Places To Read, An Unintentional Multipart Short Story Series – Part 7

 

In the summer

The heat of the summer is different from warmth. When a heatwave hits, the air becomes stifling inside, and you can't bear it. The only issue is that sitting in the shade is too cold. Therefore, the only possible compromise is to pull out a chair and sit in the sunshine, your shoes kicked off and your feet resting against the ground.

You try to get comfy on the garden chair, but to no avail – there is no comfy way to sit on one and still be able to read. The book your have open in your hands seems to soak up the sunshine until you can't see the words, so you have to lean forwards, moving inch by inch until you have managed to find a position that you can sit in, while using your head to cast a shadow onto your book.

It takes less than ten minutes before you have to get up and grab a drink, which means that although you now have an ice cold beverage, with ice cubes clinking against the side of the glass as you walk back out to your chair, you have to try and find the correct sitting position again. Worse – you will have to do so every time you lean down to pick up your drink from the floor to take a sip.

The sun beats down onto your head, and when you reach up, your hair is hot to the touch. Sun bleached hair is a sacrifice you must make if you want to read outside.

You don't notice your skin slowly changing from the pasty white colour of someone who spends all day inside, reading, to a darker tone. It depends whether you were prepared enough to put suncream on as to what colour your skin turns. It may settle into a golden colour, the kind that many spend money to achieve. However, the likelihood of that happening is very slim. It is more possible that your skin will redden so slowly that you do not notice it, until later that evening, when you have gone inside. You may be changing into pyjamas, or having a shower, when you see the redness of your arms and legs, and a quick look in the mirror says that your face is the same.

Is reading worth the sunburn, the distraction of flies and the uncomfortable chairs?

Yes, and you will do the same tomorrow.

Hello!

I am sorry for the lack of Saturday posts for the last six weeks or so. The world was against me, and my laptop broke and I still haven't fixed it. I have been using a PC that is not mine, and I cannot move it from it's position in the house, so I can't sit in privacy to write. To write this, I put on headphones and turned the volume up to drown out noise, but it's not the most effective thing ever. On top of that, I've had no inspiration, which doesn't help.

My plan is to try and get these posts going again, but I am still struggling with inspiration – this one is obviously inspired by the weather in England recently. I would not turn away any help coming up with some ideas of things to write about!

That's all I have to say for now, I'll get going and try to come up with some more post ideas!

Bye!