptied her bags, removed the leg bag and replaced her colostomy pouch. When her boss called to say he was outside she quickly exited and got in the taxi. He told the cabbie to move off.
"I got the photos", she said, "but I think he may have been suspicious towards the end. He was behind me when I popped into the loo. I don't know if he was following me or just happened to be going in the same direction”.
"Not to worry", her boss said, "just so long as you got the pics".
His phone beeped. She had sent him the photos she had taken. She had not recognised their faces, but her boss obviously did as he said, "dynamite!"
"OK, I'm convinced", her boss said. "When you were off so sick, I assumed you would have to retire, but if you are able to hang around all day in the guise of an innocent little old lady and not risk missing anything popping to the loo, there are going to be situations where you are still going to be very useful."
"I'm lucky", she said. "Many of my fellow ostomates have frequent leaks or need to empty often. It's very unpleasant, particularly if there are no suitable toilets. Some never dare go out at all."
She smiled her sweet little old lady smile, with just a hint of the huntress in it.
It had been a lovely day in the park.