Ode To The Pencil Case

I bought a new pencil case. I would've said '..finally bought a new pencil case', but then that'd imply I always wanted to. Which I didn't. Actually, I think I wasn't really bothered either way.

But this is a big deal. Why? one may enquire. Well, two may reply (two..HA! i crack myself up sometimes), one has had this pencil case for a decade. that's 10 years.

10 years of learning, growing, evolving (the intangible type, not the darwin type - i always was 100% human thankyouverymuch). 10 years of faffing around; getting things done; getting told off; being honoured with various vertificates, badges and medals; watching the ebb and flow of clothing trends.....ebbing and flowing, rising and falling, going in and out, up and down and inside out.

this old veteran has seen 3 governments, 2 superpowers, 6 wars, sharply rising bus fares and countless bars of chocolate.

It has seen good days where the sun shines, the icecream van does its rounds and kids play happily in the steet; bad days where deadlines have been come and gone, the work still lies untouched, the pounding rain screaming 'boredom shall know no bounds!'; and then the downright uglified days where one, sitting knees up in the corner of the darkened room, dreams they had bernard's watch.

The ol' stationary station has held pens, pencils, rulers, rubbers, compasses, sweet wrappers, glasses, ink cartridges, socks, coins, ribbons and seceret notes that were subsequently discovered, confiscated and read by the teacher ([imagine picture of green slime with beady eyes and a speech bubble announcing 'i'm {traveller} and i'm a bogey!' & picture a plump round circle with accusatory arrow pointing towards it declaring {overweight person's name}. etc.)

Ah. That day, 10 years ago, when I walked through the pencil case aisle in Staples, will be stamped in my memory for a long time to come, that exact time when my eyes were drawn to the red walkers ready salted crisps pencil case, all new and shiny, begging me to buy it.

Its lying at this moment in time under a pile of letters in a drawer (i dnt have the heart to throw it away yet), with various pockmarks and holes strategically placed on it, so that random bits of stationary can fall out when tipped at a certain angle. The 'Walkers Ready Salted' writing has faded over the years into a grey/white nothingness and the inside has artistic splodges of ink on the corners, which will remain an eternal reminder of the days gone by.

R.I.P.

[this would be the ideal time to stick a picture of the deceased right here, but since the camera's MIA and my phone's CD things gone AWOL, i regret to inform you that the above dream is unable to be realised].

Welcome to the new pencil case. a long tube of a thing with flowers and an orange printed pattern and 'oneill' threaded over it. and on the reverse, shadows of a school of fish among a few pearly beads. [would show y'all a pic...however, please consult the preceding bracket].