Eighty-Seven Benches
He walked towards the bench. He sat down. He hunched his shoulders. He put his hand in his pocket. He left it there for a while. He rubbed his eye. He pressed hard. He stood up. He sat down. He looked behind him. He looked forwards. He dropped his head. He untied his shoelaces. He tied his shoelaces. He stood up. He rubbed his eye. He pressed hard. He looked behind him. He put his hand on the bench. He looked at his fingers. He sat down. *** There is a small wooden bench, a few paces from the edge of the pavement. It looks as lonely as he feels, positioned too far from the park to really seem like it belongs. Nevertheless, it is where he goes when he needs some fresh air; perhaps it is because it is so lonely that he likes sitting there. He’d sat there in the rain before, desperately trying to stop the pages of his book from getting wet, fighting a losing battle. And he sits there now. *** ‘So, what’s it like there?’ ‘Well, just, like, a normal park really.’ ‘But, I mean, there’s gotta be a reason you go there, right?’ ‘I dunno, it’s just kinda like, I dunno, nice, to sit there, I mean.’ ‘But don’t you get bored?’ ‘What, like-’ ‘Like, just sitting there?’ ‘No, no, I mean, its kinda, y’know, nice, to have the, the time to sit there, uh, to yourself and think of stuff and uh, y’know, clear your head.’ ‘Sounds a bit boring to me.’ ‘Yeah, I guess.’ *** 1x bench, wooden, natural brown 1x gate, metal, green paint 1x perimeter fence, metal, green paint 1x sign, ‘No Littering,’ white sign with black lettering 1x pole for sign, metal, natural grey 2x five-a-side goals, wooden, natural brown 1x basketball hoop and board, predominantly metal, white and grey 1x see-saw, metal, natural grey and painted red 1x climbing frame, wooden, natural brown 3x swings, metal frame and tire-seats, natural grey and black 2x bins, plastic, painted red Opening Times: 24 hours a day Number of visitors: few ***