I was going to bed when I was attracted to the front window by some noise in the street. Peering down I could discern a light buried somewhere in the skip outside a nearby house and a pair of wiggling lower legs sticking over the edge. Up the road I could hear calls from a group of men calling their friend to get out the skip and come on, there calls receeding into the distance as they continued walking.
I focused on the skip and soon a whole body appeared with a hand clutching a book. He turned his torch on the book, nodded, placed it carefully on the edge of a mattress and tipped himself back in, bobbing in and out like those ornamental birds you used to get which dipped their beak in and out the water. Eventually the bobbing slowed and his feet tipped to such an angle I thought he was going in. Then with a couple of mighty leg flicks he re-emerged clutching the object of his efforts, a skateboard and a vintage looking one at that. It had a narrow deck, shaped like a missile and big wide wheels, wider than the deck, the kind you used to get in the 70's. I was immediately jealous and wished I'd looked in there earlier.
He put it down with the obvious intention of scooting off on it and it became clear at that point by his vague wavy upper body that he was a couple of sheets to the wind. I noticed also that his torch was in fact a phone with the flash acting as a beam. The phone screen lit up his face as he held it forward pointing in his intended direction. I feared the worst as with a concentrated inward look, he clearly tried to remember what to do. He gave an almighty shove, unfortunately with the wrong foot and the skateboard shot backwards at high speed and disappeared under a car, whilst he stumbled forward but amazingly didn't fall. Undeterred, I saw him wiggle under the car with some dexterity and retrieve it. The fact that he could have gone to the other side to get it, seemed to elude him. He placed himself back on it, concentrated, paused, then got back off and swopped feet. This time, he got it right and he wobbled off, veering from left to right holding his phone in front of him like a wee will o' the wisp.
All in all it was pretty amusing.
I focused on the skip and soon a whole body appeared with a hand clutching a book. He turned his torch on the book, nodded, placed it carefully on the edge of a mattress and tipped himself back in, bobbing in and out like those ornamental birds you used to get which dipped their beak in and out the water. Eventually the bobbing slowed and his feet tipped to such an angle I thought he was going in. Then with a couple of mighty leg flicks he re-emerged clutching the object of his efforts, a skateboard and a vintage looking one at that. It had a narrow deck, shaped like a missile and big wide wheels, wider than the deck, the kind you used to get in the 70's. I was immediately jealous and wished I'd looked in there earlier.
He put it down with the obvious intention of scooting off on it and it became clear at that point by his vague wavy upper body that he was a couple of sheets to the wind. I noticed also that his torch was in fact a phone with the flash acting as a beam. The phone screen lit up his face as he held it forward pointing in his intended direction. I feared the worst as with a concentrated inward look, he clearly tried to remember what to do. He gave an almighty shove, unfortunately with the wrong foot and the skateboard shot backwards at high speed and disappeared under a car, whilst he stumbled forward but amazingly didn't fall. Undeterred, I saw him wiggle under the car with some dexterity and retrieve it. The fact that he could have gone to the other side to get it, seemed to elude him. He placed himself back on it, concentrated, paused, then got back off and swopped feet. This time, he got it right and he wobbled off, veering from left to right holding his phone in front of him like a wee will o' the wisp.
All in all it was pretty amusing.