Maelwen was sitting on a bench at the railway station reading a book of poems by Charles Kingsley

Her train was not due for an hour

Or maybe two

She lived in Ash Vale with Roger Roger and Anna

It was a pleasant house

Roger Roger and Anna were at that very moment counting Brillo Pads that they had stolen earlier that day

Maelwen knew that they each had cameras attached to their chests which at the command of an eye would record an image

She removed her shirt and looked at her chest which did not have a camera attached

A businessman sat next to her

Sir why do I not have a camera attached to my chest as my siblings do why am I so different

I can see not camera but you have a beauty that they do not possess

Do you know my siblings sir

Of course I do I am your father

Will you then read me this poem

My train is due

If your train is due would you then just read the first verse to me

Oh blessed drums of Aldershot
Oh blessed South-West train
Oh blessed blessed Speakers clock
All prophesying rain

The businessman’s train arrived and he kissed Maelwen on the forehead and boarded the nearest carriage

Maelwen waved as the train left for London

Roger Roger and Anna had also removed their shirts and were photographing each other

Anna posed by the beds of flowers that brightened up a nearby roundabout whilst her brothers posed next to the railway

Maelwen’s train is late

It never runs

Never on a Tuesday

Ashamed that she did not have a camera attached to her chest Maelwen had put her shirt back on and was pacing the stations long platform

It was a hot day

There were no clouds in the shy

Rain was not expected

On the opposite platform a train arrived and Maelwen was surprised to see only chimpanzees alighting both white and black

They massed on the platform and caused a great deal of mischief

Do not worry Maelwen they will not hurt you at all they know no other behaviour

A voice came from behind Maelwen

She turned and saw a man with quite prominent features

Then why am I so different to my sibling’s sir

You are more advanced as we are against these unfortunate creatures

I have no camera attached to my chest

You are not in need of a camera

Please explain your argument sir

You say that your siblings have cameras attached to their chests so that they may take photographs at will

They do

And that you do not have this facility

Yes I have my breasts but no camera to join them

Do you desire a camera

Well in truth I think they look a little odd and my siblings do get stares from the uneducated

You have your answer Maelwen   

I am still confused

Do you think that these primates could have built the train that they have just travelled on or this splendid station

No

They can do only the most simple of tasks like picking insects from their fur if you look over there one of them now lies dead as it did not have the sense to move from the railway lines

But my siblings do have sense they would not stand in front of trains

I agree they are not like the primates but they differ to you

I love each of them

Your love is not in question it is an abstract emotion the fact is that you are more advanced than them

Became I do not have a camera

Exactly

There was a great man many generations ago who wrote of this I suggest that you visit your nearest book seller and purchase his book

I will

Another train approached the platform and the man with prominent features began to herd the errant primates into order so that they might enter the carriages safely

It was then that Maelwen noticed that her book had been stolen

She searched the nearby area but found no trace of her blue book

It was as the train left the station that she noticed that one of the chimpanzees was standing the carriage window ripping the pages from her book

Do not be alarmed my dear as the destruction of the book it likely to be the summit of that primates ambition

The man with the prominent features was leaning dangerously out of the carriage window

Just think only the violence of his actions shocked you

Only the violence shocked me

Within the hour Maelwen’s train had arrived and she travelled home without regret

That night Roger Roger and Anna were making patterns on their bedroom ceilings by using the flash of their cameras

They told Maelwen

to lie on her back and to see if she could engage in their light display

Although she tried hard nothing happened

This was a frequent jest

That they all enjoyed

Later that night as she lay looking at the dark celling Maelwen began to understand what the man with the prominent features had explained to her and why he had been condemned to travel with hordes of chimpanzees for the rest of eternity