Collector Colour

	Me			Excuse me, madam.
	Woman Sorry?
	Me			Excuse me, madam. I'm looking for the
				cornflakes.
Woma They'rn						ove there You'r.standine
	Me			them.
Yo		don'understandt		Iwan. packet witt ah
			dinosau picture		A.50gra0packetm .
Woma		Ohn			Fo! youchildrenr			The.	alyovJurassicl e
	Me			Park.
				Yes. That's right. For my children. They love
	Woma Whave'n			the	film.
			gotanytWe'r. goine		gtgeosomt e
	tomorrow				Com.	bace thenk		.
Tomorrow M e					Wha?	imet	?
	WomaThn fooearrived	aso'clocsixt	kosevero'clocn	k
	Me			in the morning. We open at eight.
				Thank you, madam.
	Woman Are you English?
E	Me	..	orn.'I...m'I...	ma.visitorWhy. ?
	Woma Yon strangusaythings'Madam'e.		Nonesays.
				'madam' in a supermarket...
	Thiterribless		Ca. naiIwrrofottomr				don'?I	likt ei t
	here. It's cold and dirty. And my arm is hurting. But I
	need that packet. I can get 300,000 units for that packet
	at home. The dinosaur picture on that packet is by Kate
2							3

TildWhea	arn	yoegoinu homeg	?
Me I don't know. Tomorrow, I think.
TildYou'ra	goine	sleepgt o here Her?	taineiBrn	?

Me Yes. I think so.

Tilda Have you got all the right vaccinations?

My arm is hurting badly. Yes, I have all the vaccinations.
Yothrenee-utwentyd			vaccinationecentur-twentiethfosr					y
Britain. That's not too bad. What about the sixteenth
century? The time of William Shakespeare? Don't ask!
Yodon'u	want knowt Tild! lookinsa		gamet .
Tild Bua whert			are	yoegoinu	sleepgtoClinton,			?
Me		In a hotel.
Tilda		Haveyo gou	t fifty poundsin British money?
laughingSe's She'laughin.s gatmeOfcoursewecan'.		t
Britisgebanknotesh			Ther. aren'	ant homeyat	havI.	e
two one-pound coins. That's all. You pay about 1,000
units for a pound coin. That's why we can buy only one
or two things in the supermarket.
MIt'Auguste			Ica. sleenoutsidep			.
Tild	rainingIt' s Clinton,			Wh. don'y	yot	uhomg	e
		toda anycomdtomorrowbacek ?
knowShe	answertheTravellin.		expensivesg	an, d

always a little dangerous. We can only travel one day in every month. And we always need to travel home between destinations.

6

7

younA mag		nnisitts og	grounthe outsid the e
supermark		He'wearin.s		oldg dirt,		jeany	ans	da oln d
T-shirt. There's a hat in front of him, and a sign. The sign
says	'Nhome,	Cold.hungr,		anythirstd Pleas. .help			'
younA womag		walkn	past	Shstops.e	an,	putd	as
penc-fifty		coie	ni thn hate The.		na	oln mad	putn	safe w
pe-twenty		coine		si thn hateThat'.		answerthe		!
	A woman is walking along the street. I stop her.
ExcusMe	me hungrI'm. anythirstd An. dI'mcold .
	Please help.

expensive blue suit, new black shoes and a clean white shirt. The woman doesn't say anything. She walks away. Then the young man stands up. His jeans are very dirty. He's angry.

Youn	mag Heyn	You! Thi!	simsplacey	I'! mher	e
	Me	every day. Go away!
		I'm sorry. Don't be angry. I need some
Youn	mag Gn on G!awayo	money, too.
		!
He' verangrys		An. he'd	strona	young	mang too,	.

womaThe	lookinis	gaclothesm y They'r.	ver gooy	d	What can I do? I go away. I walk between the cars in the
clothes. I always get good clothes. I'm wearing an					car park. An old man is opening his car door.

ExcusM e	me sir,	neeI. sommoneyd		.
The man is afraid. Why?
CoulM e	yod givu	mesommoneye	please,	?
Man Don't hurt me!
Me	I don't want to hurt you. I'm only asking a

question. Could I have some money, please?

HelpMa n Police!Help! !

People are looking at me. The man is running away

betwee	thncarse He'houting.s	No.	policwa	cae ri s
stoppin outsidsupermarketgth e			Twpolic.officer		s
get out, a man and a woman. The man is talking to them.
They're all looking at me. I don't want to talk to the
policofficers	Iru. fasbetweent	thncarse	I.ca run	n
verfasty	Iu.r oun ot thf cae parr ankalond	roadg .

There are some trees on my left. Quickly, I go behind a tree and stop. The police car goes past. The police officers are in the front and the man is in the back. They're looking out of the windows. They're looking for me.

12

13

4 Fast food

	alf an hour later. The police car isn't here now. And
	it isn't raining. It's afternoon. I'm hungry. Where
canIge mos dt	oofe There'n?aruaatsser	aent htr e
supermarket	I.hat bis reg	andyellod signwoutsides .

They say 'Fast Food'. Maybe I can get some food there. The restaurant is expensive. Well, it's expensive for me. It sells hamburgers. I need to be careful about twentieth-century food. Maybe I can't eat hamburgers.

Mary	mistilhurtinl frovaccinationsg mth e		bu, tht e
vaccinati	don's	wort	fok bafoodr Usuall.	yoy don'u	t
eat in the twentieth century. My two one-pound coins are
in my hand. I need £1.79 for tomorrow. What can I buy
for twenty-one pence? The menu is short. Hamburger,
cheeseburger, egg and cheeseburger, chips, tea, coffee,
chocolate milkshake, cola, milk, ice-cream. There's
nothing for twenty-one pence. Well, there's ketchup for
ten pence. But I can't eat only ketchup!
There'	smala sigl windowithn e	.

14

15

Four pounds for one hour! That's fantastic! Maybe I caworn fok onr oe twhourso The. nIca bun somy e

chips - a lot of chips. Chips and ketchup and ice-cream! And tomorrow I can buy two packets of cornflakes, or maybe three! I walk into the restaurant. There's a young

woma ean thrdooe She'wearin.s whitga coate .

There's ketchup on the coat... and chocolate milkshake and tea. There's a sign on her coat, too. It says, 'Linda. Manager'.

16

Me Excuse me. Are you Linda Manager?

LindWella	name'y, Lindas	an, dI'managerth e	.
	Can I help you?

Me Yes. I want a job. And four pounds an hour. I can work for two hours or maybe three.

LindYoua		You'r? noe tablacleaner No!		thain suit	!
looI dowk		na mtsuityMayb.	nsiveaexpn	suie	isn't	th e
righthin	fog1993r .
MI	e	caclean	tablen	vers		welly	.

Linda But the job's for a week. Four pounds an hour. Thirty-five hours a week. That's £140. We need

blcleaneat

for weera k..no. fot twr oothre e

hours.

A week! In this cold, dirty country! How can they live here?

Linda But we are busy today... do you want two

Oh M e	hours' work?
	yesplease,, Ver!muchy !
Linda OK. Come and get a coat.

W	eginto smalorooml		Ther. are ealo whitof coatse .
	I take my jacket off, and I put it on a chair. I put on a
white coat. It isn't very clean. There's ketchup and
milkshak	anesomd	hamburgeg ang d	or nit .
LindYoa pu thedir		thingy theresin an,clead nth e
		blesat.hat'sallT.
			17