He slips in and out of the door, coming back rubbing his hands together and puffing. ‘Jesus wept, it’s windy out there.’
‘Is it?’ she’s reading, her head tilted. Coffee fills the warm air in the room.
‘Is it,’ he looks at the window, that rattles in its frame. Outside, the wind howls. ‘It is, just a little.’
‘Hadn’t noticed.’
‘How- what do you mean?’
‘I hadn’t noticed it was windy.’
‘But-’ he points at the trees outside, their branches and leaves bending as if they were under water. ‘How-’
She yawns. ‘I’m joking. But we still need milk.’
He slumps down next to her. ‘Learn to like it black.’
She continues to read. ‘Do you want a lift to work tomorrow?’
‘Ooo, that’d be nice.’
‘Learn to like walking maybe?’
Paddy Dobson
28th March 2021