Ups and downs/ The swing

Ups

Downs

Her

The sound of your own breath is annoying. How have

you not noticed it before. After 40 years, this is the first time the simple act of respiring bothers you. Your breathing gets faster and louder. You stand up, go to the kitchen, drink some milk, sit down again, open a magazine, put it back. That’s when you realise you have a phone in your hand, and someone is

still talking at the other end and your child is not in the house and you don’t

care about your husband anymore.

Him

You still remember when you were a school boy, and you got a bad mark in the maths exam. That exam you studied so much for. You could feel the cold sweat on your forehead whilst you waited for your dad to come home. Your eyes on the big clock on the wall, your mind full of disappointment. Your voice trembling when you told him. And dad whispering ‘you will do better, I am sure’. You have always wished you could do the same with your child. But you spend your time looking for something you already know is not there

Ups and downs/ The swing