In "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut", the dysfunctional relationship between Eloise and Ramona and their individual lives is a sad but eye-opening topic to flesh out. Both characters suffer from a lackluster life, and develop coping mechanisms in a depressing attempt to escape from their emotions. As we're introduced to Eloise, it becomes immediately clear that her life's been going downhill ever since she was evicted from college. Despite putting on a smiling front for gossip with her friend, her constant smoking and drinking habits are implied to be a common occurrence, not just to celebrate reuniting with a friend. Her life is just a mess; she despises her mother-in-law, feels trapped in her marriage to Lew, and sees her daughter as a nuisance. It's only when she's gossiping to Mary Jane about old friends and reminiscing about her past exploits that she seems truly happy, or at least energetic. She feels that she peaked in the past and is now past her prime...
But I mean some long stories still count as short stories because they're short by the standard definition of a "short story" but they're still kinda long so I wouldn't consider them short really I mean who determines whether a story is short or not, c'mon it's all arbitrary anyways but fine let's just call them "short" whatever who cares.