Love in Lockdown

by Chloe James

  I manage to successfully connect the right lead to the phone this time and the opening piano chords of Elton John’s iconic tune start to play.

  I rush to the balcony and frantically start to conduct to bring everyone in, but it’s disaster. Some have already started whilst some have got left behind because they can’t see me due to the design of the building. The verse is so quick, and to be fair any piece of music isn’t going to work without everyone starting together. I wave my hands for everyone to stop. I just don’t know how Gareth Malone, the great choirmaster himself, does it!

  ‘Okay, okay. That was lovely and enthusiastic, but we all need to start together. I’ve worked out how to press play on my phone, so let’s start again. From the top.’

  I press play and miraculously everyone starts immediately. Mavis’s fluting voice echoes high above Bertie’s deep baritone on the chorus and everyone else seems to be somewhere else in between, pretty randomly in fact. This is going to take some work.

  After half an hour or so, I’ve managed to split everyone into groups and it’s sounding vaguely okay. ‘Well done, this is really beginning to shape up! Okay time for the musicians to have a go if they’d like.’

  A mellow hush comes over the courtyard as Greg and I play – he is on the sax and I’m on the guitar. Even more of a shock is that someone on a balcony opposite, I think it’s a young woman, joins in on the oboe. The melody is beautiful and the sound reverberates around the courtyard and into the air, spiralling out to the streets beyond.

  A burst of applause rings out after as we all clap and cheer each other’s efforts. A small group of children opposite play a cheery tune on their recorders. One of them is holding a large tenor recorder, which is nearly as big as she is! The atmosphere is electric, almost cosmopolitan. There’s people coming out on their balconies I’ve never even seen before. The festivities carry on long into the evening, until the ever-lengthening evening light fades and people drift back indoors.

  Thank goodness Marge seems to have stayed out of the way; maybe we haven’t been too loud or maybe she’s still looking for her other sandal. Who knows?

  ‘Phew,’ I say to no one in particular but hoping Sophia might still be there.

  ‘That was brilliant, Jack! Everyone loved it.’ Sophia is there. Of course.

  ‘I hope so – they certainly seemed to enjoy it and so did I.’

  ‘I had no idea half of these people live in this block! It’s crazy it takes a pandemic to get everyone to meet each other.’

  ‘True enough, and the same is true of us.’

  ‘Maybe,’ she says, and I can almost hear the smile in her voice, ‘but we haven’t exactly met each other yet.’

  ‘No. But I would like to ask you something.’ There’s a silence and I hope she isn’t put off after the last time.

  ‘Fire away.’

  ‘I just wondered if you would come out with me … or rather, stay in with me, on a virtual date?’ I hold my breath momentarily. It’s said, I can’t take it back now.

  ‘Oh.’

  Well she hasn’t started screaming and yelling, which is a good start I guess. This silence is awkward though; I have no idea how to interpret it.

  ‘That would be great,’ she says slowly, ‘but I don’t think I can date a married man. It’s against my principles.’

  Oh crikey. Is she joking now or being serious? It’s difficult to read people’s tone or meaning without seeing their body language. What is it they say? That eighty per cent of our communication is through visual cues? No wonder I’m struggling here. ‘Then I guess I’ll just have to wait until my divorce comes through. It shouldn’t be long.’ I hope it won’t be anyway, but with Laura it may be forever. I’m still relying on her to do the right thing and I’m not sure she will.

  ‘I guess I’ll have to wait then.’

  How am I supposed to take that? I suppose I’ll just have to be grateful she says she’ll wait. That’s got to be a good thing hasn’t it?

  Chapter 27

  Sophia

  ‘Okay so is everyone sitting comfortably? Reasonably comfortably anyway?’ I’ve always wanted to say that. It’s such a storytelling stereotype – are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin.

  The children are sitting cross-legged in front of me, each on a picnic rug they have brought from home. It’s a funny thing, sitting cross-legged. I mean why is it easy when you’re a child, then as you get older, you’re unable to do it any longer? Well – you can, but at the very real risk of not being able to get up again. The kids are all spread out at two metres’ distance from me, and from each other of course. This wonderful sunny day at the beginning of May is perfect for outdoor education day.

  ‘So first of all I want to thank you all for sending me such wonderful videos and pictures of the things you found in your garden. Zane, that stag beetle was a giant.’

  Zane grins. ‘It was very big. My mum and sister started yelling and running away. But I thought he was mega.’

  ‘Yes he was beautiful, although I don’t think I would have wanted to pick him up.’

  ‘Neither did Mum or Lana – they refused to go out again ’til he had gone!’

  I laugh. ‘To be fair, not everyone is into creepy-crawlies. I loved your picture of the hedgehog who lives in your garden, Lola. Have you seen her again?’

  ‘Yes.’ Lola nods. ‘She crosses quite often; we think she squeezes under the fence. We’ve started putting cat food out at night and it’s always all gone in the morning.’

  ‘That’s because a cat ate it,’ says Milo categorically, picking up pieces of grass and throwing them down again.

  ‘It wasn’t! We don’t have a cat,’ Lola protests, looking unhappy at the thought.

  ‘I expect it was the hedgehog,’ I placate her. ‘But you can always make a hedgehog feeding station and then a cat or another animal can’t get at the food,’ I suggest.

  ‘What’s a hedgehog feeding station?’ asked Milo, interested now, his piles of freshly plucked grass forgotten.

  I hold up a picture. ‘They’re easy to make out of an old box or a storage unit – you’ll need a grown-up to help you though.’

  ‘I’m going to ask my brother to do it with me.’ Milo is definitely keen on this idea.

  ‘Well I’ve taken some copies of the design and instructions and at the end of the lesson I’ll put them down for you to help yourself to. Then if you get a chance to make a station, I’d love to see some pictures.’

  ‘Cool,’ says Zane, ‘I want a hedgehog in my garden.’

  ‘Me too,’ says Freya. ‘I could call it Mrs Tiggy-Winkle.’

  ‘What if it’s a boy?’ asks Alfie.

  ‘How do you tell the difference between boy and girl hedgehogs?’ asks Milo innocently.

  Oh no, I always dread these kind of questions. ‘Best to ask them,’ I reply without really thinking. Oops, this kind of gets worse. They never teach you how to handle things like this at teacher training. They really should.

  ‘Wouldn’t they just run away?’ asks Freya.

  ‘I would.’ I laugh. Everyone looks a bit fazed. ‘I was just joking,’ I clarify. ‘But in all seriousness, male hedgehogs are a little bigger than females. Interestingly they all have slightly different markings.’ I show some pictures of hedgehogs on my laptop before I bring up today’s main event. ‘Okay so I’m going to show you all a short film, “What happened when we all stopped” by Jane Goodall. Can you all see?’ Everyone nods and I click on play.

  The animation bursts into life and the children watch transfixed. As always when I see this poem and beautiful animation, I wipe away a tear.

  ‘Are you crying, Miss Trent?’ asks Lola.

  ‘No, although it is a very moving film – what did you think of it?’

  ‘I liked the animals,’ says Milo, ‘but it was sad at the beginning when the people saw that they had damaged all the earth.’

  ‘There were no plants or animals. Not even any hedgehogs,’ says Zane plaintively.


  ‘No you’re right, because people haven’t been looking after the earth. But at the end of the video, what happens?’

  ‘It’s all happy again because the people all work together to plant things, even in flats and in small places.’

  ‘Yes, well done, Freya. I’ve been growing things on my balcony, even though I only live in a flat.’ I bring up a picture of my tomato and cucumber plants. ‘My neighbour Jack has been more adventurous than me. He’s grown chillies. Look, aren’t they colourful?’ I don’t add the fact that he’s planning to use them in a cocktail.

  ‘I love chillies.’ Pritti smiles. ‘My mum uses them all the time in her cooking and it’s tasty, although I don’t like the really hot ones. They make my dad go bright red in the face.’

  ‘I’m not surprised. So this film shows us it’s important to remember we need to look after our world. It’s the only one we’ve got. And since we’ve all been home much more than usual, it’s given us all a chance to stop, think and notice. Notice the things around us and how important they are to us. To discover what effect we have on the world. Did you hear that all the dolphins have come back to the water near Venice because there have been fewer visitors?’ I show the kids a clip on the screen. ‘And do you know what I saw in the playground the other day when I was getting ready to go home?’

  They all shake their heads. ‘A hedgehog?’ asks Zane.

  ‘No, although that would have been nice. I saw this lovely animal.’

  I press a button on the screen, which reveals a picture of a deer. An extremely startled deer, who looks as surprised to see me as I was to see her. Her head is turned towards me as she stands motionless like a statue.

  ‘Wow!’ says Milo. ‘I wish I could have seen her.’

  ‘Me too,’ says Alfie.

  ‘Well if you’re quiet, you might just be lucky. She might come back. As we live in town, it’s really unusual to see deer but they’re obviously about now there are fewer people. They must live on the bits of heath and wasteland left free from buildings. So over the next couple of weeks we’re going to do two things. First I’d like you to take some photos of any unusual birds or bugs or animals you see that you don’t normally. It can be anything, doesn’t matter how big or small.’ I’m expecting to see a whole load of pictures of their cats and dogs despite this instruction. ‘And secondly we’re going to grow some seeds in the little pots I have here, so we can start to grow our own veg to help the planet.’

  I dish out the recycled plastic pots to the kids and each comes up one at a time to put in some compost. Then I show them how to push the bean seeds into the pots. Finally a little water and they all look very pleased with themselves. Only Zane has managed to spill his earth in his shoe, but he’s tipped it out and refilled the pot so it’s all good. ‘Okay, so don’t forget to water these little guys, and speak to them often.’

  ‘Talk to plants?’ asks Milo, obviously perturbed that his teacher is losing her mind.

  If it’s good enough for Prince Charles, it’s good enough for me. ‘Yep a lot of gardeners do it. The plants like it – it makes them grow better.’ Goodness knows what parents are going to be saying about me. Never mind, the kids have enjoyed it and that’s the main thing.

  As I arrive back at the flats, parking carefully by the bins, a message pings up on my phone. Did you mean it when you said your stepdad’s friend would look at my wife’s old writing box? It’s looking very forlorn all broken in the corner.

  I quickly type back. Yes of course. He said he would have a look this weekend.

  That’s wonderful. I don’t suppose you could pick it up soon? It makes me feel so sad seeing it sitting in bits on the dresser like that.

  I could come and get it now if you like. I will look after it for you very carefully.

  You are a treasure! Please do drop by – I’ll put it outside the door.

  No problem!

  I wander up to the flat, put my bits away on the table and wash my hands.

  ‘Do you fancy chips tonight?’ Erica shouts from the shower.

  ‘Definitely.’

  ‘I’ll pick some up on the way home then.’

  ‘Sounds perfect. Get an extra portion for Jack, would you?’

  There’s a brief silence. ‘All right. He might as well move in here. You’re always feeding him.’

  ‘I’m not,’ I reply indignantly. Except I am actually; all the time. Perhaps I’m a feeder, or whatever they call it. He seems to like it though, and I love our chats on the balcony. They’re the highlight of my day. Our next project is operation find Bertie a dog. Once I’ve checked with him that he wants one of course.

  Chapter 28

  Jack

  ‘Do you think we should have looked to see if we can find Bertie a dog before asking him if he wants one?’ I ask, smiling at Sophia’s enthusiastic tone. I’m lying out on my balcony, the May sunshine warm on my skin. I’ve even got my shorts on. My ridiculously pale legs are reflecting horribly in the sunshine. I’ve noticed there’s fewer pigeons and crows about than usual; perhaps my legs are scaring them away. At least there’s no one to see them. There’s got to be some advantages to lockdown.

  ‘No,’ Sophia answers, ‘there’s bound to be someone out there who has a dog who needs a home. Fancy some more Twiglets?’

  ‘Thought you’d never ask.’ I send down the new basket, which Sophia had left outside my door. It came at the right time as my trusty wine carrier came to an unfortunate early demise last week.

  ‘Oops,’ Sophia had exclaimed loudly and then started laughing.

  ‘Have I missed something?’ I had been hanging over the balcony aimlessly peering over at the courtyard below and hoping somehow I could magically see her, but of course I couldn’t. I never can.

  ‘I’ve ripped off the handle, I’m so sorry.’ She had gone off into fits of laughter, not sounding sorry at all.

  Her laughter was infectious. ‘Don’t know your own strength? At least I know now not to take you on at arm wrestling when this is all over.’

  ‘I’m useless at it,’ she had said with a laugh.

  ‘Don’t believe you now. Send it back up and I’ll assess the damage,’ I had said and within minutes I was in hysterical laughter as well, as I hauled what was left of the carrier back up. Sophia, ever resourceful, had tied a hasty knot, which she had fastened with an array of paperclips and something that appeared to be an old pair of tights attached to a bit of the sparkly wrapping and it looked decidedly sad and skew-whiff. ‘What the heck have you done to it? It’s all mangled!’

  She was still laughing. ‘I don’t know how that happened; it just kind of fell apart, and after all your hard work too.’

  ‘It’s all right, I’ll make another one,’ I had said, ‘and I’ll make it out of wood or something so it’s tamper-proof.’

  I hadn’t needed to as the next day, outside my door along with my shopping had been a very posh basket with holders for two drinks and a small bowl. With Sophia I’ve begun to think anything is possible. Maybe she can get Bertie a dog whilst in lockdown too.

  I bring up the new basket, now complete with Twiglets. ‘So at least we know Bertie likes the idea,’ I say.

  ‘Well generally yes.’

  ‘Are you sure he really wants a dog?’

  ‘He didn’t actually say it in so many words. But he would like a dog – he admitted he misses Cooper and he would like one now, but he said lockdown isn’t the right time.’

  ‘Oh,’ I say scratching my head, ‘maybe we should wait then. Do you think he means it’s not the right time for him or because of the virus?’

  ‘He means because of the virus of course,’ Sophia says without missing a beat.

  I wish I shared her confidence. It’s a terrible thought to turn up to someone’s house with a dog that they don’t want.

  ‘Maybe it would be an idea to find the dog and then ask him,’ I suggest cautiously.

  ‘Of course, that’s exactly what we’d do. I wouldn’
t turn up on his doorstep randomly with a dog,’ she assures me, though I’m not so sure, as I suspect she had liked the idea of surprising Bertie.

  I smile to myself. ‘So in my spare time today I did have a quick look online but some of the rescues are closed.’

  ‘The one over at Summertown isn’t; so now I’ve checked with Bertie, I thought we could ask there.’

  ‘Great idea – so are you happy to do that? I wondered about asking on WhatsApp too? Just a general enquiry – without making it obvious that I’m asking for Bertie,’ I say.

  ‘Definitely, I’ll put a message out. There must be people who are struggling to look after or cope with their pets in lockdown, sadly.’

  ‘I read something about it the other day. Someone who was ill and their friend had to take the dog on. Makes you feel sad just thinking about it.’

  ‘Talking of sad,’ Sophia replies, ‘I picked up Elsie’s writing case from Bertie at the same time as broaching the subject of the dog.’

  ‘Oh I bet he was pleased. Your stepdad’s friend is going to have a look at it, isn’t he? Do you get along well with your stepdad?’

  ‘Yeah, he’s nice, really.’

  ‘Really?’ I ask hesitantly, not wanting to pry.

  She’s silent for a moment. ‘Yeah well, I haven’t always liked him. It’s tough; someone trying to replace your dad.’

  ‘Yeah, I can imagine that.’ I think of my dad with his greying temples, his lightly balding patch and his dodgy glasses with multicoloured lenses that he thinks are really cool but went out of fashion years ago. ‘Mine can be annoying, but I can’t imagine him and my mum not together. I mean, sorry …’ I realise my foot is now firmly in mouth.

  ‘No it’s okay,’ Sophia says. ‘I know it was the right thing. My dad was a bit of an idiot. Much as I love him – because he’s my dad – he and Mum were like completely different people. I don’t understand why couples stay together for the sake of the kids; their constant rowing was awful. And Mum needed her career and Dad, well, he just wanted her to revolve her life around him. He met his new wife quickly and that was it.’