Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes

“Okay then, email me if you wake early. And if it looks hopeful, I’ll come down…” My son had asked if we could go and greet the sun somewhere again, if the weather was suitable. Having slept badly the past few nights, I can’t say that I was overly enthusiastic. I can watch the dawn perfectly well from the warmth of my living room window with a coffee in my hand.

“Shouldn’t think I will, I’m pretty tired…” he said. I sighed with relief. A relief that was short-lived as, according to my inbox next morning, he’d been awake since four and the sky was unexpectedly clear. The night had been cold. Rain had turned to sleet which had fast become a thick layer of ice. Cursing quietly, I scraped the stuff off the windscreen and headed for town in the pre-dawn light.

Nick’s garden was an ice-rink and getting…