Rams Face

At the same time Rams Face was wetting the Rhi-No bars on the front of the Great Plains Yakker, the red lights at Number 16b stopped flashing. A man in rags ran from a side door and threw a plastic bag into the bin. Another man in rags ran to the end of the driveway. He waved a detector in the air. He studied it and ran back inside. Slowly, somebody crept out from the side door. They wore a silver space suit. The person was followed by four people in rags carrying a stretcher. At 7:54, smoke appeared from the wigwam at Number 8. The smoke rose to rooftop level and drifted across the road, settling in the branches of the tree at Number 67. It woke up the children of the family who lived in it.

A dog barked at Number 63 as the toy rubber duck landed on the pavement. A golden Labrador emerged between the rows of cardboard dwellings. An automatic recycled fire relit itself outside the tent where the family at Number 26 lived as refugees from a conflict only they cared about. Bells started ringing from goats the forty-two people kept behind the yurts on the lawn on Number 51. Light sensors tuned off the lantern outside the skip where the guy in Number 22 lived alone. A songbird with glowing eyes landed on the alter in the middle of the stone circle at Number 16. It changed into a tiger as the dwellers, who dressed in animal hides and rose with the sun, had a lay-in beneath its columns. The tiger leapt the privet hedge at Number 18 and landed among the relics of a jungle temple. It picked its way through foliage, and took is place at the top by the symbol of The Three Plates. It lay down and faced the sun. It rested its head and began to turn to stone. At 8:02 Rams Face finished washing the Great Plains Yakker. Franco removed the hose.

At 8:03 Franco took the cement mixer outside. Franco pressed a button and the four wheel dive opened its doors. He lifted up Rams Face and placed him in the driver's seat. The engine came to life, and Rams Face played with the steering wheel. Franco took a picture of Rams Face in the pit, driving the shining vehicle. It was his last wish. At 8:08, Franco started shovelling the cement from the mixer onto the roof. The garden refuse was added onto it and allowed to dry. At 8:14 Franco went to paint the fence. At 8:17 Rams Face finished dirtying up the four-wheel drive for another week. It was all he lived for, now he was dead. Nobody cared as long as he fitted in.

THE END.