| SAME WHERE ELSE | PART ONE | WRECK CREATION | | Episode Three |
As the train pulls away from the station, Atom watches the woman enter the crowded carriage bearing a suitcase. Not a large suitcase but large enough to heighten the cramp level between the 4 pairs of knees in the carriage’s cramped three-facing-three seating arrangement.
The luggage rack above the seats cries “I’m empty”
The woman, who is not a large specimen, manoeuvres the suitcase into the centre of the aforementioned pairs of knees and squeezes herself down to sit between the two men opposite Atom thereby adding her pair of knees to the total
She sits still for a while.
5 pairs of knees fill the space around the suitcase.
Ever thankful for small mercies, Atom is content that the suitcase sits between his right knee and the left knee of the man to his right, leaving the seat between them empty and (surely) too cramped for anyone to attempt to sit in?
Atom groans inwardly as a new arrival clambers over 2 pairs of knees and squishes itself into what was the (marginally) empty seat.
6 pairs of knees and one suitcase in total – full house plus a suitcase.
The suitcase’s off-centre location causes the newcomer to splay his legs around it; his knees thereby heightening the discomfort of the man on his right (who now finds himself crushed between the newcomer and the carriage side’s overtly warm heater) and also Atom, to his left, who now has to tense his left buttock in order not to fall from his seat into the aisle.
The luggage rack above the seats cries “I’m empty lah-la-la-lah-lah!”
The woman, oblivious to her suitcase or any other such social obligations, now extracts her phone from somewhere on her oblivious person and dials her estate agent in order to interrogate loudly (it is a noisy train after all) on the details of the apartment she is planning on viewing (with the possibility of renting).
It seems, as far as Atom can ascertain - being unable to NOT listen in to the conversation - that the fact that the apartment’s kitchen is on a different level from the apartment’s living room would eventually get on her nerves.
The luggage rack above the seats cries “I’m empty”
The woman, who is not a large specimen, manoeuvres the suitcase into the centre of the aforementioned pairs of knees and squeezes herself down to sit between the two men opposite Atom thereby adding her pair of knees to the total
She sits still for a while.
5 pairs of knees fill the space around the suitcase.
Ever thankful for small mercies, Atom is content that the suitcase sits between his right knee and the left knee of the man to his right, leaving the seat between them empty and (surely) too cramped for anyone to attempt to sit in?
Atom groans inwardly as a new arrival clambers over 2 pairs of knees and squishes itself into what was the (marginally) empty seat.
6 pairs of knees and one suitcase in total – full house plus a suitcase.
The suitcase’s off-centre location causes the newcomer to splay his legs around it; his knees thereby heightening the discomfort of the man on his right (who now finds himself crushed between the newcomer and the carriage side’s overtly warm heater) and also Atom, to his left, who now has to tense his left buttock in order not to fall from his seat into the aisle.
The luggage rack above the seats cries “I’m empty lah-la-la-lah-lah!”
The woman, oblivious to her suitcase or any other such social obligations, now extracts her phone from somewhere on her oblivious person and dials her estate agent in order to interrogate loudly (it is a noisy train after all) on the details of the apartment she is planning on viewing (with the possibility of renting).
It seems, as far as Atom can ascertain - being unable to NOT listen in to the conversation - that the fact that the apartment’s kitchen is on a different level from the apartment’s living room would eventually get on her nerves.
2 comments:
'Atom groans inwardly'
I like the proposition that where we have freedom of speech and action we also have the freedom to take offense. But we don't, since we rarely really have either freedom. And those who do take offense, who loudly announce their displeasure, only seem to add to the general dissatisfaction and offense the rest of us silently endure.
I hope her kitchen leaks, inside the cupboard where she won't find it until the chipboard rots.
Lxx
ha! Letitia, you are evil :)
Yes, you probably will not be surprised to know that this little story is solidly based on actual events.
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