Short story shown as part of A Crash Course in Cloudspotting: With my rest recorded on an app and shown in an exhibition of lighting effects.
This is from when i used walking poles
A little rest is a jewel, a gem of luxury.
Every time I get on a tube train, I ask for a seat and – almost always – people smile and gift me somewhere to sit.
They give me the present of a place and a time for a little rest!
Often others on the train want to help me manoeuvre, want to hold down a flap-seat, sometimes others even offer me another seat if they think their seat is better.
I sit down and embark on my little rest.
It’s a rest for my legs.
It’s also a rest for all of me from urban London.
I always say thankyou to everyone who helped or smiled or whatever they did.
I tell the person who actually got up how much I appreciate them.
Often, the nearby people join in with the cheerfulness and I feel the tension across the train reduce.
My legs know this is all going to happen and they start resting.
My arms stop gripping my sticks. They start resting too.
My head knows that niceness is coming my way.
It’s a rest!
Not at all the same as a big rest of course – where you can lay on your back and decide whether and when to wriggle your toes, but definitely a little rest.
Surely a gem. Definitely a little luxury.