WAG # 11 Fear Factor

The sun is shining and that means that in the high street all the coffee places are emptying tables onto the street in a bid to entice customers to take a break and samples their wares. Being the type to be easily persuaded I plump for an outside table and settle back.

A man catches my eye, he is tall and has a rounded tummy, he seems to be looking for something as his eyes are swerving from side to side. It crosses my mind that he may be under the influence as his path is less than straight. He makes his way towards the coffee shop and stumbles through the door, reappearing a couple of minutes later. He sits at a nearby table, breaking pieces from his muffin away and eating them quickly, still looking all around him, he seems nervous, as if someone will move him along, or maybe he doesn't want to be found and is looking for the hunter.

I lost interest and return to the rather tasty muffin in front of me. Suddenly a loud scraping comes from beside me, the man I had been watching moment before has swept his chair back and is hunching on top of it, considerably amusing many of his fellow diners. He seems to be trying to say something and is gesticulating wildly towards something under the table, the only sound he can make is a strangling cooing sound. How ironic then that the cause of this hullabaloo would seem to be a few pigeons that have gathered in the vain hope of swiping a few crumbs. As the pigeons strut along, looking this way and that they remind me of the way the man was walking, expecting to be moved on or shooed away. A member of staff persuades the man down, clearly concerned about the health and safety elements of the man's actions and escorts him to an inside table. I can't help feeling a little guilty as I regard my empty plate and the crumbs scattered on the floor for the birds.