Laura Hayward

An Extra Ten Hours in the Day

”Come on kids! Get in the car or we’ll miss the train!”

Paul grabbed at the last of the bags and herded the children towards the door catching Josh with a deft sweep of his right leg as he tried to make a bee line back towards the TV

“Daisy you go in the front” “What do you mean, she went there yesterday? What does that have to do with it?”…  “Oh I see, well whose turn is it then?”…  “Oh you’ll have to just all sit in the back then”… “okay well we’ll swap halfway then. Good grief! is it always this hard just getting in the car?”

“Right. Bye darling we’ll miss you. I’ll call you when I get to my mother’s – enjoy the peace!” and with a quick kiss on the lips and a swing of the door, they were gone. Suzie could still hear the sounds of squabbling and the increasing tension in Lucy’s protests told her that an act of violence would most likely soon follow. But the protests quickly became muffled with the closing of each car door. Then she heard the click of the central lock and the slowly crunching gravel as the car reversed and they were gone. Silence descended.

Suzie padded from room to room half expecting to find a random toddler poised to write on some forbidden surface with a rogue felt tip. She had come to associate silence with an uneasy feeling, a momentary lapse in vigilance that would inevitably lead to a small disaster of some sort, nearly always involving the need for either stain remover or the services of the NHS.

Only once she had checked every room did the reality of the situation sink in. She was alone, for a whole day.