[Swimming in Limbo] (Pogue)

Lloyd Bison-McKenzie

Days tend to go drifiting by like a cloud in the breeze. It's at this point when I'm at my best. No effort is put into anything, it's as if my life is a motion picture show, I get to sit back and watch days and days of my life go by. Go with the flow, go whereever fate takes me and just deal with it; that's my general and favourite approach to everything. And the best part is I won't ever get bored; I ain't got no boring work on some kind of oil rig to go to. I haven't got to work my ass off while Peacekeepers scream abuse at me, I can just sit back and do my best to enjoy life.

That's why when I look in the mirror in the rather tacky I find my reflection grinning at me. Gotta smile, shows that I'm grateful for what I got, or ain't got. It's a shame most people frown on this attitude but honestly, when I live in a house full of half brothers and sisters (with quite a few of them older than me and working) it ain't like I gotta support anyone. It's better this way - having no worries that is. I swing and I twist the tap and watch the water run and fall like a waterfall. I collect it in my hands and splasj it on my face a few times, followed by soap to really clean all the grime, dirt and sweat from it. It's followed by more water being splashed on my face and ended with my face being wiped down.

See, probably the most worrying thing I'll have to do all day.

Well, maybe that's a small lie... I still gotta run to the market and buy a few things but what's so worrying about that? Even a poorly trained monkey could do that. Then I'll go back to sleep or something like that. I'll just see where the day takes me and go from there - simple as. I quickly run down the stairs, ignoring the worrying creak the stairs make everytime someone goes up and down them. I'll deal with that when they actually break, actually, maybe someone else can. I get to the ugly wooden table and let out a sigh of relief to find the money is still there. It's unbelievable the amount of times I've come to find the money left there has been taken by some random kid, I'll then proceed to get money (which I will never know where it came from) and use that. It's not like I earned that money or anything but it's just annoying that lack of respect people have for other people's possessions.

After stuffing the money in my pocket, I cloak myself with a thick black coat and step out.

The icy chill hits me full pelt like a fist. Febuary... I hate that month. I hate that month because it causes so much worry. 'Will I eat? How will I keep my family warm? Fucking hell I'm so cold.' And the worst bit is I know those worries are legit and justified because most of the time when I hear that from someone I never see them again. I grit my teeth and brave the cold for what seems like a stupidly long time before I find myself in the busy market. People seem to buy many things, mostly firewood. Even I'm going to need that. But the line for firewood is dauntingly long.

I'll just find something else in this crowded market.

And so I turn around and see where the breeze takes me.