Blow Away The Cobwebs

January was a good time for fresh starts, yet was finding it difficult...

GO back to sleep.

There's no need for you to get up early now you're a lady of leisure," Greg said as he hoisted himself out of bed at the sound of the alarm.

On occasions in the past, those words would have been music to my ears.

Today, they brought home to me what I'd lost.

"I'll get up and make a start on breakfast," I argued, slipping out from under the warm duvet.

"There's no need, Penny." Greg kissed me on the cheek before making his way to the bathroom.

"I want to," I called after him.

It didn't seem fair for Greg to make his own breakfast on his first day back at work after Christmas.

The least I could do was support him.

I slid my feet into my slippers and wandered over to the window to peer out between the curtains.

A few lights were on in the cul-de-sac, and the cat from across the road was sitting on their side wall.

"I'm sure that cat has been in the same position all night," I remarked to Greg when he popped back into the room for his comb.

"I hope it's all right." "What cat?" he asked, joining me at the window.

"The one over there," I pointed.

"That's a garden parasol! They were sorting out their shed yesterday." He laughed.

Greg was right. It was funny how a combination of a dark morning and minimal street lighting could make the folds in the top of a parasol look like a cat.

"You've been worrying for nothing," Greg said, going back to the bathroom. After Greg left for work, I poured myself another cup of coffee and set my mind to thinking about how I was going to spend my day.

"You'll find something else," Greg had said after Tony and Eve told me they had decided to retire and that the bakery would close.

I'd loved working for them, serving behind the counter, and I knew every customer by name.

Tony and Eve were like a second mum and dad to me.