the large shiny campervan
of good intentions
Leather Clad
Leather skinned pensioners
tanned from holiday sun
cruises
hotel loungers
dusty Caribbean beaches
in their leather clad soft-top sports car
unable to tell where they end - and the car begins!
This Was The Weekend
This was the Saturday where the summer was
where the sun shone
and we played and went to village fetes
Saturday was the day we lived for
the day we reached out for from the darkest of Wednesdays
we shopped and cooked and prepared
This was the day of boundless energies
This was the Sunday where the roast dinners where
where we rested
watched television
we played and had fun
and slept-in until noon and no-one cared
and where we had to say good bye to the loved ones we'd visited
and get trains
and take long car journeys
and then, in the evening
we had to get everything ready for the morning
this was the day for the week to begin
This was the Monday where the weekend had ended
This was the back to school day
the back to work
the enevitable morning that you didn't want to happen
the day you had to catch up on
the day it didn't matter if the sun shone
the day when all you had was a head full of memories
This was the day you had commitments
This was the Tuesday we got into the swing of things
at school with all our mates
at work we were up and running
the day when the memories of the weekend passed began to fade
and the weekend ahead seemed so far away
there was no point thinking about it
the day of work that never mattered
This was the nothing day
This is the Wednesday where the darkness was
This was the day where you were so absorbed by work
where you had deadlines to meet
your pile of homework was growing
but you tried to find a life for yourself
the day of trying to finding a balance
This was the day of towing the line
This was the Thursday that brought hope
this was the day you could smell the weekend ahead
where you dared to make plans
maybe book something
provisionally agree to meet up
This was the day when you noticed the the tunnel actually had a light at the end of it!
And this was the Friday that was almost the weekend
the day that wasn't the weekend but tasted like it
this was the day of school but with the thought of staying up late
a day of work but with the thought of a night out - hang the consequences!
This was the day where the weekend started
And then ..
this was the weekend!
It Hadn't Been the Best of Starts to our Holiday
The airport carpark was almost empty! - because the airport was shut
we checked our mobiles - the travel company had sent us an email which we didn't see
luckily the travel company had arranged a shuttle bus service predicting just this scenario - and we got on the right bus but to the wrong airport
we found ourselves stuck at the wrong airport - the travel company laid on a taxi at a very reasonable rate
finally at the right airport we checked in our baggage - it was over weight and we were never to see it again!
once on a plane - it was the wrong plane but it had our luggage
we had to get off - but our luggage didn't
on the correct plane but blissfully unaware our luggage wasn't - we were now 18 hours late
when we arrived on the island - it was raining, the first time in 18 years apparently!
at the baggage carousel we waited for our baggage - naturally it didn't show as it was having a holiday of its own somewhere else in the world
finally at the hotel and very tired, we went to our room to rest - but the flashing glow from the red light outside our window kept us awake. There was a funny smell, and it was very warm!
we gave up and decided to walk down to the beach, the gossamer clouds parted - only it was smoke, we thought from a fire perhaps a barbecue somewhere, how nice!
I looked up into the dark night sky and saw the moon - only it was rows and rows of streetlightsdistracted, I tripped and banged my head.
When I came round I thought I saw the stars twinkling - it was stars but the type you get when you bang your head. There were bits of concrete left lying around, appartently left after a hotel burnt down
lying on the ground I felt a warm summer breeze brush my face - only it was the exhaust gases of a passing bus which nearly ran me over after my fall
I got up and gazed across the shore at a beautiful passing yacht lit by the moon, or so I thought - it was in fire and the captain was shouting as the yacht was sinking
I got up dusted myself off and we walked to the shore to see if we could help.
There I heard the peaceful sound of the waves lapping on the shore - only it was the traffic on the motorway flyover
there was a smell in the air - it seemed like something was burning, probably another barbecue
I felt the warm sand caressed my toes as I walked - only I was being bitten by crabs
we turned and headed back to our hotel - there seemed a lot of kerfuffle
we followed a glow and as we turned a corner - we found the hotel had been totally gutted by the fire
We sat on a bench within view of the hotels remains as it burnt
and we noticed the still flashing
still working
red light
finally
tumble into the embers
and eventually stop flashing...
and we cried
It hadn't been the best of starts to our holiday!
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