"If those
lions could roar," the little girl says to her friend, "I bet they'd
roar so loud they'd blow yer head off."
The little boy
laughs imagining his friend running around Trafalgar Square headless.
"I'm glad
the lions are frozen.", he says sitting in between the lion's
paws. "Where do you think the lions
came from?"
"Hmmm, That'll take 5 slurps of me ice-cream to find the answer." she says.
Looking fondly
at her strawberry ice cream cone with sprinkles and a flake, she sticks out her
tongue and takes the first slurp of her contemplations. The little boy starts counting:
"1....
2.....
3....
4....
5......
Well?"
"Dunno,"
she says. "I got brain freeze."
They giggle and
look towards Big Ben as the cars twist and turn down Horse Guards Parade.
"The first
one to see a yellow car wins", the little girl shouts out. They scrabble up to standing.
Big Ben ticks on
as the children look out. Holding onto
the lion's body for support, they peer out across the Strand with noses
stretched into the distance, breath held...
Red, green,
purple, red again, blue, blue, white, blue, red, red, purple, white.....
Making it's way
from the corner of Haymarket, a yellow van rolls into view. It's tannoy system springs to life and gives
the caustic beats coming from the purple mini a run for it's money. "Change that works for you. Building a
fairer Britain." the yellow van cantors.
The children see
the yellow van and
scream in a pitch audible only to dogs and bats: "There's one, there's one, I win, I win."
As the van comes
closer, the little boy says, "It's a talking van, Melli. What's it
saying?"
Melli listens.
"Dunno, really. It's a grown up
promising something."
The children
give each other a knowing look and sit back down between the lion's paws.
Sometimes, the
only thing you can trust is a frozen lion.
----------------------------
Reference:
No. 3 bus to Piccadilly
During the run up to the 2015 National Election.
During the run up to the 2015 National Election.