First Line Friday -June 23rd 2017

Thanks Dylan.

Your line for this week is:

My parents are not generous, with money or affection. 

https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/19271780/posts/1504974525

It’s not their fault though.
Having an arranged marriage based on compatibility, they lived together but showed no outward feeling of emotion to each other or their offspring. They simply didn’t know how.
It’s still unclear how I came about. For all I know they booked an appointment with a test tube and I was the end result. I mean it’s not the sort of thing you like to ask anyone, let alone your parents is it.
As for money, Pocket Money was never an automatic right, every cent had to be earned.

My friends didn’t understand.
Family hugs and having whatever they asked for (within reason of course) was normal for them, same as acknowledgement of existence and hard work was the norm for me.
Surprisingly, I was not envious.
I could tell the difference between true friendship and sycophantic relationships, and realise when someone was genuinely interested in me as a person not what I could do for them.
I was content with my life, until That Day.
She just breezed in and my world tipped sideways. Everything seemed brighter.
And confusing, exciting, worrisome, an adventure waiting to be explored.

My parents’ reaction didn’t surprise me.
No flicker of concern, no words of warning or wisdom as we set off on our journey, no offer of a purse of gold in case of emergency.
But as I turned to wave farewell, I could’ve sworn they were holding hands and tentatively smiling.
But then it could’ve been a trick of the light.