Barry

Further down the canal he saw kids jumping off the lock gate into the water. They windmilled their arms in the air, moved their legs as if cycling a bike, hit their own rippling reflections with everything flailing and splattered. It looked  dangerous. Barry sighed, felt uncomfortable, opened the window, thought about submerged and lethal items - tangles of prams and bicycles, gas canisters and shopping trolleys, trapped feet and the oxygen going. The sound of the kids was stop-start and violent, as if they were dying out there, screaming. He felt irritable and dull in the taxi. Ancient and stuck in traffic. He should have been out swimming or shopping, or seeing people. Living or dying or screaming or something.

From The Parts (c) Keith Ridgway 2003. Not to be copied or reproduced without permission. For rights information email info@keithridgway.com