English Nightmare
Rayner Heppenstall
t
WAS A YILLACE HALL
of wood and corrugated iron. Half
a
dozen young men-all twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old-were
already there, sitting on wooden chairs in front of the porch.
One said:
"They're full up."
But I went inside the porch and pushed open a wooden door
painted plum-colour. A clerk in his shirt-sleeves looked up at me
with anguish, half a dozen further young men (on a form in front
of him) with dubious grins.
I said:
"I'm sorry, but I want to ask somebody about something."
The clerk said:
"Listen, I want my lunch sometime today."
I went out.
A clerk who was unoccupied had heard me from behind
a
screen. He came out.
He said:
"What is it?"
I said:
"I have glasses ' for reading, and I've forgotten them. Does
it matter?"
The clerk said:
"I don't know."
I said:
"Well, I thought if it did ..."
The clerk said:
"It's too late to do anything about it now, isn't it? I should
mention the matter to the eye doctor when you go in. He's the
first
you come to."
I went outside and sat on a chair. The other young men were
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