I was wandering around a city that I was not totally familiar with

Some of the streets did not appear to be on my map whereas others had different names

Since my accident I had not been able to study as I had to wear shaded glasses for half of the day

This was not an inconvenience on bright days but on dull days I thought I looked peculiar

It seemed that I had contracted a variety of minor illnesses since the accident which my sister labelled as psychosomatic as she thought I had grown bored

My recovery would take at least a year and the days and weeks were beginning to drag a little

The latest so called ailment was a rather subtle head cold which had made me feel a little spaced out and tired

As I approached a car park next to an industrial estate I saw that a caravan had been overturned by a lorry

Nobody appeared to have been hurt although a small crowd had gathered

What did surprise me was that there was a man and two women clad only in brief towels standing next to the caravan

Perhaps they were filming a commercial

I did not linger as I wanted to return to our mews house as it was my birthday and my sister had invited her best friend a Jewish girl named Rachel to share our day

My sister had gone out with her friend to find me a present but before they left Rachel had asked whether she might borrow my retro 1970s Southampton goalkeepers kit which comprised of a plain green jersey black shorts and red and white socks

I had left before them so I did not see my sisters friend dressed in the kit although Rachel had promised me a photograph as a souvenir

As I walked slowly home two complete strangers stopped me and asked the same question

How many chapels are there in Oxford?

 

On both occasions I noted that I was not aware of the answer

Although I managed to get lost I returned to the mews house before my sister and her friend and was enjoying a cup of tea when my sisters face appeared at the window

She was standing on a ladder and asked me to look down which I did without protest

Standing on the rough cobblestones below was Rachel who was still wearing the Southampton Goalkeepers kit or at least part of it as although she was wearing the plain green jersey she was not wearing the black shorts

These had been replaced by a pair of beige Oxford Bags

My sister explained that Rachel had spilt coffee on the black shorts and had purchased the fashionable trousers in a chain store in the city

But she assured me that I would receive the photograph as it was my birthday