We Are English, And I Expect You

She Was Tired Of Being Told How It Was By This Generation, Who’d Botched Things So Badly. They’d Sold Their Children A Pack Of Lies: God And Country. Love Your Parents. All Is Fair. And Then They’d Sent Those Boys, Her Brother, Off To Fight A Great Monster Of A War That Maimed And Killed And Destroyed Whatever Was Inside Them. Still They Lied, Expecting Her To Mouth The Words And Play Along. Well, She Wouldn’t. She Knew Now That The World Was A Long Way From Fair. She Knew The Monsters Were Real.

I Am No Longer Content To Be The Scared, Obedient Schoolgirl. Who Are You, A Stranger, To Tell Me What I Can And Cannot Do?

Kartik Places A Sovereign In The Lady's Cup, And I Know That It's Likely All He Has. "why Did You Do That?" I Ask. He Kicks A Rock On The Ground, Balancing It Nimbly Between His Feet Like A Ball. "she Needed It." Father Says It Isn't Good To Give Money To Beggers. They'll Only Spend It Unwisely On Drink Or Other Pleasures. "she Might Buy Ale With It." He Shrugs. "then She'll Have Ale. It Isn't The Pound That Matters; It's The Hope...i Know What It's Like To Fight For Things That Others Take For Granted.

I'm Like Everyone Else In This Stupid, Bloody, Amazing World. I'm Flawed. Impossibly So. But Hopeful. I'm Still Me.

I've Never Done Acid, Finding It Hard To Go Willingly To A Place That Could Be Frightening, Hellish, And Totally Beyond My Control. A Place Much Like High School.