Warming Up

Saturday 27th December 2003

I played my nephew at tennis again. The first set saw a marked improvement. I only lost 6-2. But the second set was a revelation. Suddenly I had him on the ropes and I was quickly 5-1 up. It looked like I might win back the money I had lost to him yesterday.
But then he suddenly started playing properly again and I predictably lost 7-5. I would have been happy to take just one set off him, but alas it was not to be. The tragedy is that as he gets older he is only going to get better and as I get older I am only going to get worse. This was probably the last chance I would ever get to take the smug smirk off his face. Of course, coming back from such certain defeat made his smile even smugger. I was graceless in defeat and reluctantly handed over his winnings. If this carries on he will have no need to murder me for his inheritance, he's going to get it all off me while I'm still alive.