Tortoises

by Louisa Adjoa Parker (Weymouth)

When she first moves to the town she doesn’t know anyone. In the summer she takes her beautiful baby boy for walks along the sea-front in his pram. Unplanned, he was a welcome surprise for her and her husband.

People stop and admire him. Being a mother is very different to being a shopkeeper. Everyone knew her then. Her husband had come into the shop one day. They had started courting, but the distance between them was too far.

She likes the town but misses knowing lots of people. Her baby’s pram has green and yellow tortoises stretched over it. When she takes the sides down they flip upside down. She thinks being by the sea makes holidaymakers kind and friendly.

Elderly people place pound coins inside the upside-down tortoises, tell her to buy something for the baby. They want to buy her ice-creams. She feels as though she has mothers and grandmothers fussing over her, loves having people to talk to again.

---

What Louisa Adjoa Parker says about Tortoises:

This was inspired by talking to Barbara, who has lived in Weymouth for several decades, and left but missed it so much she had to come back.