Walking into the dark
Photo by Pixabay from Pexels "I am going to walk to Waitrose and back in under 40 min," my son announced chirpily, his face flushed from playing basketball in the golden glow of the setting desert sun. It didn't seem to cause a flutter. His brothers, one slumped over the sofa, the other walking about munching an apple, looked faintly bored. His dad, amused. Not me. It was already quite dark and the prospect of a young boy trudging alone through dimly lit, deserted back roads did not quite appeal to me. "Is that a good idea?" I started. "It's dark. The road is not well it. And it's quite deserted." Before I could go on and draw a stark picture of what dark nights and deserted alleyways could do to one, the dad stepped in, "It's all right. That's how kids learn and become independent." As is wont to happen in my household, between my trepidation and my husband's ebullience, we let him go. Not to worry, nothing untoward h
