The "Great Couch Family Strike Against Misery" was, by all accounts, a resounding success.
They drove to the coast with the windows down and a terrible 90s pop playlist blaring from the speakers, a chaotic, off-key chorus of rebellion against the quiet sadness that had threatened to consume them.
The beach was a perfect, windswept canvas of pale sand and grey-blue sea.
For a few hours, they were just a family again. His dad, a man who ran a toy shop, predictably failed to get a kite to fly, blaming the "sub-optimal aerodynamic conditions."
His mom sat wrapped in a blanket, a peaceful, contented smile on her face as she watched the waves, the deep lines of worry on her forehead seeming to soften with each crash of the surf.
Gaffer, in his official capacity as 'Morale Officer', took his duties very seriously, which mainly involved trying to steal sandwiches, digging a hole of impressive depth for no apparent reason, and barking furiously at the concept of tides.
