Red-Letter Day

ASTRID and Harrison had been married for 28 years. They’ve had two sons who are both away at college. This is the first time, since their eldest was born, that the couple had only each other for company. It was not going as well as Astrid thought it would.

It seemed to her that she had been married since the day she was born. She couldn’t remember life before marriage.

And after the boys had come along, her days had been a whirlwind of wailing; screaming; feeding; vomit; poop; nappies; exhaustion; school rounds; soccer practice; school lunch; dirty socks; sweat; homework; more screaming; acne; girlfriends; break-ups; final exams; stress and, finally, graduation.

Now that it was all over and she finally had time to herself, time for that facial that she had been promising herself for the past 20 years, time for