On days when the international news is unbearable, our democracy is rotting, and my stomach has been unsettled, I’m thrilled when my inbox delivers a gem of a short story. Electric Literature has a recommended reading feature and today’s recommended short story Blue by Richard Bausch is one that has stayed with me for the past few hours. And I plan on reading it again later today.

Jennifer Haigh, another award-winning short story writer and novelist, introduced it by saying, Richard Bausch, one of our greatest living short story writers grounds his fiction in a pivotal moment–the moment after which nothing will ever be the same….She continues, Ernest Hart is a mild, amiable man who spends his days painting portraits of other people’s cherished grandchildren and working part time at the public library to make ends meet. Earnest to a fault, he’s the kind of guy you worry about, a dreamy eccentric who habitually reads a book while walking down the street. Reading the opening pages, I thought, this guy is going to get hit by a bus.

I don’t want to spoil the story by saying more, but seriously, you need to read this story. Then analyze why it works.

I’ve been meaning to pick up a copy of his latest short story collection, The Fate of Others and this was just the nudge I needed.