Skinhead Barry
Barry has just been released from jail and has
to return to the normal world. However he finds that after 10 years a lot has
changed and he is forced to stay with his sister and his nephew. Despite his sister’s efforts to help him,
Barry is still using and has no intention of changing. Soon enough he reunites
with his old friend Darell, who is the only link to his past and together they
get caught up in a tragic path of self-destruction.
People are walking by, they are
going home to celebrate. Celebrate what? Everyone looks happy, I wonder how
much effort they put into this. Some kids are playing in the snow, screaming
and jumping. They are doing my head in. My nose is running, I light a
cigarette, it’s warming me up a tiny bit. The snow, the brats, the happy
people, it all looks so sad. There is decoration everywhere on the streets. A
huge Christmas tree is standing ahead of me.
The light, the angels, the stars, the
candy, there is no magic behind them. They are ugly plastic toys standing
there. Staring right back at me with their dead plastic eyes and their fake
smiles. People and toys look the same. Plastic people, plastic toys, existing
for no reason. There is nothing magical about Christmas for me anymore. In
fact, I don’t think there ever was. Christmas will be over soon, the lights will
go out, the plastic angels will be stuffed away in the attic, smiling in the
dark pointlessly, till next Christmas comes. Who will put all these people
away?
By Volk Kinetshniy
