Pawn

-Play ! Play ! Play !
-Just a sec, Francis, we need a rest.
-A rest? But I need to play, it’s essential for my future development!
-I know. But lemme sit down for a second.
-If you don’t play with me constantly, my behaviour will exhibit pathological traits later!
-Just chill for a minute, will you?
-Play now! or I’ll be fucked up in the head!
-Look, the whole kitchen floor is covered in bits of string and corks and little balls just for you to play with. Just pounce on that for a while. Not my hands. Nooot my haaaaaaaaaands.
-Play! I was abandoned, you know!
-………...
-I was a child of the streets! If you don’t pay attention to me, I’ll go back down the infernal spiral of negligence, possibly juvenile delinquency!
-Why don’t you climb up the curtains? Play with the bits of coloured paper? C’mon, pounce, jump, trash. This is how people make confetti, you know. We can sell them later to carnival organisers to help you earn your keep.
-Do your duty as a parent! Or I’ll call Battersea and they’ll take me back!
-Francis, where do you get all this energy from?
-Oh. I drank some of your coffee earlier. By accident.