Day 2: Family Duties

I didn't manage to write very much yesterday. In fact, I didn't even manage to write very much at all. A measly 384 words, and not even a rabbit hole to pin my inadequacy on.

But I do have an excuse.

My father had to get surgery done, to remove a lump on his neck. Its not too major, but its not too minor, either, which leaves us in a rather sticky position. A & E won't see him, even after he waits for 6+ hours, but nor will the private clinics. We went to one yesterday; a plastic surgeon who said he would get the job done. He didn't. -Sigh-

Normally, I wouldn't let something like that stop me from writing. I'd be at it in the tube, or in the waiting-rooms. Very likely both.

But family duties got in the way.

My grandmother and my aunt were both in fits of worry; it's not that bad, but anything that has to with knives and plastic gloves makes them nervous. They came along. And my grandfather doesn't mind tagging along, if he gets to go to Chelsea.

I didn't want to write, for fear of being accosted as cold-hearted. Instead, I took the opportunity to indulge in a very rare conversation with my aunt.

We all live pretty nearby, but to be fair, I hardly ever speak with her. Today was different. It was fun. We talked about college, and seriously debated whether Geography was linked with History (I can't fathom why. History goes with Politics and Economics. Geography goes with the Sciences. Done.) She asked me about my dreams, my ambitions. What I wanted to be when I was older. A writer. A writer? That's not a real job? She says, smiling at my child-like folly. A journalist, then. I asked her about hers, when she was a child. She didn't have any. Mostly, her dreams and her ambitions were for her brothers.

Its so sad to think of that now. And my aunt isn't even that old. She didn't live in England though, so I suppose that explains some of it.

We talked about books. I had bought a copy of my favourite Persuasion along. She's anything but a big reader, but she knows I'm fond of it. She talked about her teenage son, one of my cousins whom I'm far less close to.

I'm rambling a bit, now, but you get the idea. Yesterday, I had to swap my writing for playing hostess in the streets of Chelsea.