Friday, 20 March 2015
Recycle day
There was no real need for me to visit the recycle centre today, other than it was warm and sunny, and I just felt the need to get out of the house for a while.
The few items in my shoulder bag chinked and rattled slightly as I made my way the couple of hundred yards from home to where the recycle skips sat in the corner of the supermarket car park, luckily no-one heard, or if they did they chose to ignore.
I slipped the bag from my shoulder and began posting the items through the holes into the separate containers.
A Coke bottle, a coffee jar, two crushed beer cans, a tuna tin, a soup can, and two corned beef tins.
Hardly worth the visit really, but it certainly was a beautiful day to be out and about.
I slung the bag back over my shoulder, glanced at the ruined mass of the supermarket. No point in even looking in there for anything. Nothing left in there but inedibles, armed scavs, and rats the size of dogs.
I set off back towards home, quietly making my way from one burnt out car hulk to the next, keeping low, eyes and ears working overtime.
There was no real need for me to visit the recycle centre today.
Maybe I am insane.
I prefer to think I'm clinging to the hope that maybe one day everything will go back to how it used to be, and someone will turn up to empty the skips.
©2015 Stephen. J. Green.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Oh what a sad place, where have they all gone? It's smacks of a zombie world.
ReplyDeleteI fear most of them may not have survived the aftermath ot the collapse, Helen.
DeleteI didn't have Zombies in mind in particular when I wrote this, but I think it would fit any post-apocalyptic scenario.
I did not suspect this would be post apocalypse! Very well done, cool twist.
ReplyDeleteThanks Catherine.
DeleteI sometimes think that I write post-apocalyptic stories too often, but I like those sort of movies and books, and so they come to mind all too easily.
I like post-apocalyptic, so the story suited me just fine. He must have cleaned out that grocery store back when, if he's still got cans to recycle. ;-)
ReplyDeleteHi Larry. I think he may be getting towards the last of his stash. Probably tried his luck more than once at the supermarket too. :)
DeleteSounds like a rather unpleasant world. But we certainly seem to like to cling to our habits.
ReplyDeletePossibly, given the circumstances, clinging to old habits may be a way of keeping ones sanity rather than losing it. I hope I never have to find out. :)
DeleteEven in the end of times some people feel a need to retain traditions of the bygone world. I think in this instance I would be done recycling.
ReplyDeleteProbably hanging onto the old ways, even when they are pointless, may be a way for someone to deny that their present circumstances actually exist, a way to fool themselves really.
DeleteI think I too would be done with recycling, Jon. :)
I imagine he will have finally given up hope when he just tosses his trash out in the street.
ReplyDeleteHaha! Yeah. Most people would have done that from the start. Trouble is though, it would advertise their presence, which may not be a good thing given the circumstances.
DeleteOh. Fantastic last line there. Before that, I almost thought it was going to do an "it gives me an enormous sense of well-being" Park Life sort of thing -- which just makes the last line even more killer.
ReplyDeleteThank you Katherine, I'm so glad you enjoyed it. :-)
DeleteI didn't see that one coming!
ReplyDeleteFunny what vestiges of humanity people will cling to.
Given harsh enough circumstances people would probably cling to anything that may bring comfort or an illusion of normality, no matter how strange it may seem.
Delete