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Authors: Sally O'Brien
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present. Believing that maybe he hadn't woken properly yet, Jocasta blew out the candles and sat back to watch This Morning with her favourite, Philip Schofield; he always cheered up her mornings. She would wait until Adrian was ready.
-x-
After another two hours and several unsuccessful attempts to lure Adrian out of his room, Jocasta decided she would pop to the shops to get the ingredients for that night's dinner. She got ready and left the flat, stepping out into the noon day summer's sun. Big Value had built a supermarket behind the Fern Bridge estate which had made shopping very convenient for Jocasta. She enjoyed the short walk through the children's playground to get there as she loved to see the young kids from the estate playing. Her flat looked down on the playground and Jocasta often watched the girls and boys of the estate play with the equipment. The ages of the children would change with the hours of the day; teenagers taking over the playground later in the day, intimidating the younger ones back to their homes. Parents were rarely there to defend their children; the playground was used exclusively by kids from the estate, where everybody knew each other and all were confident their children were safe.
Jocasta walked through the playground now, enjoying the warmth from the sun on her skin. She smiled as she saw two young girls on the swings, kicking their legs backwards and forwards to make the swings get higher and higher. She knew their names were Lacey and Savannah as she saw them here often and had heard them calling out to each other. Jocasta was used to seeing the girls alone but was always filled with disgust for the parents who so carelessly left their children to play. She would never have allowed Adrian to go anywhere alone as a child, especially at the very young age she believed these girls to be; they could not have been more than ten or eleven years old. These parents also seemed to allow their girls to dress like tarts in her opinion. 'What mothers let their daughter wear crop tops and mini-skirts?' Jocasta mouthed to herself. No matter how hot it was if she had had a daughter then jeans and a t-shirt or a pretty summer dress would have been her clothing of choice.
She continued to walk towards Big Value but heard one of the girls calling, "Adrian." She turned to see the girls looking up towards her flat and looked up herself to see Adrian hanging out of his bedroom window. He was smiling down at the girls and threw a paper plane down to their uplifted arms. Jocasta saw the girl whom she thought was Lacey; reach down for the piece of paper. Lacey opened the plane out into its original state and both girls read or looked at whatever was on the paper, giggling to each other. Both girls then waved up to Adrian and skipped out of the park, Lacey still clutching the now crumpled piece of paper. Jocasta looked up again at Adrian's bedroom window hoping to catch his eye and exchange a wave, but he had already returned to the confines of his bedroom.
-x-
Big Value was busy as usual; at times this irritated Jocasta because people irritated her. She would often have a trolley barged into the back of her legs as if she were invisible and never a sorry was uttered by the offending trolley pusher. Today though Jocasta didn't mind the crowds; Adrian's refusal to come out of his bedroom had filled Jocasta with a loneliness she didn't believe she had experienced since Adrian had been born. In truth the loneliness had begun to develop ever since the day Adrian had blamed her for his indiscretion with his young classmate. After Jocasta had bought him the computer he had removed himself from her company. Jocasta had been in denial about this though, choosing to keep herself busy tidying the house or preparing for their joint mealtimes, but today's events had led her to realise that even if you have a physical being in your home it can still be a very lonely place. Now she understood what people meant when
-x-
After another two hours and several unsuccessful attempts to lure Adrian out of his room, Jocasta decided she would pop to the shops to get the ingredients for that night's dinner. She got ready and left the flat, stepping out into the noon day summer's sun. Big Value had built a supermarket behind the Fern Bridge estate which had made shopping very convenient for Jocasta. She enjoyed the short walk through the children's playground to get there as she loved to see the young kids from the estate playing. Her flat looked down on the playground and Jocasta often watched the girls and boys of the estate play with the equipment. The ages of the children would change with the hours of the day; teenagers taking over the playground later in the day, intimidating the younger ones back to their homes. Parents were rarely there to defend their children; the playground was used exclusively by kids from the estate, where everybody knew each other and all were confident their children were safe.
Jocasta walked through the playground now, enjoying the warmth from the sun on her skin. She smiled as she saw two young girls on the swings, kicking their legs backwards and forwards to make the swings get higher and higher. She knew their names were Lacey and Savannah as she saw them here often and had heard them calling out to each other. Jocasta was used to seeing the girls alone but was always filled with disgust for the parents who so carelessly left their children to play. She would never have allowed Adrian to go anywhere alone as a child, especially at the very young age she believed these girls to be; they could not have been more than ten or eleven years old. These parents also seemed to allow their girls to dress like tarts in her opinion. 'What mothers let their daughter wear crop tops and mini-skirts?' Jocasta mouthed to herself. No matter how hot it was if she had had a daughter then jeans and a t-shirt or a pretty summer dress would have been her clothing of choice.
She continued to walk towards Big Value but heard one of the girls calling, "Adrian." She turned to see the girls looking up towards her flat and looked up herself to see Adrian hanging out of his bedroom window. He was smiling down at the girls and threw a paper plane down to their uplifted arms. Jocasta saw the girl whom she thought was Lacey; reach down for the piece of paper. Lacey opened the plane out into its original state and both girls read or looked at whatever was on the paper, giggling to each other. Both girls then waved up to Adrian and skipped out of the park, Lacey still clutching the now crumpled piece of paper. Jocasta looked up again at Adrian's bedroom window hoping to catch his eye and exchange a wave, but he had already returned to the confines of his bedroom.
-x-
Big Value was busy as usual; at times this irritated Jocasta because people irritated her. She would often have a trolley barged into the back of her legs as if she were invisible and never a sorry was uttered by the offending trolley pusher. Today though Jocasta didn't mind the crowds; Adrian's refusal to come out of his bedroom had filled Jocasta with a loneliness she didn't believe she had experienced since Adrian had been born. In truth the loneliness had begun to develop ever since the day Adrian had blamed her for his indiscretion with his young classmate. After Jocasta had bought him the computer he had removed himself from her company. Jocasta had been in denial about this though, choosing to keep herself busy tidying the house or preparing for their joint mealtimes, but today's events had led her to realise that even if you have a physical being in your home it can still be a very lonely place. Now she understood what people meant when
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