The sun forced its way through the gap in the curtains and landed on the bed, glancing across one closed eye of the sleeping form. As the sun warmed and lit his face consciousness dragged him from the deep pit of sleep. As he became aware he felt the warmth of the sun on his face and saw the pink inside of his eye lid. What time is it?, one eye opened and spied the clock five thirty, another thirty minutes until the alarm, why do you always wake up before the alarm ? He lay there feeling the warmth from the quilt wrapped around him and gently dozed enjoying the comfort of his bed. Andrea! There it was again a few precious seconds on waking in peace and then the woman was back in his mind, it had been more than a year now and to be honest had only been an affair of sorts but she never left his mind for long. His friends told him “obsession” and he replied “love” but whichever it was he knew it wasn’t healthy. Barely six months they had been together, if you can call it that, she lived in Germany and he was in England. Never to be the easiest of relationships, but it all seemed so good to him until she just lost any feeling and then lost contact. She popped up now and again, they chatted and things seemed to be good again and then off again. Enough! He thought this isn’t good forget it and move on. Suddenly something distracted him, the feeling of a small insect crawling along his arm. No need to move he knew it wasn’t there, now the gently buzzing muscle in his thigh joined in. Just need the pins and needles in my feet and we have the whole set he thought. He remembered the bridge and the slow moving river, Enough! His thigh kept dancing the insect was still there and the pins and needles put in an appearance. The unequal fight to remain peaceful and comfortable in bed lost he reached over and killed the alarm. Swung his legs over the edge of the bed and gently placed his feet on the carpet, waiting for life to pop into them and the needles and pins to leave. Standing he picked a pair of jeans up from the floor and pulled them on bracing himself with one hand against the wall, some balance would be nice but this was the world now. Grabbing a t-shirt from the floor he pulled it over his head scratching he stumbled towards the stairs, pausing at the top of the stairs he held the handrail and stepped down slowly legs waking as he went. In the kitchen the familiar mess greeted him, one he would learn to put things in the dishwasher. The coffee pot sat on the gas cooker waiting its morning worship. Picking it up he separated the halves filled the bottom with water and tapped out the old grounds from the funnel into a carrier bag of waste sitting on the counter. Screwing the pot back together with fresh coffee in he placed it back on the stove and lit the gas beneath it, good five minutes and fresh brewed coffee the nectar of the gods would be his. Turning round he grabbed a banana and an apple from the fruit basket and headed into the lounge peeling the banana as he went. Picking the remote the television chortled into life as he switched channels to the 24 hour news channel. The weather was going to be bright and sunny, that’s a bonus. The world recession raged on and some nondescript country was having another war with a n other nondescript country. He sunk his teeth into the apple, feeling the juice fill his mouth as his teeth pulverised the flesh. The letterbox rattled with the glory of another delivery from the purveyors of bad news and bills. Five brown one and a white one that looked like a card glancing at the postmark it was blurred and unreadable; something in his mind told him not to open it, so there it stayed on the floor. Brown ones were a much safer bet least they were predictable. Wandering back through the lounge to the kitchen the percolator started its rhythmic coughing signalling coffee time. Grabbing a used mug from the side and pouring an inch or two of cold water in the bottom he added steaming fresh coffee to the mug wandered out into the garden and relished the warm sun on his back. Humming away to the tune he suddenly came aware he was humming to his phone and not the radio, idiot he thought you haven’t even put the radio on yet. Deciding it would wait he daydreamed again supping on the strong fresh coffee. The screen on the phone told him the call was from Joel his erstwhile partner in crime. Pouring more coffee and putting the phone down, Joel could wait, back to the garden for some more sun perching on the wall he dreamed of anything but the day ahead. The kites circling above the garden screeched at each other looking up the sun caught in his eye and coffee spilt on his jeans. “Damn” Again the strains of smoke on the water drifted from the house, rushing he spilt more coffee and made it to the phone in time. “Joel” he spoke into the phone, “Hiya mate didn’t ya hear my call earlier?”
Posted on: Mon, 30 Sep 2013 18:29:41 +0000