Summer
cold,
night sky. Cold morning.
Grey Sky.
Undtidy bedroom.
Dust in
air.
Tissues lying about the place. Everything so Grey. Get up.
Change. Don't
wash,
no time. Must drop sister to
Doctors. Brush teeth. Get 2 pounds from mother. Drive
courtesy car
ford escort into town.
Drop sister off. Try to get ears syringed. No luck, need appointment. Get appointment with Dr Lavery, guy who was my parents' doctor when I was born. Still remembers me, I like him. Trust him. Met him yesterday by accident in a petrol station. Make the appointment. Go meet sister. Sitting outside doctors room.
Waiting.
Waiting.
Decide to walk. Walk into Holywood. Turn left past Jiggery's, cross road. Walk into mountain trail shop. Just after guy with a box. Shopkeeper comes up and asks if he can help me. Note of desperation in voice. I tell him he can't I am just looking. I look around for a bit, nothing catches my eye. I leave. Walk past Gallery, look in. Beautiful painting of sunset, change mind. Not so good. No depth, just gradient. Picture of mountains beside it is better. I move on. Walk across road, near maypole. Only maypole in Ireland.
Walk into a kitchenware shop. Nice looking african woman is leaning near the doorway, she looks bored, radiates irritation. I walk past her, and tell her she looks happy. She seems surprised I noticed her boredom, comments on the fact that she is bored and asks me if I need some help. I decline, and look around. Nothing much catches my eye. No Wait, Brass scales]. Nope, not yet. Wait a while. I walk out without buying anything. Past african woman, and the other shopgirl she is speaking to. Turn and walk down the street. Past Optometrist, and past war memorial.
I walk into Stewart Millar's. Combination all in one shop that is the heart of many a small town like this. Walk past magazine wall, nothing on PCs. Nothing on my old Amiga, sigh. DVDs, an interview with Michel Yeoh. Walk past. Newspapers. Front Headline of one newspaper reads "Why I switched to Ibrox" A story about why Sean Connery now supports Rangers instead of Celtic. Walk past, another front page headline about rising car insurance premiums. Walk past. Head upstairs, come across Bridget Jones Diary in book section. Read a bit, set out like a diary, (surprisingly) about her boyfriend Daniel being a jerk, and her meeting a girl that Daniel had slept with. Put it down. Already watched the film. Can't be bothered reading the book this close to exams. Walk further into the shop. Past furry toys section. Wonder if I can find a Pikachu for a Finnish friend of mine. No luck. Walk past.
Catch a glimpse of beautiful long brown hair from corner of my eye. Lovely Holywood girl serving behind counter. Walk towards her, knowing my mind is spinning and I am going to have to buy something near there anyway. Walk to the stationary wall, check out 6 inch helix rulers. They all seem to be curved. There are wooden ones there as well, but they are 12 inches, and there are also 12 inch helix rulers. Examine all of them. Then settle for a 12 inch shatter proof ruler that will serve me well in the exam. Pay for it. It is 59p. The girl smiles and asks me if I need a bag, I decline as it is just a ruler, and then recall that I am going to have to walk past another checkout before I leave and they may stop me. So I take a bag, and she wraps the ruler in it. I leave. I am sniffing because of the cold I have. I walk out. Decide not to walk further into Holywood and make my way back.
Stop in at Electric World, see that they are selling toy guns now, and 28 inch tvs. There is a health program on with a woman interviewing a patient and a doctor on all the tvs. The doctor, and Asian man with glasses, is holding a medium sized blue marble, and describing how surgeons use it to clear the digestive system. The patient doesn't look too happy at the prospect of swallowing the marble, but stays largely silent. The woman is suitably amazed with everything and concludes the interview. I break off my tv trance and leave the shop. I walk down the street and walk into the chemists. Vague notion of vitamin C tablets for my cold. Notice how all Holywood women act in the same slightly haughty-humble, polite manner. Kind of sweet when you get to know it. I grew up here and know it a lot. Leave Chemists.
Walk back to doctors place, am 5 mins early, about to head back into town again but get called from the door as my sister walks out. Good timing. We get into the car and drive to Belfast. She comments that she hasn't got any lectures today, but by this time we are on the dual carriageway already near Belfast so I cannot turn back to collect my things for studying. Frustrated I carry on driving, and drop my sister at the gates of Queens. Park Car outside my department. Lucky parking spot.
Go in and log on.... only 11 AM.