When the village council replaced its old noticeboard with an app, Arthur stood in front of the empty wooden frame for a long time.
“How will Mrs. Bell know about the jumble sale?” he asked.
The chair of the council, a young man named Simon, explained that Mrs. Bell could download the app. Arthur pointed out that Mrs. Bell still called the television remote “the clicker,” and only used it when the television was already on.
“You can help her,” Simon said.
Arthur had delivered letters in the village for forty-two years. He knew which gate stuck, which dogs were all bark, and which houses received birthday cards from people who had forgotten to sign them. Helping Mrs. Bell sounded reasonable. The trouble was that by Tuesday, six other people had asked him what was on the app.
Arthur printed the announcements at the library. By Wednesday his printer had run out of ink. By Thursday he was going door to door with a notebook, reading out the listings and accepting corrections.
He tried leaving a stack of copies at the shop. Mr. Bell took the top sheet, crossed out a wrong date, and pinned it over the others. Someone assumed the correction applied to every listing. Arthur spent the afternoon explaining that the church coffee morning had not, in fact, moved to the fire station. A paper copy needed looking after just as much as an app, he decided; at least paper could not send an alert at midnight.
“The choir meets at seven, not half past,” said Mrs. Price.
“The jumble sale needs two people to carry tables,” said Mr. Bell.
“Don’t tell my husband about the gardening lecture,” said Mrs. Fowler. “He’ll come home with a greenhouse.”
Arthur wrote everything down. When he met Simon outside the shop, Simon looked delighted.
“See? The app has brought everyone together.”
“It has certainly brought everyone to my front door,” Arthur said.
Simon offered to show him how to turn on notifications. Arthur declined; he already received three knocks before breakfast.
The following week, the app announced that the harvest supper would be held in the church hall. A plumber had booked the hall months before for his daughter’s birthday. Arthur learned this when he took Mrs. Bell her announcement, and found the plumber loading balloons into a van.
Arthur told Simon. Simon corrected the app. Then someone changed it back, thinking the correction was a mistake. Half the village arrived at the church hall, and the other half went to the school. Arthur borrowed the church bell and rang it until everyone followed him to the school.
At the council meeting Simon praised the “community engagement” the new system had created. Arthur raised a hand.
“Could we put the noticeboard back?”
“Why? Everyone receives the updates.”
“Because they receive them from me. You have invented a full-time job and given it to a retired man.”
Simon looked around the room. Several councillors nodded. Someone suggested paying Arthur. Arthur said he did not want a salary; he wanted to sit in his garden occasionally without being asked whether the Pilates class required a mat.
After a long discussion, the council voted to restore the noticeboard. Simon promised the app would remain for people who preferred it. Arthur agreed. On Saturday, they hung the wooden frame outside the shop, and Arthur placed the first printed announcement inside.
It read: “If the app gives you the wrong information, please tell Simon.”
Underneath, in smaller letters, Arthur added: “Arthur is retired.”
By Monday, Simon was at Arthur’s gate.
“Why have eight people asked me where the harvest supper is?”
Arthur smiled and went back to his roses. “Congratulations,” he said. “You’ve finally got notifications.”