Shalott

Ash "town"

Shirley pulled her coat around her and exhaled loudly, her breath formed a frosty cloud ahead. Fifteen fuckin' minutes, she told herself.

She had spent the last hour doing star-jumps to keep warm and had written half a poem under the lamp. She kept getting distracted however by the anxiety of being alone and when she did her star-jumps she felt as though she was drawing attention to herself.

She stuck her middle finger up at the blackness and sighed, slouching back down onto the bench. Can I put myself into a trance or something? She eyed up a rock that had come loose from the station's stone wall. I could even knock myself out for a bit, with any luck until the morning when I could actually walk somewhere.

Suddenly there was a purring sound and Shirley sat up in her seat. She leaned her head forward, tucking her black hair behind her ear and listening intensely. It was a car! She stood up and immediately sat back down again. She wasn't Robinson-bloody-Crusoe, she was just a girl waiting for a train which would arrive in like, four minutes. The purr was getting louder, it sounded so close. Could I not just rush out and stop them - ask them to call me a cab or something?

She stood up, her legs now moving one before the other. Quick, Shirley. Quick.

Suddenly the purring stopped and with it Shirley in her tracks. There was silence but then a door slammed.

"Hello?" she called out.

Nothing came.

Shirley glanced up at the station clock. Okay. Three minutes now until the train.

She took a few more strides forwards, and strained her head so that once again she looked upon the tarmac road.

The silhouette  walked towards her and Shirley waited, alert like a deer reacting to the snap of a twig.

The clip clop of heels grew louder and soon the shadows dissolved to reveal handsome middle-aged features of a woman; quite short, with grey/blonde shoulder-length hair and glasses.

"Hi," Shirley called out as she approached.

The woman let out a cry, a hand flying towards her heart.

"Sorry!" Shirley cried. "I'm so sorry!"

The woman paused under the light, looking at Shirley with suspicion.

Shirley was aware that she did not look like the most approachable individual, her piercings no doubt glinting under the street lamp from beneath her black hood. 

"I...er, I'm kinda stuck here. I'm supposed to go to Astalot Farm... But er, I'm fucking stuck," Shirley explained, throwing her hands up to the sky. "No chariot awaits."

To Shirley's relief the lady let out a warm laugh. "No chariots in Ashtown," she smiled. "Unless you can ride a cow or a sheep, you will indeed find yourself at a loose end. Caroline, by the way," she said extending a hand.

"Shirley," said Shirley, gratefully pumping it. "And why the 'town' bit in Ashtown, eh?"

"Nice to meet you Shirley," said Caroline, her face suddenly appeared to be registering something. "You're the new owners, right? Of the farm I mean."