Purgatory

'You should go out more often with your friends. If you have any, that is.'

'So should you. I mean, just look at you! You sit at home the whole day, drinking coffee, and watching people through the window.'

'Well, I don't have anything else to do, do I? But look at you. You are 35, and haven't yet managed to find a husband. Makes me wonder if you ever shall. At your age, I had two grown-up daughters to look after, and you are yet to start.'

'Oh, please don't start that all over again. I just am not going to listen to this right now.'

'When will you though? Does anything of what I say ever pass through your thick head?'

'Well, he was right after all then.'

'And who is this he?'

'Well, it is that he, that gloomy figure I used to know during my college days. He once told me that a woman does not need a man to oppress her. Her mother is enough for this purpose.'