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every night should see them right – if you can manage that?”
    Anna thought about it. Summer wouldn’t be too much of a problem, with its lengthy daylight hours, but in winter she tended to hibernate once home from work. It became dark by quarter past five and she didn’t fancy venturing out in that. Not on her own. Then there were the ducks to consider as well, of course. She didn’t know enough about dogs and ducks as species to know whether they could cohabitate her backyard in harmony. In fact, once she thought about it, didn’t Labradors retrieve ducks for hunters? Reluctantly, she’d decided not to rush the decision and commit herself, not when she couldn’t be sure of meeting all of the puppies needs. More time was needed for the decision, to think on it. In the end she never went back to get herself a puppy. The timing was never right. But the desire was still with her. One day, she often told herself.
    Now, watching Scully drag the man off down the road she felt more confident than ever that she’d made the right decision.
    Sighing, she turned back and continued her walk home via the playground. As she neared she felt her shoulders tighten and her breathing quicken. Would that horrible poor-excuse-for-a-mother be there? Would she have started some sort of trouble with the other mothers regarding Anna’s presence? But no, she was relieved to see as she scanned the heads present that the woman was not amongst them. The tension left her shoulders and she took her usual place on the bench seat furthest from where the mother’s congregated.
    She’d done well nursing her drink all the way here and from the weight she estimated it was still approximately half full, perhaps a touch over. She would take her time and enjoy it while she also enjoyed the sound and sight of the children. Their sweet melodic laughter was already working miracles on that spot inside of her that withered and blackened when she went too long on her own and without pleasures like this. The smile that creased her cheeks was not the smile she wore at work; the one that lied to customers and told them how delighted she was to meet and help them. It was her genuine smile; the one only seen in rare glimpses over recent years.
    The warmth of the sky warmed her soul. Reflections of pale lemon yellow and amber from the slowly sinking sun coloured the clouds. Leaves rustled. Flowers bloomed. Songbirds sang. Nature had primped herself up in her finest and was now ready for admiration. Anna duly obliged.
    She took a sip of her drink and enjoyed the warm chocolaty taste.
    The chains on the swings nearby creaked in protest as they were swung back and forth to eager cries of ‘higher!’
    The seesaw thudded to the ground as one child, obviously much heavier than the one perched on the other end, lifted his feet up. The smaller boy - the one left in the air - tried jiggling up and down, legs dangling, in an effort to budge his smirking friend off the ground, but to no avail.
    “Aw it’s not fair Duncan,” the smaller boy pouted. “You fat bastard.”
    Anna choked on her drink and a small amount was sucked up into her nose instead of swallowed down her throat. She started spluttering and coughing, her eyes watering as she fought to take a clear breath, fumbling in her pocket for the clean tissue she always kept there in case for emergencies.
    She didn’t see the boys on the seesaw stop arguing and eye her with interest, a new subject of mirth.
    “Haha she’s choking, silly cow,” fat Duncan said.
    “Yeah looks pretty bad, maybe she’ll die right here in front of us,” the other boy added hopefully.
    Anna didn’t hear them. Neither did she hear the child who had approached from her left, cautiously and unseen, when he asked, “Are you ok Miss?”
    It was only as he was repeating his question for the third time, right after she had finished noisily blowing her nose into the tissue to expel all last traces of the errant hot chocolate, that she