Wallace Line – Something is always missing

A woman and a man are meeting at a rest stop half-way between their hometowns. They have become acquainted in an internet chat room for single parents. Their first encounter in the »real« world almost startles them as they have both had a completely different picture of the other one in mind. Nevertheless, there seems to be some deeper attraction going on between them right from the start, and they complete each other, in spite of or especially because of their differences. Both appear to be refreshingly grown-up and deal with their developing relationship in an unstrained, humorous kind of way.

They soon decide to move in together. Everything seems to be perfect, even the age of their almost adult children. The man’s son is 16, the woman’s daughter 17. Right from the beginning, the two children cope well with the new situation. The parents’ arrangement has meanwhile developed into an affectionate relationship, which seems to become deeper with every passing day. The two are clowning around all the time. They are a beautiful couple.

Then, suddenly, the two children fall in love with each other and do so with the serious straightforwardness of the very first love – a love that cannot be everlasting as it demands truth and unconditional commitment.

Roles get swapped. Suddenly, the children seem to be the adults, contemplating their relationship and the prospect of a life together with a grown-up kind of seriousness. In contrast to that, the adults start acting like typical teenagers who only live for the moment.

Yet, after a while, the woman begins to be unnerved by having to witness her children’s teenage love and its apparent seriousness every day in her own house. The woman starts to miss something: the feeling of being head over heels in love. She is almost afflicted by a kind of jealousy towards the two children and feels that her own relationship is somehow devaluated by this duplication. The man, on the other hand, does not have any problems with the new situation until, a few months later, the children break the news of their plan to get married and emigrate.

The new family constellation breaks into pieces leaving only the adult love to survive.