Dorian West - Chapter 1

When he stepped off the train, it was raining. Typical. It always rained here.

It was only to be expected. He had spent about three years living near glorious sunny beaches, nice ones at that; doing the things he loved and being paid for it and generally a enjoying a stable economy that allowed him to live a far better quality of life than Britain ever would have allowed.

However, now was the time to report back to his parents and karma evidently thought now was a good time to balance things out.

He had only brought the things he needed the most: Laptop, PS3, some t-shirts, a pair of jeans, a pair of shorts, deodorant and his wallet. Some people might comment about the lack of underwear, toothbrush or other hygienic amenities; but of course, after living free of restraints for 3 years, our hero knows better. That is to say, the person who just got off the train.

His name was Dorian West, often abbreviated to ‘Don’. This was partly because shortening Dorian to ‘Dor’ sounded a bit stupid, and partly because his handwriting was so atrocious, nearly all his bills were addressed to Donovan Wilde.

Don now began to struggle with his rucksack and three suitcases, none of which had wheels. He looked around desperately for a trolley of some kind, but karma had carefully hidden them away at the other end of the station, now locked away. It was one of the perks of arriving at hours unrecognized by civilized society.

He walked to the end of the street and thankfully found a taxi, waiting dutifully for someone such as himself who had the misfortune to arrive at such a late hour.

He gave the driver directions and sat back, the patter of the rain on the cab now filling his ears, allowing him to drift off, something the football crowds on the train refused to allow him to do.

He fell further towards sleep, almost reaching it when just at the point of no return he suddenly jolted awake. He didn’t know why though, had he heard something? Or was his brain too jet-lagged to allow sleep yet?

The driver’s apology explained it. Don could now see smoke coming out of the bonnet where the engine was.

Karma definitely had it in for him.