The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 2788 by Angharad Copyright© 2015 Angharad

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This is a work of fiction any mention of real people, places or institutions is purely coincidental and does not imply that they are as suggested in the story.
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Simon came down a while later, “I didn’t hear you get up,” he said to me.

“I can be quiet when the mood takes me, I’m off to shower.”

“She wis asleep on thae sofa,” I heard Tom tell him as I went up the stairs.

Entering the bedroom swathed in towels I saw Simon sitting on the bed looking at a magazine. “Oh hello,” I said in surprise.

“How come you were down on the sofa?”

“I couldn’t sleep, so went for a cuppa and rather than disturb you, I curled up on the sofa.”

“Why couldn’t you sleep?”

“I think I was caught up with the horror of what happened in France and I kept getting pictures of the gunmen stalking their prey and of the screams and the blood. It was horrible.”

He held open his arms, “I’m sure it was,” he said holding my damp towel covered body, “Now tell me the real reason.”

“What that I went to the loo and came back to find you sprawled across the bed and you’re too heavy to move, so I went down for a cuppa and fell asleep on the sofa.”

“Not sure which of those I prefer.”

“All right, how about I snuck down and met my lover and we made passionate love all night.”

He smirked. “Don’t tell me, then the batteries ran out...”

“Damn, it must be noisier than I thought,” I blushed.

“I thought it was the vacuum cleaner I could hear.”

“No that was afterwards.”

“After what?”

“After the batteries ran out.”

“So you couldn’t sleep?”

I yawned as if to give authenticity to my tale. “No, just kept seeing those horrible images.”

“According to the radio, they’ve arrested dozens after the president declared a state of emergency and there’s over a hundred dead.”

I felt my eyes tear up, “All those young people,” I said quietly.

“Why?” he said then answered himself, “If any answer made any sense I’d know I was crazy, except they were terrorists and they don’t need a reason beyond causing mayhem and suffering.”

“They’re trying to undermine Western society.”

“So we’d be as sick as them?”

“Sometimes I think we are, wanting to drop bombs on them.”

“Unfortunately killing them is the only way to stop them, even Kitchener knew that when he was sent to avenge Gordon.”

“Yeah, I know, dum dum bullets.”

“Well if you blow someone in half they tend to stop attacking you.”

“He drowned you know?”

“Who Gordon?”

“No Kitchener.”

“Did he?”

“Yeah, his ship hit a mine going to Russia.”

“How d’you know that?”

“Learnt it in history, it was during the First World War, never forgot it for some reason. He was Irish.”

“So were Wellington and Montgomery.”

“English gentlemen born in Ireland.”

“They seem to like a good scrap don’t they?”

“What the Irish?”

“Yeah.”

“Well the British army would be somewhat depleted without its Scots and Irish soldiers.”

“Was Henry in the army?”

“Yeah, after uni he did a two or three year commission, he was an intelligence officer.”

“Hence his links with the security services.”

“Not sure if it’s that or his interest via the bank and the Other Place.”

“Other place?” What was he on about?

“Yeah, the Lords, house of.”

“Of course.” I could never remember if the Commons referred to the Lords as that or the other way round. I thought it was the other way round, there ya go, it doesn’t involve dormice so what do I know?

“It was Gordon of Khartoum, wasn’t it?” I said thinking about the previous conversations.

“Yes—he was killed there.”

“That’s in the Sudan, isn’t it?”

“Yep and I think they’re still squabbling out there.”

“Is that because of European empire building?”

“Who knows, I don’t and besides they’ve had sixty or seventy years to get over it. I mean we—that is, us, the Yanks and the Russians flattened Germany but they’ve got over it.”

“I’d better finish dressing or my hair’s going to be too dry.” I pulled myself away from him. “D’you remember when Mima’s bed was here?” I stood combing my hair, my body still wrapped in the bath sheet.

“How could I forget? She stole both our hearts.”

“It was the way she flirted outrageously with you and she was only three.”

“You women are all the same, you see an Adonis and fling yourselves at me.”

“Some of us don’t,” I said pulling on some panties.

“You did, the first time I met you you launched yourself at me and still with your drink in your hand, so great was the compulsion.”

I roared with laughter then aware my bare boobs were bouncing up and down a little pulled on a bra and fastened it. “I’m sure we live in parallel universes sometimes. As I recall it I caught the heel of my boot in my skirt and fell on top of you.”

“A likely tale, I know full well that if you weren’t restrained you’d be jumping my bones this very minute.”

Last night that might have been true, now—too tired to even contemplate it. Sorry Si, twelve hours too late. “Yeah sure,” I continued dressing.

He lay back on the bed, “Well now’s your chance, ravish away.”

“We don’t have any raddish, Si, could do you a carrot though,” with that I excused myself and still yawning made my way downstairs to see what David was making for lunch.

“That was terrible in France...” was his greeting to me.

“Yes it was, might we talk about other things as I find it very distressing?”

“Of course, you doing anything with the kids this weekend?”

“Danielle is playing football on Sunday unless it’s rained off apart from that, we have no plans.”

“Mind if I have a day off tomorrow, got a few things to do.”

“That’s okay.”

“Thanks, I’ll leave everything in the fridge ready for you.”

“What is it?”

“Leg of lamb.”

“Is that one of Caradog’s legs?”

“No, it’s definitely from a sheep or an exceedingly large rabbit.”

I shook my head, and left him to it. Was it me, or is he just as barking as I am?

Going in pursuit of my offspring, I found that Trish and Livvie were playing some weird computer game which even after watching them for several minutes I had no idea what it was about.

Meems and Hannah were bathing all Mima’s dolls and judging by all the stuff on the radiators, had washed all dollies’ clothes as well. I’ll wipe up the mess later. Cate was amusing Lizzie by telling her some long involved story which confused me, so what Lizzie thought about it, goodness only knows. As the Bard of Portsmouth once said, ‘There’s more in heaven and earth than in your fossyfussy.’ Or it might have been Meems.