O. Henry has long been regarded as the master of the short-form story with a delightful twist at the end.

In this tale, a man named Trysdale returns from the wedding of the woman he used to date. He contemplates a cactus, the last gift she ever gave him, and wonders what could have gone wrong - did she simply fall out of love, or did some of his grand attempts to impress her come back to bite him?