Story about a tyre swing

We have a small, green open space in front of our house. In a place like London, any open space is very valuable. This open space, run by the Enfield Council, has four small roads going round it, making it a square. Our houses are surrounding this little square. It has two grass mounds on both sides and a few trees, including a cherry tree. During lock-down, all the surrounding parks are closed, so I've noticed a few more people coming to this square instead. They take pictures of themselves, some with kids, presumably to post on social media. Some dance in front of the camera, maybe to post videos on Tik-tok. 

Some families come and put their little ones onto the tyre swing we have hanging on one of the trees. They enjoy it, taking photos and videos of themselves in the sun. Some teenagers hang around swinging the tyre and taking pictures as well.

Around a decade and half ago, someone stole the tyre, or perhaps some council jobsworth removed it. 

When I was 8 or 9 years old, I lived in a small village called Lunugala in Sri-Lanka. A friend and I sometimes used to push a tyre along a road called White Sand road. It went down steeply to a small stream and then back up the hill side again.  We enjoyed this activity immensely repeating it day by day. 

I told this story to my neighbour Brian. He was a retired traffic sergeant from the British transport police. He was always a die-hard Tory and I was, and still am, a half-hearted Labour supporter. A lot of friendly arguments ensued - he with his cigar and glass of whiskey, I with my glass of vodka. Whatever the heated discussion was, we always remained as friendly as can be. He was a good neighbour and a good friend to me, and in return I would offer whichever help I could give to him. We used to share German cakes my wife Ines baked as well as the occasional curry with him, and he once fixed our boiler.

Anyway, back to the tyre. After hearing my story, Brian suggested we hang another tyre on the branch. So he fixed the tyre to the tree, and many kids (including mine) swung along happily. 

Brian passed away a few years back, and we have new neighbours now. Someone stole the tyre again. Knowing Brian and I were the ones who hung up this tyre, another neighbour called Robert managed to replace the swing with his own tyre.

Robert also passed away couple of years back.

Their kind gestures are still out there, making big and little people happy just the same. Sometimes teenagers spend their time swinging happily from it and fooling around. People walking along the small pathway nearby also visit sometimes.

And sometimes, that's all that matters. Small insignificant gestures.

Ajith