The Elias Anomaly

Two

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Joseph felt a little better behind the wheel of his car, driving into town. The morning was not as cold as February could sometimes be. It was pleasantly chill, the sun was shining its watery winter white light through ragged clouds. Joseph had the air jets on a low fan speed blasting into his face.

For what almost felt like the very first time Joseph drove through the Dewsmonk Woods Estate. This was the place where he had lived with Eva since their marriage. Today he felt a surge of appreciation for its beautiful aesthetic design.

The houses on the estate were set back from the roadside behind sculpted rolls of turf. Each domicile nestled in its own individual valley. The space between houses filled with trees, an unobtrusive natural fence. A man-made lake swung through the whole estate, inviting in a variety of wet fowl and other wildlife.

A harsh commentator or critic might have labelled the houses on the estate 'cookie cutter'. It was true that they were identical. However, the shape and nature of the cookie cutter deserved recognition.

Each house had a large lounge-conservatory, divided by giant sliding panel doors. These allowed the transformation of the space. The owner could incorporate or cut off the kitchen and breakfast bar within this space. The upstairs level had a large patio area and stairs to the side that allowed access to a decent size green patch.

Every one of the Dewsmonk houses was built to integrate into a natural environment. They were low, flat, discreet, built of recycled materials. Each had inbuilt solar arrays and carbon reducing boiler systems. One of Joseph's favourite features was the hypocaust heating system. Every house was a marvel of ergonomic and elegant design.

Joseph loved his house, he loved his wife, he loved his cheery, high sitting, low carbon emission car, he loved his life. So, into every life a little rain must fall. Some had fallen into Joseph's just the night before. Was that enough of a trauma to spoil his otherwise blotch free existence? Certainly not.

As Joseph drove around the little roundabout at the entrance to the estate he made a decision. He had jolly better well pull himself together and get the right attitude into his head. He had a good life, no amount of curious street electrocution assaults could change that. He would go to work, he would ring Eva, he would tell her that he loved her. Then he would stop worrying about things that, in the end, made no difference to his life one way or another.

The Wednesday traffic on the way to work was a little clogged. Joseph believed that he would be among the most distracted drivers on the road today, this turned out not to be the case. No one was driving dangerously but they were drifting back and forth. No one appeared to be paying adequate attention to lights, or pedestrians or other cars. Joseph counted maybe sixteen near misses before he reached the Monks Hill Centre Car Park.

Once he had parked his car on the second level Joseph walked briskly through the shopping centre. Parking on the second level was a little trick that commuters learned. The second level lead straight through the shops on the ground floor and thence to the Monks Hill Square in the centre of town. He bought himself a nice cappuccino from the stand on the edge of the square and continued on his way to the office.

In the daylight the little alley behind the Irish theme pub did not look at all sinister. This was where his attacker of the previous evening had lurked in wait. In the daylight it was downright boring.

The only feature of any note was an elaborate coloured geometric design on a nearby wall. Some enterprising urban artist had lovingly, if illegally, lavished it onto the brick work. It transformed the wall of the department store adjacent to the pub. Joseph could not tell whether for better or worse.