LOCKDOWN TURMOIL AT HOME OF THE OX

 LOCKDOWN TURMOIL AT HOME OF THE OX  

The day started with a distinct reluctance at the home of Olaf Jan Oxmann, otherwise known as the Ox. 

As usual he struggled to lift his large frame from his specially strengthened bed,but by using the strategically placed frame beside the bed managed to pull himself free from his stinking pit. Ablutions were minimal as he prepared to dress and ready himself for the trials and tribulations of the day. 

 Having slopped out and adjusted his ill fitting false teeth, he descended the houses rickety staircase, and entering the kitchen slumped down at his usual iron clad chair. Although he thought he was the kippers knickers, his lack of close friends was testament to the opposite. 

The tenement block that he lived in was empty other than the unit he dwelled in, and the surrounding locality was listed for demolition as unfit for human habitation. Thus he had no neighbors and his family had left him after an alleged unsavory incident involving a quart of ice cream, a badger and a set of tongs.

 Allegedly, legal proceedings after the badger incident had been settled out of court, but the proceedings had left a bad taste left in the mouths of all involved, and it was difficult to forget such an outlandish and flagrant misuse of chocolate mint ice-cream.  Although the tongs were never found, it is widely speculated that an x-ray of Olaf's backside would reveal there location. 

After a few hours sitting alone in his chair, Olaf Jan Oxmann would normally exit the premises to check his non existent mail and take a his daily constitutional stroll down to the town ditch. On this occasion, after relieving himself of his unwanted urine in to the dark brown and garbage filled drain, he proceeded to stare at the block of four story apartments across the yonder yard.

 Constructed in the middle of the nineteenth century of red brickwork and stained timbers, the property had been converted in to separate apartments during the property boom following the end of the war. To begin with the building was inhabited by well heeled clients from the city who wished to escape the stress and noise of urban living.

 When initially built, the water course running past he property had been culverted to form a stylized water feature within landscaped gardens, with a small brightly painted Chinese pagoda and small but practical wooden shelter. At the time, the agent managing the building, Silas Canney, had become rich by cleverly marketing the apartments to the wealthier elements of society, and soon became over ambitious and consumed with greed.Silas was a native of Mayo on the west coast of Ireland, and had immigrated to the promised land to make his fortune. 

Times had been tough when he first arrived, but he soon saw the property as a way to deliver himself from social depravity and elevate himself to the upper echelons of society. However, he soon took his attention away from the property, and in no time it was falling into its current state of disrepair.

The Ox stood silently staring at the now crumbling and mildew infested apartment block, only averting his gaze when distracted by an unwanted flying insect. Swatting the offending arthropod away from his face Oxmann jolted back to reality and turned towards the ditch which was now no more than a stinking drain.  Adjusting the angle of his poker visor, as if  to enhance his view, was the only other movement from the otherwise motionless individual. Even the urge to scratch his itchy balls was fervently rejected, as his strict duty to remain erect remained enforced by his strong will. 

To be continued..........