Dreams Before the Start of Time by Anne Charnock

Author:Anne Charnock [Charnock, Anne]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 9781503934726
Publisher: 47North
Published: 2017-04-18T06:00:00+00:00

Toni’s one-seater pod delivers her to the centre of Battersea Park, an expansive space, the poorer cousin to public parks north of the river. It’s a Londoners’ park, south Londoners, that is. On a grey day, it feels desolate and uninviting, but on a bright day such as today, Battersea Park attracts as many runners, walkers, skaters, boarders, pram joggers and cyclists as any outdoor space in the capital.

As usual, Toni is the first club member to turn up; Millie is invariably the last. The group meets at two park benches opposite the Pump House Gallery. The tutor, Nicol, is setting out the games’ paraphernalia. Toni’s pod door slides open, and she steps out carrying her tote bag and skates.

“Look at you, all ready for action,” says Nicol.

“We are skating today, aren’t we?”

“Sure. Warm-ups, then twenty minutes skating around the park, and then a few games.”

Toni drops her skates to the ground and reduces her exo-skel to medium assist. After all, zero effort means zero warm-up. This new suit is smarter than her last, so there’s less chance she’ll strain herself as she did last year. She missed all the summer sessions, even after two months of intense physio.

She starts her stretching routine, one that she’s used ever since she lived in China. The People’s Park in Shanghai had a mobile crèche, and twice a week she left Marco there while she joined a Tai Chi class of mainly elderly Shanghainese. She’s pleased, even proud, that she also learned Mandarin, which she has kept up even though wearable translation is so much easier now.

She tips her head back, reaches her fingertips to the sky. Two birds are harrying a magpie—protecting their nest, no doubt. She stretches out to her left at shoulder height, holds it, then stretches to her right. In the distance, she sees three pods heading in her direction. One veers off towards the café pavilion. She continues her warm-up, stepping forward to stretch each calf in turn. Increasing the exo-skel assist, for it’s too difficult otherwise, she takes her weight on her right foot, bends her left knee backwards and grabs her ankle with her hand. She stretches her thigh, counts to twenty before releasing, then does a right-thigh stretch. She bends from the waist, touches her toes. And, standing upright, she takes a long step forward and lunges, her back straight as a plank, then repeats. She feels energized.

She hears a pod door slide open behind her; she swivels around and waves. Millie slams the door closed and walks straight over to Toni, giving a perfunctory wave to Nicol. Toni embraces her friend. “Early for once?”

Millie’s wearing her charcoal-grey sports gear with a lime-green skel, whereas Toni prefers her black skel, which merges well with most of her clothing.

“Tempted to cry off actually,” Millie says, “but I needed to see you. I nearly buzzed you last night.”

Toni continues with her warm-ups, as if trying to say, Look everything’s normal, no need to stress. She twists at the waist, hands on hips, then throws her arms out to each side in turn to increase the stretch.

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