by Jamie Thunder

The radio alarm, the hurried breakfast, the quick kiss goodbye, the waiting train, the familiar cabin, the tired passengers, Ealing Broadway, Lancaster Gate, Oxford Circus, the platform, the young man, the step the sudden thud the brakes the brakes the brakes the screams the sick the distant voice the arm to hold on to, the hot sweet tea, the soft words, the phonecalls, the clock, the waiting, the arms, the words, the drive, the sleep, the waking, the sleep, the leaflets, the room, the man, the clasped hands, the exercises, the bad days, the good days, the bad days, the walls, the phonecalls, the excuses, the phonecalls, the excuses, the silence, the shouting, the heat, the slam, the taste, the first, the second, the third, the lies, the promise, the mints, the secrets, the table, the cans, the questions, the tears, the fist, the bag, the slam, the quiet, the relief, the silence, the hiss, the click, the hiss, the click, the days, the weeks, the walls, the meetings, the first day back, the handshakes, the headache, the flask, the cameras, the meeting, the letter, the reception desk, the corner office, the pleading, the punch, the crack, the hand, the march, the warning, the walk, the hiss, the click, the hiss, the click, the crowds, the roar of cars, the bridge, the jump, the rush of air–

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Jamie Thunder lives, reads, and writes somewhere near London, and tries to behave better than his characters. He’s been published by places like Prole, Storgy, and Spelk Fiction, and is one of The Short Story’s selected writers for 2017/18. He also writes at http://asintheweather.wordpress.com and tweets as @jdthndr.