27 January 2012
The space is mine! A red Mini is parked a little further down the lane, but there's plenty if room for me to reverse in and claim my prize. I wonder why the Mini didn't take the front space, then I start Angry Birding and forget all that. It's nearly time for the train. The guy in the Mini is out of his car and retrieving his commuter bicycle from the boot. Later in the journey I will see him attempt to engage the attractive lady cyclist in conversation, as he's done every day this week. Her words are gently dismissive, spoken with a mesmerisingly soft Scottish accent. I'm not sure if he's hitting on her or just likes to hear her speak. I stow my phone (top pocket right hand side) check I've got my wallet (bottom pocket left hand side) run a finger over the plastic pouch that contains my train ticket (top left). I gather up my bag, slide out of the camper van and set off for the platform. I pass the Mini and find the Black Mercedes parked behind it.
I almost stop walking.
I'm sure I didn't see it drive in, it has to have been parked here before I arrived. Any sense of victory is gone. Why didn't he bag the front space, it was his for the taking? I'm concerned, what do the Mercedes driver and the Mini driver know that I don't. Why has the front space suddenly become something to avoid.
I have rising anxiety for the welfare of my camper van.
It is now that I see his plan and what a cunning foe he is. This is not just a tussle for a parking space that can be settled by an early arrival, no, this is the smack down, this is mental warfare to the finish. In my mind the space is now toxic. The seed of doubt he has planted will grow and flower, each bloom an image of vandalism, a tussle with an irate villager or outright theft. Instead of being in an excellent position to get to the main road, my precious camper van, our uncomplaining partner in so many familial adventures is now vulnerable and exposed.
On Monday I will park it safely away from any threat, snug beneath a tree, surrounded by the comfort of fellow vehicles.
The Black Mercedes has won, his victory is complete.
The Black Mercedes Part Deux • Opuss № I