A corner of a room is a misguided place to cower in.

Bad move!

Especially after you have just had chicken chow mein styled into your hair.

You sit.

Transfixed.

You watch.

Catatonic.

Prawn ***** glisten like diamonds in the snow as they slide effortlessly down the peeling wallpaper.

Baby screams.

Baby screams relentlessly.

The stench of cheap beer perfumes the stagnant air.

You think to yourself

"Is this it?"

Then you remember

You remember ….

What the hell was her name?

It’s on the tip of your tongue ….

BANG !!!

Tina Smitherson

Once!

Just once ….

The one and only time he raised his hand.

She was gone.

Didn’t even look back.

And her so quiet and all ….

Oh ….how we tormented her.

Oh …. how we teased her.

BOO !!!

BOO !!!

BOO !!!

Away she ran like a frightened little mouse.

No friends.

No life.

Nothing.

A bona fide geek.

And yet ….

And yet … only once.

How was that possible?

Night turns to day.

You look around the room.

Chaos.

Filth.

Emptiness.

Taunt at you manically ….  in triplicate.

Baby sleeps peacefully in her makeshift cot.

Bruises red and angry.

Maybe today ….

Maybe ….

Then you reach down into your darkest resolve and open the cupboard beneath the sink.

Bin bags.

Detergent.

Dish cloths.

Dustpan and brush.


*“I wonder what Tina Smitherson is doing at this precise moment in time?”