Waiting, thinking, hoping

The wind blew the dusty grit right into our eyes as we stood at the wagonette stop.

Since the great sandstorm, and motorised vehicles were written off in one foul-tasting swoop, we’ve all had to go back to the old-fashioned way of travelling by horse.

Those with the money had their own horses or five, whereas we, without money, had to resort to using public transport once again, or walk.

The remains of rusty old cars, and buses, litter every road. Nature has reclaimed some of the land, seedlings are growing out of what used to be the middle of very busy roads. Traffic lights stand dark. Some still work, but not very well, as the sand is starting to play havoc with the power stations. It won’t be long before the power goes completely too.

It’s unaffordable nowadays anyway. Those with the money can only afford to light one room, so us without have to make do with candlelight. And candles don’t come cheap these days either. I think those candle makers are cashing in.

I don’t know what will happen once the power goes. Especially now that winter is coming on. It wasn’t too bad during the autumn with the power cuts, and we could keep warm with blankets and duvets when it started to feel a little chilly. But now, in winter, it’s looking bleak. Those with solar power are trying to clear the sand from the panels and the workings within, so we may get some power that way, but it’s a long way off.

They’re setting up community fires now in the old abandoned supermarkets, so we can go for a quick warm when we need it, and they’re also putting on hot drinks and trying to get some food. At least things are looking good there. And they’re trying to get markets open again so we can start to sell and buy things, rather than having to run around like savages taking what we can find.

It’s not too bad, I suppose. The house still stands and it’s rent-free. It’s mine now, actually, since the council handed them over to the tenants, as they couldn’t afford to keep them. My house is getting tidied up now. The sandy dust has all been cleared out, and the furniture and clothes and other things are useable again. There’s no running water, since that was all clogged up weeks ago, so we have to go to the supermarkets to get cleaned. That’s a bit of a chore. Waiting in a room full of smelly people to be able to go into another room to wash some of the smell away – with other smelly people. At least the smell is going away now. Or we’re getting used to it. Even those with money have to use these places – we’re all in the same boat here!

The sky’s clearing. There are some blue patches getting through the greyish yellow that it’s been for a while. I think that once the dust finally settles, we’ll have perfect blue skies for days on end. I just wish that the dust would hurry up and settle.

Here’s the wagonette now; it’s full again. Some days it’s better to walk, but it’s free. We’re all going to the washroom anyway so it doesn’t really matter how crammed in together we are. We all smell the same going as we do coming back anyway! We always laugh at that one!

Oh, it’s gone right passed. Must be too full. I may as well walk. I’ve been here two hours already, and it’s the third one to sail by without stopping.

The wind’s getting up again. The sand is starting to sting my eyes once more.

That’s it. I’ll walk. The others have gone already.

What I like about all this what’s going on now, is no-one moans. We just get on with things.