By David Sorflaten
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The late David Sorflaten grew up on the grounds of the Springfield Hospital, where his father managed the dairy herd. He sent us a collection of stories and asked us to use them. So we did.
— Excerpt —
The Man with the Candy
And I remember some of the patients vividly, if not fondly. When we lived in the farm manager’s house, it was close to a path that went from the barns and the Men’s Group, and up to an opening in the fence which allowed the patients to get to the little borough of Flohrville, and more importantly to Nellie Dixon’s general store. That path got a lot of use from those who had the money to buy candy, sodas, or packs of cigarettes (rather than the little sacks of tobacco and folders of cigarette papers given to the smokers).
One of the regulars, who came by every morning, was a 30ish clean shaven, handsome man, always dressed in clean khakis, rather than hospital garb. Pleasant and well spoken, each day he returned from the store with a number of candy bars. I was envious of such an extravagance of sweet riches, but he always said they were not for him. It was a year or so later that I realized he traded them to other patients for his homosexual requirements of the day.
— End of Excerpt —