Non fiction

Again?

So; out of £100, there is £64.56 remaining. Minus £37.50 for the bottles of Havana Clubs, which makes, good lord, £27.06 to spend on food from Monday to Friday. “Start a water diet, at least you won’t be hungry anymore!” I laughed at this once but now I seriously consider it an option. Seriously, it’s about £5 each day. Where is my phone? Right—left pocket. Open. Text. “Sorry dude, can’t make it for tonight, I don’t feel good right now. Cheers mate.” Almost instantaneously, there’s another message that pops up on my screen “Message could not be delivered”. No credit as well? Ok, never mind, I will use the computer in the IC later. I just can’t believe I’m broke again, and this excuse? Probably (no, surely) the lamest one I could ever find! Plus, I don’t have anything planned at all tonight, but how awkward to show myself at Replica and Space and say “I'll have tap water and air, please?” Matt, I need to find him. Good, I am now in the IC. Okay, start typing:

“Hey man! how are you? Let’s go to Fox and Duck tonight, we can bring our own food and drinks!”
I get a reply about 10 minutes later. “ Sorry dude, I’m at Replica tonight. Why don’t you come?”
“Sorry, I really can’t go to this Nightclub, it’s, you know, we could have shared a drink or two for tonight.”
“I see, sorry to hear about it. What about your grand mother man?”
“I don’t see her before Friday, I don’t want her to worry about my money problems while I worry about her health.”
“Got it. Sorry again, see you tomorrow man!”
“Cheers.”
Hard times for us all. But I have to do something. I decide to do my usual walking tour of Sheffield. Here is Broomhill, now the slope, and now Weston Park. After strolling in Weston Park, I feel the need to go to West Street. It was a mistake for my current situation. Pubs and pubs everywhere and absolutely no money to spend tonight. As I continue to walk, I can’t help but imagine how everyone is having a good time, warm and cosy, laughing with their drinks in hands. I feel so tempted now, why? I have been there in the first week I feel like I don’t want to go back home frustrated tonight, so I decide to go to the nearest Sheffield University Building and use their Wi-Fi for Facebook. I start typing :
“Hi Luke, I know I already owe you money, but could I just borrow another £20 out of you, mate?”.

Reflection

Money is the main focus on this work of fiction. This student trying to have fun when he can is unfortunately confronted with the ongoing symptom of the empty wallet, and to top it off, he is not alone in this situation. Eventually, the piece of paper that is money starts to rule his life: he has to act in accordance to his budget and sometimes, the frustration can be so intense for him that he has to break the rules to go out, again, to find himself in an even worse situation than the previous one. Sadly, this character is based on one of my friends, except that she cannot exceed the amount of money she has.

Christophe Delgard