A scruffy young man, tattooed about the neck, pushing a BMX, limps badly, unable to put weight on his left heel as if his shoe has been penetrated by the mother of all nails. He could – or should – be going to the Doctor’s, but he doesn’t look the sort; he looks disenfranchised, an outsider without access to facilities most take for granted. By choice or accident? I suspect both, though which came first? People give him a wide berth as he slips on the kerb. Fear and caution is only natural when there are too many unanswered questions.
5th April, 2017 – 98 words
Ian Gouge - Writer 