“Lena, Leeen!” A boy on a bicycle stood outside the five-story block of flats, craning his neck to shout up at one of the windows. The buildings front door hung loose on its hinges, slamming in the wind.
“Lenaaa, Len”
“I swear Ill throttle someone!” A gruff man in a blue vest leaned out of a window. “Scram!”
“I wasnt calling you! Lenkaaa!”
“For heavens sake,” another window flew open, revealing a woman in a nightgown and curlers. “Its Saturday morninglet people sleep!”
“Shut it, all of you!” A tall, bald man scowled from his sill. “I barely slept all night, just dozed off, and now”
“Lenkaaa, are you coming or what?”
The front door creaked and groaned before swinging open. Out stepped a girl in a light summer dress, clutching a tote bag with something wrapped in parchment.
“Hey, took you long enough. Oversleep?”
“No, I was making sandwiches,” she said calmly, securing the bag on the bikes rack before climbing onto the frame. The boy spun the pedals hard, swerving sharply.
“Hooligan!” the sleepless man bellowed.
“Just let us sleep!” another voice rang out.
“Sleep, then!” the boy yelled as they circled back past the windows. “Its Saturday morningwhats keeping you up?” Laughing, they sped off.
They left the town behind, racing down a dirt road through open fields.
“Tired, Len?”
“Nope. You?”
“Not a bit.” He pedaled harder.
A burst of laughter later, they tumbled into the grassa flat tire had sent the bike skidding sideways.
“Oh no, what now, Alex?”
“Dunno,” he grinned, sprawled in the grass. “Guess we live here forever.”
“Alex!”
“What? Well build a hut, fish in the river, cook over a fire”
“And how do we start the fire?”
“Rub sticks together. Or borrow matches from fishermen.”
They dissolved into laughter, staring at the sky.
“Alex, that cloud looks like a teapot.”
“Yeah, now its a dog.”
They lay there, cloud-watching, until
“Fancy a swim?”
“Race you!”
They dashed to the river,dried off on sun-warmed sand.
“Len, whatll you do when you grow up?”
“Finish school, maybe uni, then work. You?”
“Marry you, get richor vice versa. Those two things, mainly.”
“Oh, shut it.”
“Fine, fine. Ill squeeze in the army and a career before you marry someone else.”
“Like who?”
“Dunno…Vic, maybe? Saw you giggling with him yesterday. Leaning real close.”
“We were working on the school paper!”
“Sure. But listenIll steal you back, no matter who.”
***
Years later, another Saturday dawned quiet. A motorbikes roar shattered the peace.
“Lenaaa!”
“Hooligan!” a woman shouted from a window.
“Let us sleep!”
“Lenkaaanot you lot! Its Saturday, for pitys sake!”
The same wobbly door creaked open. Out stepped a young woman, squinting in the sun.
“Hey. Oversleep?”
“Hey. Nah, was packing snacks.”
“Keep it down!” a voice snapped.
Alex handed her a helmet. She climbed on, arms tight around him as they sped off.
“Disgraceful!” the insomniac yelled.
Alex revved the engine, shouting, “Sleep, then!” as they vanished.
They tore through town, hit the open road, then veered onto dirt tracks.
“You okay back there?”
“Fine!” she shouted over the wind.
At the river, they collapsed in the grass.
“Lookthat clouds two cats!”
“Yeah, and that ones a bike!”
They swam, sunbathed, kissed till dizzy
“Len…”
“Hm?”
“Ive been called up. Army. Tomorrow.”
“What? Why didnt you”
“Only just found out.”
“Is that why you deferred uni?”
“Dont cry. Ill go after, then marry you. You wont run off with Vic, yeah?”
***
At the station, Lena scanned the platform. Soldiers poured off the train.
“Alex! Son!” His mother clung to him, weeping. His father shook his hand; his little sister launched herself at him.
Then he saw herhands clasped, waiting. He pushed through the crowd.
“Len…crying?”
“Happy tears.”
“Plenty more where those came from.”
His family frowned, but he only had eyes for her.
***
“Son, its too soon! What about uni?”
“Already sorted, Mum. And Im getting married.”
“But shes just”
“Nineteen. Same as me. I dont want anyone else.”
“Youll regret it!”
“Like you regretted Dad?”
He left quietly.
***
“Its a boy! A son!” Alex burst into his parents house, radiant. Tears flowed.
Five years later, a daughtertheir princess.
***
“Son, you quit your job? How will you manage?”
“Tired of working for pennies. Well be fine.”
“And Lena agreed? What about stability?”
“Mum, I want better. I wont have my kids splitting a chocolate bar with a knife.”
“We lived without such things!”
“Times change. Well make it.”
They did. Not easily. There were stumbles, setbacks. Nights he nearly cracked.
Then Lena would hand him his guitar.
“Not now, Len.”
“Sing. It always helps.”
Softly, theyd sing: *”Ill ride my bicycle far…”*
She cried when he wasnt looking. He pretended not to notice.
Eventually, they thrived. A house, holidays, grown children. Yet Alex grew restless.
A mate dragged him to a club.
“Len, Ive got…stuff.”
His first lie. The club was grim. A woman approached.
“Lets leave. I hate this too.”
“Why come?”
“Needs must.”
Outside, she confessed: a dead child, deadbeat ex. Saving to escape.
“Or Ill find someone decent. Like you.”
Honest. Sharp. He walked with her till dawn, entranced.
A month later, he came home to silence.
No Lena.
He called the kids, his parents. Then the other woman.
“Im sorry. I love my wife.”
She nodded. “Tell her the truth. We never even kissed.”
***
Lena was at her parents, making sandwiches, thinking.
“Lenkaaa!” A motorbike roared below.
“Let us sleep!”
“Ill ride my bicycle far…”
She grabbed her helmet.
They raced through town, down country lanes, into flower-filled fields.
“Tired?”
“No.”
Clouds drifted.
“That ones a ship.”
“Those two are grandparents at tea.”
“Len…”
“Hm?”
“Forgive me.”
“For what?”
“I hurt you.”
“Did you?”
He exhaled. “Never again.”
“Again what?”
“You singing alone. Did you?”
“Yes.”
“Me too. Lets do it together.”
And they did.
*The lesson? Love isnt the absence of stormsits two people singing through them. They sang until the road curved out of town, until the wind stole their voices and the stars blinked awake. Years melted in the hum of the engine, in the press of her cheek against his shoulder. When they finally stopped, silence settled soft as dust. No promises, no apologiesjust her hand in his, tracing the map of their life in the dirt. The bike stood tilted in the grass, forgotten, as they watched the moon rise over the river where it all began. Somewhere, a teapot-shaped cloud drifted through the dark.
