Peace

“What are you thinking about?”

“You.”
“Why?”

“Because you always occupy my brain.”
“Don’t say silly things, you are always saying silly things.”
“Not quite true but I know that I can.”

“Well?”

“Well what?”
“What are you thinking about?”

“I’m wondering whether it is possible for me to live without you. Whether it is possible to get on with my life without you infiltrating my thoughts”

“You sound obsessed.”
“I sound like someone at the end of his tether.”
“We get on all right.”
“No we don’t. You undermine me. You make me doubt myself. You contaminate my thoughts.”

“Get you, ‘contaminate’. I love it when you pretend to be an intellectual.”
“Oh for god’s sake, I’m going out.”

“I’ll stay here.”

“Good.”
“Don’t slam the door.”

“Look, I’m closing it quietly with the key. And now I am walking down our street as briskly as possible to put as much distance between you and me. Now I am crossing the road and walking towards the bridge. I am going to watch the cars pass underneath. It calms me to think that I could be in one speeding away from you.

“Slow down, I’m coming too.”
“You promised you wouldn’t”
“I can’t leave you.”

“You can, you can. Please leave me, please leave me alone.”
“But what would you do without me?”

“Find peace”

“Get down off the bridge.”

“No – I want peace.

The young man driving the car glanced up at the bridge he was approaching. He could see a lone figure climb onto the railing top and jump. He was going too fast to brake and for a brief moment the body travelled on his bonnet before bouncing over the top of his speeding car.