Huh, a quick reply from Douglas—that doesn’t happen often. Struan’s the clown, I’m the grump, and Douglas... Douglas is the poor bastard with the “terror twins”, as Struan and I call them behind his back. They’re not bad, just... a little rumbustious. It’s a miracle Douglas is upright.
Struan
More like a bloody angel. Don’t know why she puts up with you
Lachlan
Neither do I. And to thank her, my daft mutt bowled her clean off her feet
Struan
Classic Gus. She all right?
Lachlan
Says she is. Reckon she hurt her wrist though. Hopefully it’s nothing cause she’s supposed to be looking after Finn over the summer
A little retirement income for her, a lifeline for me.
Douglas
Ooft. If she’s out, that’s rough.
Struan
Aye. Easy fix, though. Just drop Finn off with Douglas’s parents. They’re already looking after two kids all summer. What’s a third?
Douglas
Not happening. Sorry, Lachlan
They might be able to do an odd day here and there, but not six weeks
I’m already asking too much of them. My folks love me, just not THAT much
Struan only has his daughter at weekends, so he never has to worry about childcare. Probably explains why he’s got more energy than me and Douglas combined.
Lachlan
No way I’d expect your folks to take Finn too. Anyway, hopefully I’m stressing over nothing and Flora is fine
Struan
On the bright side, Lachlan, your life could be worse
You could’ve made this pile of shite
He sends a link to a news article. I tap it and squint at the headline: “Coming soon, the new app guaranteed to give your child nightmares!”
I skim the first few lines. It’s about some AI storytelling thing that was supposed to let kids bring their imaginations to life. Apparently, though, the journalist testing it got it to tell a truly terrifying tale about monsters and gore.
Douglas
Jesus. Now we’ve got to worry about shit like this too? As if bedtime wasn’t traumatic enough already
Lachlan
What pillock thought this was a good idea?
