A Special Report


This story has been published by the Scottish Book Trust, the Velvet & Silk Cafe blog, and Glasgow West End.

Somebody in the high flats launched a big telly out the window during the night. It’d flown through the air and landed right outside the close door.

By the time I got ready and went over, there was already a crowd out looking at it. The screen had smashed and there was glass everywhere. It was an old one, with wood round the sides and a big metal back. Me and wee Stevie McGinn heaved it upright so the screen was facing the front, but the wood at one side had buckled and it sat on a slant. Stevie’s big sister said whoever flung it out must’ve opened their window first coz she couldn’t see any new broke ones. Auld Mrs Love came out with a brush and shovel to sweep up the glass. She told me and Stevie to kick the last shards out of the frame so it wouldny injure anybody. We did, and she pulled it all away with the brush and left it in a wee heap by the bins. Stevie climbed into the telly and shouted: Welcome to a special report! We played with it the rest of the day. Everybody got a chance. Katie and Kelly Black managed to both fit inside, then have an argument like they were in EastEnders.

After we were all took in, the older ones set the telly on fire. They just stood about, drinking and pointing at the flames. My da laughed when I begged him to go out and stop it. I watched out the window as the bottom of the high flat and the garages flickered orange.

In the morning it was a pile of black ashes. ●