In Memory of the South Road Tesco Trolley I Passed on the Way to the GP Sometime in January And Laughed at Because It Looked So Sheepish

Dawn was a gradual affair. One moment couldn’t be separated from the next, but the stages had some distinction. First the realisation that black was not black but blue, then the world below the tiptoeing sky turning greyish, then splashes of colour on cloud—and then, somehow, everything all at once.

The Tesco trolley wasn’t aware of the sky changing. It stood on frosty ground, wheels planted, and by the time it became aware of its surroundings—became aware that the world was no longer blackness cut by yellow streetlights—it was utterly exposed. Sometime during the night it had been deposited at the very centre of a white-dusted field, no more than a hundred feet from the Tesco Extra where it lived. Now it faced the eastern sky alone as if in penance. The ominous bulk of the Tesco jutted out behind it, looming, to be sensed but not seen. Gradual as the dawn had been, it was too late now for the trolley to escape its master’s notice.

Oh no, it thought. Not again.

2 Comments

    • Anthropomorphic trolleys: the next big hit in publishing? Definitely; I’m calling it now. Will also be using this quote of yours as an endorsement on any and all future publications.

Leave a Reply to ValerieCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.