I went to surprise my husband at the hospital with his lunch. His colleague looked at me with tears in his eyes and said: “He hasn’t told you anything, has he?”

likes, the one with the peppers. I put a slice of apple pie in a separate box so the pastry would not go soft.

And I tucked a note under the fork.

You don’t have to look after everybody. Let me have a turn.

I want to be honest about that lunch before I go any further, because it comes back later.

It was not only kindness.He said: rough night. Go back to sleep.

And I did.

I want that on the page early, because everything else in this is built on it. I said his name once, I got four words back, and I went to sleep.

My name is Wynne and I am thirty-nine and I teach year four at a primary school about a mile from our house.

I mention the job because it matters. I spend my entire working life watching eight-year-olds and knowing within