The park was pretty and the bench was comfortable.
“What time is it?”
“Just gone nine.”
“No kids.”
“Eh?”
“No kids. They’re all at school.”
“You sure?”
“Yep.”
“Isn’t it school holidays?”
“No. That’s next week.”
“You sure about that?”
“Yes, I’m sure. Anyway, you’re doing it again.”
“Doing what?”
“Being argumentative.”
“Hey! That’s a bit harsh. I just thought it was this week, that’s all.”
“OK. But you do tend to contradict unnecessarily sometimes.”
“I disagree.”
“There you go again.”
“Look…”
“When a person has a different point of view about something, surely it’s reasonable to allow them to voice it?”
“Depends.”
“On what?”
“On whether it is actually reasonable.”
“But…”
“It’s also about timing, of course the degree of repetition comes into it.”
“Hey! You talk about me! Have you any idea how argumentative you sound?”
“No.”
“Well, you do.”
“I’ll have to think about that…”
He looked up and was suddenly aware of a number of passing pedestrians taking an interest in him.
He whispered to himself, “Shut up, people are watching.”