Checking the wheelie bins in Staunton Road ...

I slipped out of the sparkling house to check if the recycling wheelie bin had been emptied - 

I'd seen the bin lorries prowling the streets the same morning last week - the legend on each green lorry read Havant - Cleaner, Safer, More Prosperous - 

I stood on the bright pavement of Staunton Road - 

I saw the Victorian terrace to my left - each house had two front windows - 

I imagined framed photographs, placed upon mantelpieces, showing worn men wearing caps - 

My parents' house was to my right - 

Each room was full of precious ornaments - 

There I was, in a framed photograph, a slender boy aged thirteen - 

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June 12 2014

Havant