VINYL SEATS

              ‘Vinyl seats’!

     “We’re going on a journey tonight, and we’ll be going on the train,

       My Dad, or, ‘who you call Uncle Albert’, is in a lot of pain”!

      “He’s in hospital now, but when he comes home we’ll all be there, 

       and our journey is overnight, to show him how much we care”.

       My Grandad, had an ‘issue’, with ‘that name’, which I was often told,

      “call me something else”, he’d say, “the word Grandad makes me feel old”!

      ‘But what other names do I know, and so I thought and I thought’, 

       but I was only 3 or 4 years old, and my educated years were almost at

nought!

      “How about cousin”, I’d suggest, “No, I’m too old to ‘get away’ with that”,

       and so I returned to my little chair, and with my thoughts, I happily sat!

      “What about ‘brother-in-law”, I’d ask, “I’ve heard that name being said” - 

       “No’, he chuckled, “you haven’t got a sister to whom I’m Wed”!

       ‘What other names do I know, and what else could he possibly be’,

      “I’ve heard the word ‘Uncle”, I said, and he replied, “that sounds good to

me”.

       “And so, I always called him Uncle Albert, who was always very kind, 

       and dear ‘Uncle Albert’, was known by that name and he didn’t really

Mind!

               “A taxi is booked for 6 o’clock”, suddenly said our mum “and our

train is leaving at seven,

       and it’s a direct route from Cornwall to London, that doesn’t stop in

Devon”;

      “your Grandad, or ‘Uncle Albert”, she said looking at my face, “isn’t very

well ‘at all’,

“and so, I must quickly book our train tickets, and for a taxi I must call”.

         “I’ll quickly pack your clothes, but before that, you must eat some tea”,

         “and I’ll get you something else on the train- ‘if there’s anything nice I

see”,

but ‘then again’ this is British Rail, and it’ll probably have a high price,

          and if it’s supposed to be served hot, then it’ll probably be like ice!

               This sounded like an exciting adventure’, which ‘masked over’ the real reason for going!  Our tea was a quick and simple ‘production’, which consisted of meat paste sandwiches, along with a piece of sponge cake, and as soon as the final mouthful of cake disappeared into my mouth, a wet flannel smothered my face, and a toothbrush was quickly inserted into my mouth, which received a minty gesture of a clean!

               Soon after our mum had completed this task, we were on our way, because the taxi arrived to take us to the train station, and I could tell that this wouldn’t be a really happy vacation! ‘As we’ got into the car, I feared those vinyl seats, because, ‘again’, I was dressed in shorts, but the seats were covered in cloth anyway, and eased my worried thoughts!

              The train station was very noisy, mostly with an engine sound, that violently and suddenly erupted all around!

“Whistle’s were being blown, and doors were being slammed tight,

and these disturbing sounds could, keep me awake all night’!

I held my mum’s hand tightly, because there were worrying movement,

along with this scary noise, and I just wanted to be inside, with a seat and a table, and with, my little bag of toys!

              We identified the correct train, that would take us to London, and we boarded and waited for it to depart, and as we chose a vacant compartment, we all sat down and waited for this engine to start!

              It had been a warm and sunny day, and the choice of shorts did seem right, but this exposure of my legs wasn’t right tonight, because it was getting much colder now, and my legs would soon feel frozen, but I knew that mum packed my clothes, and I’m

sure that trousers were chosen?  I wasn’t going to complain, ‘just yet’, because I saw my mum feeling quite sad, and if I worried her about my shorts, then I would feel so bad!

             My mum had time to think now, as she sat and began to cry, and so I bared the cold for longer, to say “that I did try”!

              The beginning of the journey seemed to be alright, and we left the station in the remaining light, but the sun was sinking fast, and its warmth and light would not be here for long, and regarding the loss of heat, then I would have to be strong!

              I would witness the departure of the sun, and in the darkness my eyes began to close, and even in this upright chair I would also try to doze, BUT these seats did not encourage or promote sleep, but someone kept walking up and down the thin corridor, that kept my imagination going, ‘who was he and what was he doing’? I couldn’t really see his face, but his movements seemed odd to me, and I had to stay awake ‘in case’ my mum required help from me?

              Here he comes again, and he’s carrying in his hand, a shiny object that could possibly be a weapon? Another passenger approached him, and ‘this man in black’, seemed to be stabbing his hand, before he sent him away, by pointing further down the train carriage, ‘as though’ he was a football referee dismissing him from this train, and this man in black turned around, and walked back down towards the area that he had just sent the ‘other man’- perhaps he had just sent him down to an area of the train where they punish people, and I would soon hear some terrifying screaming? What could he have done wrong? I thought, perhaps there’s a punishment carriage on this train for those who misbehave, and there’s a lot of naughty people down there? I felt uneasy now, believing there to be a carriage just for naughty people, who were actually close by!

               What other naughty men could be on this train, and who is this man in black with such authority and power? It was quiet on the train, as other people slept, but were they aware that we had vicious villains aboard this train?

               I wonder now if the ‘man in black’ had such authority, because of that shiny metal object that he carries, and it is actually a ray-gun that can instantly destroy them all? What kind of criminal fiends are down there? My mum was about to find out, because she required the toilet, which was in the direction of the naughty carriage, and the threat of being hurt was high! “Do you really have to go”? and do you know that we’ll be vulnerable to those vicious men down there whilst you’re away”? I said, and I feared the worst as she disappeared in the direction of the ‘naughty carriage’, “Be very careful mum, please don’t be long”, she seemed to be fearless and brave, and my warning was definitely not needed as she very calmly turned around and said softly “I will be okay, I won’t be long and your older brother is in charge” she ‘somewhat’ reassuringly replied, but what can he do if those villains rush this way with knives, big sticks or guns? ‘Where’s my mum’? I thought, ‘I hope those villains haven’t hurt her’? This excursion would include my first ‘taste’ of worry,  and I didn’t like that feeling ‘at all’!

               The man in black was returning, ‘up the corridor’, and he was armed with his handheld weapon, and he was coming to our door! “Mum”, I shouted with fearful panic, “don’t let this man in, he’ll harm us or he’ll send us away”! 

But my mum was unperturbed by my warning, and she showed no fear as his hand was now upon the door, which he carefully slid open, and with this silvery metal weapon in his hand he calmly said  “tickets please”, and my mum surrendered to this demand without a spirited fight! 

My mum was inspecting my face, to look at its state, and then asked “Andrew, are you starting to wake”, “we’re here now and we’ll be entering the station in a minute, so if you’ve got any rubbish, then remember that you need to ‘bin it’!