The Welcoming Party

I turn the corner and there must be… six of them. They look a bit problematic, you understand?

So I stop, and the one nearest the door steps up. I’m thinking, steady, steady… my right arm sort of strains for the old spot, you know? Just a little twitch, like a reflex.

And he says… ‘well?…’

I say ‘I’m very well, as it happens; what’s this, the welcoming party?’