Invisible Monsters by Michael Sutherland

Author:Michael Sutherland [Sutherland, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 27

Shirley walked down the grey worn steps in the early morning as sunlight cut around the edges of the door to her new world. All she had to do now was open it, stroll with pride into the open, under a sky full of wheeling seagulls, hail a cab and make her way to Newcastle Central.

She had been there before, many times before, but only ever in disguise. But her heart had sung out each time as she had wondered, planned. Each time a test run for the real thing.

Her final exit. "Let me help you with that, love," the driver said, lifting her trunk into the back of the cab.

Voice trembling she thanked him and slipped into the back seat. Don't look back, she thought as she strapped herself in.

Opening her clutch bag, she found her compact mirror, her mobile looking glass, the sunlight hitting her eyes as she glared at her reflection. She felt wrong, looked all wrong. Too much mascara, too much eye shadow, too much everything.

"Going on holiday?" the driver asked her.

A lie came to her as she retrieved her lace hanky. Another lie, she thought. Just one more to pile on top of all the others— what difference does it make now?

Her throat squeezed on her word. "Yes".

She looked out the window, pretending to adjust her head square, hiding her face with her hand in case someone should look in at her too closely for it was the first time Shirley had been out in the daylight.

The streets looked too gray despite the sunlight. The buildings seemed to loom in, ready to fall over and crush her. Panic welled up inside as words screamed inside of her, go back, go back.

"No!"

The cab slowed suddenly and the driver turned his head to the side. "You all right, Love?" he asked.

Shirley pushed herself back in her seat. All she could hear in her head was 'go back, it's not too late'.

"Love?"

"I'm fine," she said, her voice shaking.

The cab sped up again. She looked at the men. She looked at the women. The young and the old. She looked at the shop fronts, their lurid colors of green and purple, yellow and orange, as Newcastle Central came into view.

Shirley had seen it a million times before when she had pretended to buy train tickets, and when her time came to be served, she had always left the queue at the last second. She had sat and drunk coffee while she had listened to trains coming and going, feeling the vibration of their wheels rumbling through the concrete under her feet.

She had listened to voices echoing off the walls and iron girders, announcing destinations and arrivals while she ate bagels and muffins before stepping outside with her empty suitcase to smoke a cigarette with waiting travelers. All the while she had been planning, but only ever when she had been in disguise.

The taxi stopped on the rank and the driver climbed out. Thinking he was about to lift her trunk out from the back, she was startled when the door opened for her.

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