A Concrete Ambush

In the morning light, an elderly man emerges from his home. He shuffles slowly forward, pulling his wheelie bin to the curb to await the weekly disposal ritual, as he has done for decades.

The footpath before him is new, freshly laid. The council promised safety, progress and a flatness that this street had never known. But the promise was soon betrayed. The edge of the path rises up, catching the man’s foot. His balance overcome, he falls hard upon the unforgiving ground.

The man lies still, winded and sore, staring into the early morning sky. His knee throbs. His soul aches. He curses the council and its concrete ambush, a man cast down by the very path that sought to ease his way.