A mother’s instinct

‘You worry too much.’

‘It’s a mother’s job to worry,’ I reply. ‘Stay close to him. Never let him out of sight.’

He laughs off my warnings. He’s a brilliant man who thinks wisdom inoculates him from hubris.

‘I told the lad all he needs to know. We’ll be fine.’

Our boy’s eyes light up with excitement for the journey ahead. I kiss his cheek and whisper a prayer. Sunlight starts breaking through the morning fog, a promise of the heat to come. 

I step aside and watch, helpless, as Icarus and his father lift off towards the sky.