A Walk in the Park

The park was not green any more, Doolan considered, as he stepped off the tube train. He headed eagerly for the exit, head full of excitement about the Winter Sales in the hundreds of shops in Retail Park. He didn’t notice his feet being swept from under him until it was too late and he was flat on the grubby floor.

“You shoppers,” shouted the homeless woman who had tripped Doolan with her stick. Her clothes looked like they had been expensive once, but were now stained and ragged at the edges. Her brooch, however, which depicted an elegant lady walking a dog, was golden, polished and shone.

“You may stare,” she said. “We used to walk our dog there, in Green Park. Before dogs were extinct and before they paved over all the parks and built all the shops.”