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Homework There is a kind of alcove in the long corridor down into the supermarket. It's made by the coke machines jutting out into the pathway. Just beyond them is a pillar for the roof. Often they park trolleys in here. But tonight in this space two children lie on the cold tiles with their school bags. He is in year 4 I think, she is in year 7... they're dong home work and he still writes with a lead pencil. Short sentences and little drawings while she draws graphs, pie charts and equations. Perhaps she's even in high school. Their clothes are worn. You can see the shortage of money in this family in the holes and frayed hems. But there is no poverty of spirit. Homework is being well done. Faces are bright and unhardened. I'm supposing Mum, or maybe it's Dad, works in the supermarket. It's nearly 7... soon they can all go home.
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