teenage angst

Oh dear. I was trying to read a newspaper that someone had left in the village hut yesterday, and was concentrating on doing the sudoku puzzle in my head (I'm rationing my pen usage to increase their longevity), when I caught sight and sound of Twin X shuffling around in circles at the far end of the barn. His voice was melancholy enough, but it was the words he was using that alarmed me. 'One step closer to death', he moaned with each shuffle.


'What are you on about?', I asked in alarm that my son had become suddenly so mobid.


'I'm just stating the obvious, you can't deny it's true. Go on, try...', he challenged.


Hard as I might, I could offer no reposte. 'Are you thinking upon your own mortality?' I asked instead, trying to understand where the idea of acting this way had emerged.


'No, dur. I was pretending to be you. For one, you are much closer to death than me, so if anyone should be worried it's you, yeah? And for two, haven't you noticed you've been shuffling around talking to yourself lately? You thinking about your own mortality? Mum says you're heading for a midlife crisis already.'


The boy was right of course - at least about the shuffling. But that is entirely explained by my need to move in a rhythmic manner when contemplating a scientific idea. More of that later. In the meantime, I'm beginning to suspect my twin boys might be brighter than myself. This is not the first time I've been caught out, and things are only likely to get worse as they discover the true meaning of precocious. Puberty is upon the pair of them, and I predict tough times ahead. If they don't suffer any angst, I will, for sure.


J Mcc