Falling

The man who never listened to the troubles of his wife fell down the escalator at King's Cross station. No-one met his eyes, as he lay sickly on the concrete, though someone did push his shiny briefcase towards him as if hoping that was enough. He phoned his wife but she was out complaining about him to a neighbour instead of painting or cooking dinner. As he lay down there on a level with the feet of the commuters he noticed no-one polished their shoes anymore... well,no-one could polish trainers of course.., though you can wash them---- he saw the way people leaned forward as if pushing themselves against a gale. though it was a still warm day. It seemed as if they were battling against a huge force, not relating to the feeling of their weight upon the earth. It was some spiritual force which was pushing them back towards the Underground,hot and turgid with sweat and dust. A sanitised Inferno,where the hell is in the collective mind . The force seemed to push them in and they pushed back and did eventually make it into the street outside and into Westminster, for we all need our rulers. He lay there all morning musing, until a tramp came over and asked him to buy a copy of the Big Issue. And he stood up and bought it gratefully, taking strength from the acknowledgement of his humanity. He phoned the office, went home and told his wife he'd like to know how she had spent her morning how she felt,how he wanted to learn to talk and listen, and recommends now that if you can fall off the escalator without breaking a leg you might be glad to see life from the bottom up; for he'd always looked from the top down and was above everyone. These reversals,though fearful, can give us a new perspective especially on women who are so often on the underside of society He's wondering about changing his life from up to down.. and down to up. Mothers always said,it's good to have a change. I don't think it was their husbands they meant.. though.........who knows? A game of musical chairs might be good on the weekend, if you live near a good escalator. Escalating... it's not for the beginner at falling.