A Time of Distress and Excess (Chapter 1 Part 1)
#1 of Time of Distress and Excess
Thought I'd try out something a little different, a novel of Grey as a British Rail Guard in the unforgiving eighties. Let me know what you guys think & some ideas wouldn't go unappreciated
A Time of Distress & Excess
By Grey the Floydian Sergal
In the middle of a suburban street in the capital of a country ruled by Thatcher was a humble abode, resident to a sergal, a northerner with a dirty secret & one that would spawn controversy among society in a crippled country. Two million unemployed, the police hated & life gets harder, but will get harder once a super virus is released among a community of despised & feared people.
Chapter One: 1981
Chapter One Part One: Fighting for our love
The alarm clock strikes 0630 & the radio plays Duran Duran. With a groan & a yawn, a lanky, furred hand reaches out from under the duvet before the creature rises. A grey furred sergal from Yorkshire, lived alone in his segment of suburbia. he raised from his slumber & headed down stairs after donning his striped dressing gown. He shambled towards the kitchen, filled his kettle with water & placed it on the hob. He wasn't taken to one of those fancy arse electric kettles, electricity & water should never mix as he always says to those who come round for a cuppa. He opened an old cigarette case, something he found in a junk shop for about fifty-pence, & took out one of many pre-rolled cigarettes. He leaned out of the back door & lit it, enjoying his smoke while the kettle boiled. When he exhaled the smoke, it was mixed with the steam from his hot breath hitting the cold, bitter, January air. He closed his eyes & takes in the nicotine, murring softly from the pleasure on his brain. He smoked his cigarette right until the kettle began to whistle. Throwing the fag-end into the back lawn, he returned to make his early morning drink. A nice mug of coffee always makes it easier to wake up, a shower though seals the deal. Leaving his coffee to cool to drinking temperature, he heads upstairs to his bathroom to begin the morning ritual.
An hour later, he was cleaned, dressed & wired. Attired in his working clothes, a blue uniform which consited of trousers, shiny boots, a jacket, tie, white shirt & a cap with the red arrows-of-indecision, better known as the British Rail Corporate logo. He walked onto his driveway to his car, a five-year-old Capri S, resplendant in royal blue, gold decals & topped with a smart vinyl roof. He was greeted by Robert, the human milkman.
"a'right Grey mate, off to delay the commuters are we?", he said with a glint in his eye
"Aye, yer one to talk. With pace you drive at, it's probably gone t' cheese", Grey replied with a chuckle as he got into his car. Starting up & heading to the nearest station.
Grey was a gaurd on the inner-city services & his first duty is a change-over on the 0745 service bound to Kings Cross. Armed with his whistle & flags, he waits on the platform. 0746, train should be in by now he thought. 0753, he sees the signal change as the train pulls in. Not quite the resplentent blue of his Capri, the unit was looking worse for wear having been built in the late fifties & wearing this livery since the early seventies. A decade of continual service had weathered this MetCam quite considerably, it was due in for refurbishment or replacement but lack of funding from the government meant these ageing DMUs have to keep earning their keep. Disgruntled passengers board the slam-door stock as Grey entered the gaurd's compartment to take over from a tired old wolf, the tips of his fur going silver with age.
"Right Grey, you won't need that whistle here", he said, "fixed the buzzer last night in the depot"
"Aw crackin', now they just need to fix the rest of the bloody thing, on yer way home then", Grey chuckled & laughed with his elderly colleage as he waved him off. He leaned from his door & tried to buzz the driver to no avail.
"Oh fuckin' nora", he growled, sending the train off the old fashioned way, with a green flag & a blast of his whistle. The delay though meant that the block ahead became occupied with a railfreight service, meaning further delay. 0813 & the block is clear. The sergal groaned with distain & noted in his personal book.
"twenty eight minutes down, pray there aren't more delays", he muttered to himself before walking through the train punching tickets. the next stop they made up two minutes, the next a further six, a lot of passengers at these suburban stations lost patience & caught the bus or called a cab. Less passengers at the stations meant they could make up time but it wasn't long until the train was full & nobody was getting off. The already late commuters had to find a way. Grey hated this, he felt like he was the enemy for working with the ones making these people late but he had no choice. That was until the penultimate station.
He opened his door & watched some passengers come off & more coming on. he was approached by a fox with a rucksack, his right ear pierced & he spoke with an American accent.
"'scuse me sir?", he caught the sergal's attention
"Eyup, what could I do you for?", Grey asked with a smile, keeping an eye on the other passengers
"Is this train going to... oh god, what's it called? Gatsby? Gatsvick..."
"Gatwick you mean?"
"Yeah that's it, I'm heading into Europe as a sort of vacation, do you think this train will get there?"
"Even if it was on time, naw it wouldn't. This service is due for Kings' Cross. You'd need to start off from London Victoria to get to Gatwick. You could get there on the tube from Kings' Cross but it takes a while & you've probably got to catch a flight"
"Well, I don't have to catch a flight, I need to buy a ticket". The Sergal was puzzled
"what's with the rucksack then?"
"It's a long story, but I can't stay here"
"Well all the time you've been chattin', you've lost a seat on train", he thinks for a bit. "I shouldn't do this & I bet I'll get a bollockin' for it but...", he sighs "come & join me in here"
"You sure, I don't wan't to cause any trou..."
"look, quit blatherin' & get in here before Jacob sees thee", & with that, the fox got into the gaurd's van with Grey. The train set off eleven minutes behind schedule, they may of made up seventeen minutes but a delay is a delay & Grey now had a member of the public in his compartment. It would be ten minutes before they'd get to the terminus so Grey made his new passenger a mug of coffee.
"here y'go", he handed the mug from his flask over, the fox took it & sipped
"It's real nice, thanks", he smiled
"Naw bother, now. Why couldn't you stay here?", he leaned back in his chair chewing on a Garibaldi. The fox blushed & seemed a little hesitant.
"I emmigrated here a couple of years ago & I fell in love with someone. They offered me a place to stay but then their parents found out"
"Found out what?", Grey asked with a soft tone in his voice
"That I was in love with their...", he closed his eyes & a tear rolled down his cheek, "Son. They found out I was gay & told the whole neighbourhood that I shouldn't come near. They gave me a taster of what would happen if I did", the vulpine raised his shirt, showing he was shaved & bruised.
"Bloody nora, that's awful". The fox was surprised, he was expecting to be beaten to a pulp by the tall sergal.
"y... you don't... mind?"
"Fuck naw, I'm no biggot. Being attracted to men doesn't make thee any less of a person. Your sexuality doesn't define thee as a person", Grey smiled softly. "What's yer name?"
"Andy"
"Well Andy, Me name's Grey", the sergal looked out of the window. "Crikey we're nearly at King's Cross", he took out his wallet & gave Andy a couple of fivers. "Go & get yersel sommat to eat & keep yersel occupied until five o'clock this evenin'. Meet me here okay?"
"What's goin' on?", he asked confused at the money stuffed into his paw
"yer comin' home wi' me"
"Oh, that's awfully kind but..."
"Naw buts about it. I want thee to stay wi' me for a while. Just until thee gets a form of income. Dead easy t' get beaten on the streets down here by skin'eads & anti-furs. I don't wanna see a nice lad like thee rot on streets"
"That's very generous, thank you so much", Andy's tail swayed some as he smiled
"Naw bother, now, best get on wi' my job. That's us made up another five minutes there". Grey got up to lean out of the window but he was pulled back in by Andy, who wrapped his arms around the tall sergal's neck & kissed deeply on the lips. Grey showed no signs of discomfort as he returned the kiss, softly rubbing Andy's waist & closing his eyes, enjoying the embrace.
Coming soon: Chapter 1 Part 2