Coffee Shop Thoughts

You sit at a table, your drink in front of you, watching as the people await the opening of stores. 

You watch the people you have befriended in the long, caffeine addicted queue pass you by - now ready to face the coming onslaught of the sales crowd that you yourself was oblivious to until it was too late to turn back. 

You left the house, on a scouting mission for when your next paycheque comes through, and soon found yourself facing a battle. The unmoving crowds resisting your every twist and turn, causing your face to frown and your mind to wish you were in a wide, open space; anywhere but here. 

You begin to wonder if Dorothy's magical shoes are being sold at a cut down, unmissable price.

Your hand reaches for the coffee mug, fingers just covering the well-known logo as they drink in the heat, and as you take a sip your eyes glance round. By now the shops have opened and the crowd has been torn apart by the different dooorways with their various 'unmissable' offers. 

However, your eyes do not rest on the near violence that occurs, instead finding the peace that many cannot see: the couple that stand out of the way, sharing a chaste, public-friendly kiss whilst another couple watch their young girls run off past you, begging to be allowed to purchase a bear from the large toyshop opposite, or maybe the older two sitting on a bench, still with plenty to say to each other, ignoring the rest of the world go by.

By now the coffee is finished and the heat from the mug is dwindling. You stand up to leave, your plan of action already in your head, you go through your list one more time and then head off into the battlefield, making one small amendment to the bottom of the mental list: 'Ruby red slippers'.