# Yet another "Identify this short story" thread.  Sorry.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-identify-this-short-story-thread-sorry/475317>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [December 2, 2008, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-identify-this-short-story-thread-sorry/475317 "2008-12-02T07:57:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-identify-this-short-story-thread-sorry/475317/1 "2008-12-02T07:57:49Z")

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Particularly since the details I remember are rather vague.

I know I read it online. I _thought_ it was by Fitzgerald but my searches have come up dry. That doesn’t mean it _wasn’t_ by F. Scott - just that I couldn’t find it - but perhaps it was by Maugham?

The synopsis as I remember it: A soldier (?) meets a precocious little girl (of the sort only found in short stories) in a cafe (train station cafe?). I think she gave him a watch. The end of the story is some sort of reflection on how much life sucks and how perfect the afternoon in the cafe was, even if she was a little snot.

I don’t expect to ring any bells on this but maybe someone will have a clue what I’m talking about…

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**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-identify-this-short-story-thread-sorry/475317/2 "2008-12-02T11:02:29Z")

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Sounds like Salinger’s “For Esme, with love and squalor” to me.

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**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-identify-this-short-story-thread-sorry/475317/3 "2008-12-02T23:37:00Z")

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Yup, got it in one. Been driving me nuts for a week now…merci. 🙂

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**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\
**Post date:** [December 3, 2008, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yet-another-identify-this-short-story-thread-sorry/475317/4 "2008-12-03T01:06:17Z")

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> [@chique](#):
>
> Yup, got it in one. Been driving me nuts for a week now…merci. 🙂

Glad to help. It’s a lovely story, one of my favorites. As are Fitzgerald and Maugham, btw. I think I’ve read almost every story every one of them has published, and they’re astonishingly good. In fact, I think I’ll read some stories tonight–I’ve had a few collections stacked up on my nightstand. Thanks for the reminder.