A Day Off

Based on a true event from June 2018.

A DAY OFF

I took a day off work
And got the bus to a nearby village:
A large village with a few independent shops,
A fish and chips takeaway,
A pharmacy,
And three pubs.
The right sort of place.

I'd passed through it
Many times on the bus
And occasionally
As a passenger in a car
And had been interested
To see more of it.

After a brief look round
I went in to one of the pubs;
The four men sat round the bar
Looked at me as though
I was an intruder and said little.

I bought a pint and found a pile of books.
One was about lighthouses
Around the UK.
I sat there quietly and contentedly
Reading- only half listening
To the chatter at the bar.

After two pints I left.
A few doors down the high street
Was a small boutique of sorts,
Selling mainly odd bits of furniture
And quirky pictures.

I decided I wanted one of the pictures
But £30 seemed a lot to pay.
It seemed like a place where one could haggle
But the lady refused
Saying she was only looking after
The premises:
"Come back in an hour"
And the boss would be in.

I left and had a wander round
The village, took some photos,
And then found myself
In another pub.
There were just the three of us:
The lady behind the bar
And a man I vaguely recognised.

We chatted about this and that,
It turned out he too livwd
In the same town as I
And we were both not working that day.

I went back to the boutique
But the manager had not yet returned
So I returned to the pub:
Another pint.

Around 4:30pm I went back again.
Thw manager- owner- of the boutique
Was there.
I expressed an interest in the picture
And suggested £15 (a bit cheeky
In hindsight).

We settled on £20.
I left, a little tipsy and went
To the fish and chips takeaway,
Bought some and,
Having missed the bus,
Got a taxi home.

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