Morning Pages

Adam smiled, as he came in the kitchen. " Have you ever looked at the reflection of the water and watched the poop come out of you?".

Mel turned from the stove and gave him a withered look, "Why can't you just be normal?". She said the words under her breath quietly, meaning Adam missed them.

She loved her son but sometimes he could be so tiring. She wondered if every parent felt this way from time to time and if she was particularly callous, since it seemed to be something of a continual thought as far Adam was concerned. His rhetorical thoughts only ever had a discursive half life of a second and oblivious he sat down at the table, checking his i.phone for messages and texting friends in return.

Mel levered a fried egg and bread from the spluttering pan, onto a plate and in one move slid it across to him. "I see your hangovers gone, so what are you doing today about finding some work". She saw the upward rising of his eyes as she spoke, his signature expression of discontent and then waited as he sighed and shuffled in his seat.

She knew the question would push them both towards battle ground, where he would wield his defence in the form of a band, who as far as she could tell, spent more time smoking spliff than they did making music. She on the other hand would cite the fresh batch of utility bills, fanning out across the table, inches from his breakfast.

He surfaced from the cyberworld and addressed the food, skewering the egg with his fork. He hated the loose thread his joblessness presented, enabling people to pull at it, unravelling the cosy cloak of immaturity he wrapped around himself to keep out the cold realities.

A twinkle came back into his eyes and he smiled. "No" said Mel " you're not going to try and charm me the way your father used to. We need money, and you need to show me i've brought up someone who is more than just clever and feckless."

She grabbed the local newspaper off the fridge, folded it in two on the employment page and calmly laid it in front of him. He saw her biro ring around one of the ads.