18

the flickering fire of the outdoor gas heaters outlines your old friends face in glowing orange. you are in the pub now. you had eaten the mains outside but it proved intolerable due to the noise, speakers blaring overhead, shrieks of the the young children sitting (well sitting is rather an optimistic was to describe it) at a table nearby.

when the kids and family finally left it was like a tooth had been pulled, an abscess lanced, instant relief, a new vista of clarity opened up in your mind like a wide open room caressed by a gentle breeze.

dinner was nice. you went back to her place and gawked at her lifetimes worth of collecting and making beautiful objects.