07 March 2024
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Read James McCreet's suggested rewrite for this month's Under the Microscope
“You’ve shattered my dream and managed to convince dad to agree with you.” I push my hot chocolate aside on the table and look at my parents, who are standing by the kettle. The dark cupboards in the kitchen feel like a fortress. Moving to Dublin seems impossible.
Dad’s expression is difficult to read. Somewhere in his face I see that he’d love to let me go but this time he’s sticking by my mum’s decision.
I drag the wrinkled skin on my drink to the edge of the mug.
“There’s no point in going so far away to school,” says mammy. “You’ll get enough points in your leaving cert exams.”
Daddy nodded.
“Why are you so against me?” I say. “Is it something to do with Patrick? Or is it Italy?”
Any chance of going to boarding school is ruined and being with Patrick is now just a dream. We’ve lived on the same street of the small County Roscommon village all our lives. Since primary school, we’ve planned our future together.
Mammy turns on the kettle again and glances at the clock. I watch as she flips the page on the cupboard-door calendar and traces a finger to Wednesday, the day she does some cleaning and secretarial work in the parochial house. She’s double-checking that it is indeed Wednesday and that she needs to go.
I should know better. She was never going to change her mind. If they agreed, I’d only be a year in boarding school and because I’ve read King Leer and Silas Mariner I’d be up to speed on English and I’m already doing higher level math. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t move.