Memories ...

Summer is visiting Wales, just when we were getting used to the fact that winter was on its way. Not that we're complaining. Well, I'm not. Otis has disappeared for a few days; he says he's going on furlough and will be back soon, though if he discovers nice owls in the wood, he may stay a bit longer. I told him to please come back, that I would miss him, but not his grumpiness. He just stared at me. 

Oh, how times are changing. I remember the cold evenings when we would sit in the lounge, Clatalie, Otis and me, all snuggled up in a blanket, each in our own spot; Clatalie and I on the sofas, Otis perched on the mantle-piece, from which he had a good view of what was going on inside and outside. We would watch junk on the teli and talk. Sometimes we would talk serious stuff, but mostly we talked nonsense, falling about in giggles that made us want to live the student life forever and ever. 

Occasionally, there was a cat which roamed the alley way to the back of the terraced houses. He'd come and dance along the wall which separated our backyard from next door's, and peep in. He wasn't a big fan of Otis, nor was Otis a big fan of him, but most of the time, the cat would want to come in. It was times like these that Clatalie would look at my with bright eyes, and say, "Pleeeeaaase can we have a kitten?" And I would reply, gently but firmly, "No, we're not having kittens!"

The conversation would then go on to getting a tiger. That I could live with, and our plans for the future, going against anything remotely related to reality, would flourish and lift our spirits, until we once again realised that there was a real world beyond the walls that protected us, and we both knew that one day, we would have to gather up all the courage we could find, and step out into that frighteningly big ocean.

And here we are. Though we haven't entered that world fully yet, we've stepped out. Partly because we had no choice, partly because - I think it is safe to say - we both knew that student life, though thrilling and exciting and full of good times, will eventually get extremely boring at some point. As well as being totally unsatisfying,  I don't want a boring life, and neither does Clatalie, I think. 

Yes, we WILL conquer the world. We will look forward, and expect a thousand new experiences that will be just as good as the times we lived in our house. But we will do so, knowing that there will always be those memories in our hearts.