There was a woman who would sometimes find herself alone in public. On one such occasion, she found herself in a pub, drinking a pint of beer and reading a book. It was quite a good book, and it was a pretty nice beer. Even the pub wasn\u2019t too bad.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at her,\u201d one of the arseholes on the next table said. \u201cWhat the fuck\u2019s she doing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s reading a book?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the pub!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOn her own!\u201d<\/p>\n
Shrieks of laughter, incredulous, a hint of disgust.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would you do that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think you\u2019d do it at home.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHey! HEY! What are you reading?\u201d<\/p>\n
More laughter.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs it gooood?\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked up, just a quick glance, then back down to the page. But it was too much. It had been seen.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s have a look then, love. Let\u2019s have a read.\u201d<\/p>\n
Out of his chair and in her face, snatching the book from her hands, \u201cLet\u2019s see what\u2019s so bloody good about your fucking book then.\u201d<\/p>\n
And then he began to read, right there, in the pub. She could follow his progress by watching the movement of his lips.<\/p>\n
the woman who was sometimes on her own in public there was a woman who would sometimes find herself alone in public on one such occasion she found herself in a pub drinking a pint of beer and reading a book it was quite a good book and it was a pretty nice beer even the pub wasnt too bad look at her one of the arseholes on the next table said what the fucks she doing shes reading a book in the pub on her own shrieks of laughter incredulous a hint of disgust why would you do that you think youd do it at home hey hey what are you reading more laughter is it gooood she looked up just a quick glance then back down to the page but it was too much it had been seen lets have a look then love lets have a read out of his chair and in her face snatching the book from her hands lets see whats so bloody good about your fucking book then and then he began to read right there in the pub she could follow his progress by watching the movement of his lips i dont get it he said whats it about i dont know i havent finished it yet are you taking the piss is this taking the piss he waved the book in front of her face before throwing it contemptuously back onto the table i dont get it was it about me was that me he shook his head and wandered back down to his table sat back down in his chair dyou read her book then what was it about i think have you ever have you ever thought about what were doing what were saying what why we do what we do are you okay mate why do we do what we do its just a bit of banter mate a bit of a laugh are you sure youre okay yeah its just that book she was reading i think it might have been about us you know like fucking us and that the dirty cow nah about how we act about how awful we look to her i knew she was a fucking dyke he laughed no wonder shes on her fucking own they both laughed anyway its your round mate hurry up when they started throwing peanuts at her a few minutes later she decided to leave<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t get it,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat\u2019s it about?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know. I haven\u2019t finished it yet.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAre you taking the piss? Is this taking the piss?\u201d He waved the book in front of her face, before throwing it contemptuously back onto the table. \u201cI don\u2019t get it\u2026 Was it about me? Was that me?\u201d<\/p>\n He shook his head and wandered back down to his table, sat back down in his chair.<\/p>\n \u201cD\u2019you read her book then? What was it about?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think\u2026 Have you ever\u2026 have you ever thought about what we\u2019re doing? What we\u2019re saying?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy we do what we do?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAre you okay mate?<\/p>\n \u201cWhy do we do what we do?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a bit of banter mate. A bit of a laugh. Are you sure you\u2019re okay?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, it\u2019s just that book she was reading. I think it might have been about us, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLike, fucking us and that? The dirty cow.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNah, about how we act. About how awful we look to her.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI knew she was a fucking dyke!\u201d He laughed. \u201cNo wonder she\u2019s on her fucking own!\u201d They both laughed. \u201cAnyway it\u2019s your round, mate. Hurry up.\u201d<\/p>\n When they started throwing peanuts at her a few minutes later she decided to leave.<\/p>\n __________<\/p>\n Notes: <\/p>\n 1. Written on June 17th, 2014<\/em> There was a woman who would sometimes find herself alone in public. On one such occasion, she found herself in a pub, drinking a pint of beer and reading a book. It was quite a good book, and it was a pretty nice beer. Even the pub wasn\u2019t too bad. \u201cLook at her,\u201d one of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[57,23,83,215,162],"class_list":["post-414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-short-story-or-two","tag-despair","tag-fiction","tag-horror","tag-not-really-fiction","tag-short-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/accumulationofthings.com\/things\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/accumulationofthings.com\/things\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/accumulationofthings.com\/things\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accumulationofthings.com\/things\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accumulationofthings.com\/things\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/accumulationofthings.com\/things\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":415,"href":"https:\/\/accumulationofthings.com\/things\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414\/revisions\/415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/accumulationofthings.com\/things\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accumulationofthings.com\/things\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/accumulationofthings.com\/things\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n2. An amalgamation of events<\/em>
\n3. That occurred<\/em>
\n4. For me<\/em>
\n5. And for others<\/em>
\n6. At various times<\/em>
\n7. That week<\/em>
\n8. And every other week, no doubt<\/em>
\n9. Before<\/em>
\n10. And since<\/em>
\n11. While we were on our own<\/em>
\n12. Somewhere<\/em>
\n13. In public<\/em>
\n14. Trying<\/em>
\n15. To exist<\/em><\/p>\n__________<\/br>Support An Accumulation Of Things<\/a><\/h3>If you like the things you've read here please consider subscribing to my patreon<\/a> or my ko-fi<\/a>. <\/br><\/br>Patreon subscribers<\/a> get not just early access to content and also the occasional gift, but also my eternal gratitude. Which I'm not sure is very useful, but is certainly very real.<\/br><\/br>(Ko-fi contributors<\/a> probably only get the gratitude I'm afraid, but please get in touch if you want more). <\/br><\/br>Thank you!<\/i><\/br><\/br>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"