JUST A STROLL AT TWILIGHT

\pard\plain\pard\qc\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 JUST A STROLL AT
TWILIGHT\par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 The youth looked at his parents
with disgust. \'d2Just a stroll at twilight,\'d3 he said, adding,
contempuously,\'d3 \'d2When the lights are low.\'d3\par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \'d2But, Alex, it\'d5s ten
o\'d5clock and you haven\'d5t eaten anything,\'d3 bleated his mother,
wringing her hands.\par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \'d2You\'d5re exam\'d5s in a
week\'d5s time,\'d3 protested his father, \'d2You stay in the attic all
day playing your records and you go for long walks when it\'d5s dark.
You\'d5ll fail and then you know what will happen.\'d3\par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 Alex ignored them and left the
house, slamming the front door behind him. How he depised his parents
and their old songs! He despised his father for being weak; he despised
his mother for her shapeless body and for everlastingly singing,\'d5
Just a song at tw}
{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 ilight...\'d5\par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 Of course he knew what was would
happen. His Chemistry master had spelt it out. \'d2If you pass, your
call-up will be deferred and you go to University. If you fail, you get
a new suit.\'d3\par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 The new suit meant being
called-up. The cadet corps was bad enough. The thought at being shouted
at, humiliated and bullied by real live sergeants was impossible to
contemplate . It simply did not fit in with his life style and he had
no intention of letti}
{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 ng it happen.\par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 The trouble was that he was
certain to fail. For the last year or so he had been unable to
concentrate on his work. However often he read his notes and
text-books, the words on the page never seemed to get past his eyes and
into his memory. He felt as thou}
{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 gh he lived in a daze, neither eating nor
sleeping, unable even to feel. \'d2I\'d5m like a robot, lost in the
fog, and driving with the brakes on,\'d3 he would tell himself with
grim humour. \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 Alex set off down the road,
taking his usual route, and walking stiffly as though the robot needed
oiling. Past the cricket ground, along the Flat Lanes, across the hill
to the windmill - sometimes he would hear grunts of courting couples in
the undergr}
{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 owth, sometimes furtive men who smiled at him,
sometimes animals - foxes, hedgehogs, rats, but he ignored them
all.\par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 He came to a bench and sat down.
It was time to play his game. From the depth of his coat he produced a
revolver and held it to his temple. It was a Webley 38 of first war
vintage and he had stolen it from the armoury of the school cadet corps
when the phy}
{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 sics master had left his keys around.. He had
found ammunition for it in a local armt base. A Nissen hut jusy inside
the gate contained ammunition of all sorts, besides other toys such as
sticky bombs and hand grenades. A fellow conspiritor had told him
ab}
{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 out the sticky bomb after the visit. saying
\'d2I didn\'d5t mention it in there because you\'d5re crazy enough to
set it off.\'d3\par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 Sitting on the bench in the dark,
Alex pulled the trigger and heard a satisfying click. He had loaded the
chamber with a single round. Ghe exam was six days away and there were
now five nights to go before the bullet would move round to the firing
position}
{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 . To achieve an added frisson he did not check
the location of the round before each firing.\par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 Then he walked home. For the four
nights which followed he repeated the routine. The it was time to make
the long night journey to Scotland to sit his exams. Amid whistles and
smoke the express left Exchange Station, chugging its way through the
docks, pic}
{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 king up speed as it went. He found a window
seat in a saloon carriage, settled down uncomfortably and tried to
sleep.\par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 They were approaching Carlisle
before he managed to fall into a light sleep. But it seemed only a
moment later that he woke to the crash of a breaking window and
realised he was covered in shards of broken glass. His window had
broken in and the coach was }
{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 filled with rain and smoke. There was panic
among the other passengers. Then the guard appeared carrying first-aid
equipment and swiftly applied bandages.\par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 Alex felt a stream of something
wet running down the back of his neck and realised that he too was
bleeding. Paralysed by embarrassment, for bidden by his own code of
conduct to report sick, he stayed in his seat until another passenger
noticed the blood }
{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 anmd the guard attemped to stop the flow. But
this proved difficult, and when the train pulled into Carlisle he was
taken off the train and, to the accompanient of bells and flashing
lights, rushed to hospital. By this time he was feeling the effects of
th}
{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 e shock and was quite glad to be put on a
stretcher.\par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \'d2We\'d5re going to keep you
here tonight,\'d3 said the doctor after the bleding had been stopped
and imposing swathes of bandages had been replaced by an unimpressive
square of elastoplast.\par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \'d2But I have to sit an exam in
Glasgow in the morning.\'d3\par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \'d2Is it important?\'d3\par
}
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \'d2Of course it is! It\'d5s my
highers.\'d3\par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \'d2Tel; me what school; it is
and we\'d5ll phone your headmaster. Youb had better phone your parents
yourself. And I need to know the name of your Doctor. I have to run
some tests. Do you bleed much?\'d3\par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 Tjhere were more questions, not
only about him but also about his family. Then they took a sample of
his blood and left him. A railway policeman asked him about the
incident and Alex told him that the breakage could have been caused by
an air-rifle.\par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 In spite of his worries, he was
beginning to enjoy being the centre of attention. His suitcase with its
lethal weapon had been placed beside the bed and he kept lookiong at it
to make sure no-one tried toopen it.\par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 Next morning the doctor him that
he was an haemophiliac. \'d2Did your Doctor say anything about
it?\'d3\par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 Alex shrugged. \'d2I know I bleed
a lot but `I didn\'d5t think about it. What about my exam? If I
don\'d5t pass it I shall be called up\'d3\par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \'d2Your Headmaster says you can
take it in September. And you can forget about your call-up. The army
doesn\'d5t want soldiers who bleed all the time. I will write to your
doctor and he will write to the Ministry.\'d3\par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 He left the hospital and took the
first train home. His parents made a fuss of him but he made it clear
that, haemophiliac or not, he wasn\'d5t going to be treated as an
invalid.. He went to his room in the attic and put on his loudest big
band record. He too}
{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 k a chemistry book from the shelf and began to
read but the formulae danced before his eyes, mocking him and refusing
to be learnt.\par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 At dusk he left the house,
refusing food. \'d2Just a stroll at twilight,\'d3 he answered when his
parents asked him where he was going. He followed his usual route, past
the cricket ground, down the Flat Lanes, up the hill to the windmill
and sat down in his fav}
{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 ourite seat.\par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 He took out the gun with the
single cartridge in it. Five nights ago he had sat here and the bullet
. Five nights had elapsed and now, five notches on, the bullet had
reached its firing position., He had only to rotate the cylindar one
notch and it wo}
{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 uld be safe. He performed this operation,
raised the gun to his head, and pulled the trigger.\par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 In that fraction of a second
which comes when the hammer commences its fall, Alex remembered that on
the previous night, in hospital, he had not touched the gun. Therefore,
the gun was in its firing position. Then the hammer dropped, the gun
fire, and the }
{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 bullet smashed into his skull.\par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
\pard\ql\fi560{\plain\f10840\fs28\cf1 \par }
}