A Blank Page

I sit on the bench, enjoying the warm sunlight on my skin, and survey the park. It’s fairly quiet today, with a few families sitting on the benches around the lake further down the slope, a young couple sunbathing on a towel near the big tree, a man in a business suit on the bench nearest to mine eating a sandwich and reading the newspaper.

I’m alone on my bench; obviously I prefer to have the whole thing to myself, and I’m satisfied that the risk of anybody sitting next to me and spoiling my solitude is low. I relax, push my sunglasses up on top of my head and look down at my book.

There is an old bookshop near me which has a thing where they put some of their stock on a shelf outside the window, then you can buy one and drop some money in a box on the wall. It’s normally just old books but there is no set price, you just pay what you want.

I just fancied going to the park as I have a day off and the weather is good and my walk took me past the bookshop. I’m not sure why, but I liked the look of this one, Ship of Theseus. It looks old, quarter bound in leather, and so I dropped some cash in the box and came here to give it a try.

I’m distracted for a moment by a woman jogging along the path in front of me. Her blonde pony tail swings from side to side with each step. Pretty smile.

I take a breath and go back to the book, hoping she didn’t catch me checking her out.

I riffle the pages under my nose, breathing in that lovely old book smell, then start reading:

Chapter 1.

Zanzibar sat on the bench, enjoying the warm sunlight on his skin. He looked around the park. ‘Fairly quiet today,’ he thought to himself. A few families sat by the nearby lake. A couple sunbathed next to a big old oak tree. A businessman sat on another bench eating a cheese sandwich, reading The Times.

I snap the book closed. What the fuck?