Summer Nights

The afternoon sun dressed the oak table in a rich honeyed hue, the floor languished in the warm pool of gold and the surrounding chairs set themselves for the post lunch siesta. All was quiet in the Dunphy household. Indeed, all was quiet in the Dunphy's street.

It was three o'clock, warm and relaxed beyond measure. Janet of number 33 jogged by and a car cruised through. They were the only events of any significance to occur in the last hour. It was summer, through and through. The greens of all natures stood proud and gleaming, keen to dance and display on the few wisps of breeze that the wind could be bothered to muster.

It was one of those days. The light cast an infection of tranquillity through all that glanced upon it or moved among it. Not a soul in the city could overcome this feeling, nor would they wish to. Any excitement was quickly subdued and life, for this afternoon at least, seemed rather pleasing.

All appeared to be well in the world....

"¡Ayyyyy!"

"Manny, come here now!"

Manny choked on his espresso. A perfect espresso at that. It was a soft, rich, well rounded concoction to enjoy and the ideal accompaniment to an afternoons viewing of La Dolce Vita. He was settled, embedded firmly in the couch, feet up, fine socks on show. He was happy. He was content.... He heard the cry. He no longer felt happy, nor did he feel content. He knew his time was up.

With a faint effort to wipe clean the surfaces which had suffered the indignity of scolding black liquid spluttered all over them, Manny crawled his way to the out of blissful safety and into a war he was as yet ill prepared for.

You see, Manny had messed up, and messed up rather badly.

His first year of college was fantastic. New beginnings, new friends, new lessons, and a new girlfriend, suffice to say that he rarely left his room. No longer did he have an overly attentive mother watching over him, no longer was he the odd one out. Overall a great year.

Second year was good. Study was still of moderate interest although his tutors didn't seem to appreciate his efforts as much as he had wished. He found his hard efforts to excel all to be in vain as he barely scraped through. Hey, at least his relationship as still going strong. Third year, however.

Third year didn't start so well. His Girlfriend was no longer his girlfriend. In fact, she was a rather distant friend having moved away to 'Somewhere in Europe' – she neglected to say exactly where. Manny missed lectures; Manny missed assignments. Unbeknown to his mom and Jay, Manny was rinsing every penny of his savings exploring, London, Paris, Barcelona.... Milan, Berlin......Belgrade..................Moscow. Trying to find her.

After visiting every town, city, village and citizen that the continent had on offer, he sat down on a rain sodden excuse for a bench in the foothills of the Albanian Mountains and decided it was possibly best to consider the relationship at an end.

Thus, he mustered what little money he could and returned to college.

College would not have him. Too much work was missed, and of which was submitted, 'it was not to their standard'. i.e. Manny's fine artistry was not appreciated one bit. This hurt, this really hurt. He could not return home. Not yet at least. And so, for the final weeks of the Semester, he slept cosily, side by side with his pitying friends.

Once home he said nothing and planned to say nothing until he had his story straight or could muster an apology to shame all other apologies - an apology so good that even Jay would be weeping uncontrollably. Then, and only then could he decide what next to do in his young life. There was so much to think about, so much opportunity... so much time to think about what to do.