On a scorching hot day in Hoi an on the east coast of Vietnam, Dom and Jane strolled along a palm-rimmed, golden stretch of the paradise beach. The harsh sun beat down sharply on their bare backs, quickly frying their tender Caucasian skin; their toes recoiled from the intense heat of the sand underfoot and Dom guiltily confessed he was a little bored of being on beaches. Jane was a little surprised, considering the heavenly setting.

With his words something struck deep inside and reminded him of a simple yet poignant incident from his childhood.

Dom, aged six, suffering a bout of childhood nausea, slips morosely onto his Aunty Cath’s couch.

Meanwhile, Aunty Cath reaches her hand into a dark corner of a cupboard, fumbles for a second and pulls out a crisp packet of McVities milk chocolate digestive biscuits. She quickly and expertly unwraps them; Dom hears the unmistakeable dull clink of his favourite treat landing on china and his stomach lurches.

Moments later, Aunty Cath swishes towards him and smilingly presents a treasure-laden china plate saying,

“Here you are, Dominic. You can have all these to yourself!”

How many times does a child, especially one with three other siblings, have such an opportunity, the chance to devour a whole plate of milk chocolate digestives?…Yet, he could not eat them. What a torture for a child, for anyone to be faced with, knowing that he should eat them because it’s a plate of chocolate biscuits but not being able to because his body wouldn’t allow it.

Dom drew back to the idyllic beach scene around him, surrounded by such beauty and the freedom of time to savour it. He turned to Jane and said,

“I must enjoy this now, if not when I get back to England, this beach will become another plate of chocolate biscuits.”