Never Keep a Child Waiting
The child … waiting, waiting, and waiting
A child in sulky face, bottom lip forward and over upper lip, leaned over a wall behind a bus stop in a town on the highway that connected Oslo and Gothenburg — a riparian town that never grew into city but it was where the Medieval Kings of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden met and agreed for moratorium on invasions and wars — and was waiting.
The girl was conspicuous for other travellers: commuters and riders and drivers. They promised to themselves ‘never keep a child waiting’.
Her face revealed her disappointment. She was waiting for her parent who had parted from the other parent like many other parents in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, who also compared and competed over divorce rate and development indices.
The girl was finally greeted by her grandfather with words of endearment and ushered her into the car. He apologised to her on behalf of her mother.
The child watched what was ahead without a word as the car smoothly rolled on the road in the twilight. When grandpa looked at her as he drove the car, he swelled with antipathy for his grandchild’s parents and empathy for the child: ‘I never kept my children waiting, but.’
