Back to Barcelona

Would Sophie find what she was looking for as she stepped back in time?

- Christabel Smith

Sunlight was streaming through the windows, exposing specks of dust on all the mirrors and picture frames. Sophie immediately fetched her duster, glad of the distraction from the rather gloomy thoughts she was having.

When her youngest son finally left home, she’d imagined she’d be thankful for the peace and quiet, but once the novelty wore off, she found herself hankering for the sound of the front door slamming, the hearty ‘Hi, Mum!’, inevitably followed by, ‘Is there anything to eat?’

She had hoped her husband, David, might start winding down a little at his job, but he seemed to be working longer hours than ever. His new boss was a hard taskmaster and David was terrified he’d be thought of as an old fogey who couldn’t keep up.

She knew the feeling. She loved her part-time job teaching Spanish in the local college, but most of the other teachers looked as if they could still be in sixth form themselves. Lovely girls, but their coffee break chat was all about online dating and whether to get their eyebrows tattooed, which made Sophie feel ancient. How she wished her own lifelong friends lived closer, so they could meet up for lunch and chuckle about being ‘old buddies, with the emphasis on the old’.

Flicking the dust off one of her treasured prints of a market scene in Barcelona, Sal came into mind. As students, donkey’s years ago, they’d shared a flat there. It had been near a park, close to the heart of the old town, poky and a little bit grotty, but every day had been an adventure and given Sophie many memories she cherished to this day.