A City Centre Late at NightBy Thomas EmmetThree minutes to twelve. Just three minutes to go. An underpaid employee sitsreading the latest issue of ‘Empire’. No-one is in the shop. No-one comes intothe shop. But a lot can happen in three minutes says his manager, standing beside him and looking over at the preview of ‘KickAss’. The underpaidemployee turns and glares at him before turning the page.Outside on the street there is comparatively little light. The streetlightsautomatically turned off at eleven fifty three and all that the woman in thesparkly dress is able to see from her position at the top of the street is the oneshop with a light on. It hurts her eyes looking at it. Her pupils cannot adjustgoing from darkness to the bright neon light. She turns back to her glasssitting on a table outside one of the clubs and picks it up. As she does this thedoor opens and a woman in a blue dress emerges followed by the cacophony of dance music and shouting. She has toilet-roll caught under her massiveheel. Blue dress takes back her half-smoked cigarette back from Sparkly dress who has been holding it in her left hand. She puts it to her mouth and takes adrag on it, finishing it. More? she asks. We’re out, she replies. Let’s go downthere, Blue dress points, they must have cigarettes. They walk comically slowly down the street due to the possibly lethal amount they have had to drink, andthe definitely lethal high heels they are wearing. Blue dress scrapes the toiletpaper off her shoe. Sparkly dress stumbles and they both giggle. A few shops down from the lit shop a busker plays. His forty-something body plays a lamenting tune that could not be jazz but equally could not be ragtime.He has collected several souvenirs, coins, a sweet wrapper, vomit from aninebriated passerby. It has been quite an evening for him. Never again. He watches two women in dresses walk into the lit shop. He looks them up anddown but turns away before they notice. He plays a final tune, ‘Take Five’. Thetwo women leave followed by a “Be careful not to get mugged” fromUnderpaid employee who sticks his head out the door to watch them as they walk away.Far away a church bell chimes twelve o’clock. Time to leave. Busker puts thesaxophone back into its case and lifts it up. He walks up past the shop as thelights turn off. He looks at the case, takes out a tissue and wipes off theremaining vomit. At the other end of the street the last train is about to leave. The driver sits inan uncomfortable seat. He is exhausted. Buttons flash at him and he wishes hecould make them stop. He has a headache. He wants to go home. He wants togo back to his bed with his wife-to-be and sleep. He turns round to look at therest of the train. Three passengers. A little bell goes off. Time to leave. Heturns to the street and sees Underpaid employee running to catch the train.He can’t be bothered to wait. A man steps out from a side street. Train driver
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