The Webs We Weave

Time Slows

Avery shut the door and hotfooted it down the street to the ICC. She clutched onto her bag with white knuckles and tried to ignore the butterflies flying around in her stomach. A deep breath helped her to remember why she was about to do this. Kids chased each other down the street, tires screeched as a car swerved to avoid the children. A newspaper stand beamed a message about the G8 summit and the progress they were supposedly making on tackling world issues. What a joke, she thought to herself as she dodged a couple engaged in a staring contest. Battling her way around the streets of Birmingham was certainly not her idea of fun, especially whilst trying to suppress the butterflies. She kept her head down and tried to ignore the nagging fear inside of her. What if it didn't work? What if she got caught? What if it's the wrong thing to do? What if you stopped second guessing yourself and did what you had to do?

Avery had thought it through very carefully and she had come to the conclusion that she didn't care if she got caught. She had no life, they had made sure of that a very long time ago. She continued walking down another street; past the bus stops; past the people & all the posters of the man whose head she wanted on a plate. She had to stop herself from spitting on all of the posters or tearing them down from where they were placed. She surveyed him as she waited to cross the road. She watched his plastic smile plastered all over the bus stops; his grey eyes watched down on them from the sides of buildings. She was surrounded by the motto 'Working today to achieve a better tomorrow for YOU' and the look of triumph in having successfully defeated societies evils for 10 years. His smile was meant to warm the hearts of the civilians going about their everyday work; his eyes were meant to let you know that he cares and that he's worried about the future of the country in another person's hands. Personally Avery thought that he looked sinister, like he knew something that they didn't, like it was all just a big game and he was always on top.

Avery turned around the corner on a quiet backstreet onto a street that had been injected with life. Shops lined both the sides of extensive street like a cage to the people wandering about in between; teenagers laughed with their friends, parents ran around frantically after their children and focused business people practically sprinted towards cafe's for a mad dash coffee break. Avery walked through the craziness as quickly as she could. Shopping had never appealed to her; it had always been Ophelia's forte to be the girly girl. Avery watched as a young girl tried to get her mothers attention by jumping up and down and tugging on her mothers dress; as hard as she tried Avery couldn't tear her eyes away from the family. Her heart momentarily stopped as she watched the mother get down to the height of her daughter and engage in a tickling session evoking a giggly response from the young girl as she pleaded surrender. Avery was filled with sadness as the ground nearly gave way underneath her feet; she finally tore her eyes off of the family and continued walking but, try as she may, she could no longer suppress the memories that started to bully their way into her head.

The sun was beating mercilessly down on them as they ran through the almost empty streets. The two young girls flying down the streets, past all of the closed shops, leap-frogging over bollards: carefree. The couple walking steadily behind them watched the girl’s race each other through the lifeless street, their excitement spilling out into the deserted streets. The young girls laughter echoed and reverberated around the couple. “Ophelia, Avery!” the girls pirouetted around to face the woman, “Come here you crazy kids and give your mother a hug!” The girls looked at each other and then sprinted towards their mother. They both reached their destination at the same time and jumped on her crouched figure. “Come on Matty, stop being such a wallflower!" The girls still clung to their mother whilst she called to the man who stood watching them with a lopsided grin plastered on his face. The two girls turned around to Matty and called to him to join them.

"But Kelsey, you know I do it well!" Kelsey pouted at Matty and mocked sadness. Sighing he exclaimed, "Ready or not, here I come girls!" He galloped towards them with his huge lopsided grin and his arms outstretched. He tackled them to the ground and they exploded into fits of contagious laughter; where they stayed flailing and laughing, mixed up in each others arms, for a few minutes. Sides aching and giddy from the excitement they all started to unpick themselves from each other. Kelsey swept Avery from the ground and raised her into the air, making her fly like an airplane.