The dead man and the fox

The Patriarch

"I like to think I don't have any regrets" The man said, looking wonderingly into the distance.

The last dredges of light were finally draining away into the horizon, tendrils of orange grasping at the deep blue sky. The houses on the other side of the road obscured the sunset from view, but the man knew it was beautiful. 

"But you think you do?"

"I know I do. It's hard to admit it sometimes, we all wish we'd led a perfect life. But alas, the perfect life has never been lived"

"Perhaps every life is the perfect life? It's all a matter of perspective. When the chips are down, when the bombs fall, when push comes to shove... could you say you've lived?" The Fox said. 

"I think so. I have regrets, but all is said and done now"

"Would you change it if you could?"

"Oh, in a heartbeat. And also never. I wish they'd never happened, but I wouldn't be me without them"

"Anything worth getting off your chest?"

"I wish I'd learned to play guitar better. There was this one song I always wanted to learn, but I always had something better to do"

The Fox laughed dryly, turning to face the sky with the man. 

"That's something I think most people can relate to" He said. 

"I wish things hadn't gone south with my parents"

"Oh?" The Fox said, his ear twitching towards the man.

"It started when I was a younger teenager. I was a perfect kid, you see. They always said I only cried once, when I wanted this water gun on holiday, and they wouldn't get it for me. Anyhow, when I started getting my hormones, I suppose, I began to kick out. I didn't want to be the perfect kid anymore. I started slacking at school, mixing with the wrong kids outside of it. I think my dad just looked at me and saw himself, cocky, smart, headstrong, and it scared him. He tried to fight fire with fire, but that just gave me an opportunity to lock horns with him. He did well, but he had his own demons, you know? His own range of emotions were lacking, at least the emotions he let other people see. He always thought he was right, and couldn't admit it if he wasn't. I used to hate that, I really did. Then one day I realised I saw it in the mirror"

"Ah, it's a classic. The father, arguably the person whose approval matters the most to billions of young men around the world, and yet the least likely and most unable to express it. Masculinity has a lot to answer for" 

"I'd be a hypocrite to say he was wrong. But he wasn't exactly right either, so its always just sort of been there"

"I understand. What about your mother?"

"Oh, she was amazing. Everything a mother should be, including absolutely infatuated with my dad. Whatever came from his mouth was her truth. I felt like they used to gang up on me, but now I know how lucky I was"