Christine O Sobczak

The three of us, our bodies sharing a common goal and process, the same level of exhaustion reached – potentially. Coming together, tearing apart. Despite the degradation of our bodies, we pushed through. Toll was the point, haggard breaths, sweating foreheads, shaking thighs, pushed to the limits, exhaustion was the symptom but not the goal. The late night service station off the motorway, still somewhere far up North, was stark. But contained pockets of human existence joined by essential basic common needs, in the dead of the night. A millennial loved up couple, cuddled in the queue, ecstatic with the elation of food quashing their hunger, the woman pirouette’s around her man, rocking her ample breasts simultaneously, he yawns. A family, wife/mother (45) hunched and dressed in a hoodie, texting frantically, the husband/father (49) repeating loudly ‘I am so angry’ , the boy (12) expressing ‘she’s only going to live in the car for a year, Dad’. The sister (13) staring blankly into space. Another couple, man (65)  woman (25) wander slowly into view, heads down, the woman I notice with heinous black inflamed eye, as they share an order booth. She selects (with difficulty) their food, her elongated manicured white nails, not fit for a touch screen. Another couple, man (29), woman (70) attempt to select their food in the booth with coupon codes, it takes 25 minutes for them to choose, as they finalise the order, the woman cries, she wanted to add a hot chocolate, they begin again. And now it’s the two of us, having left our middle son, miles and miles up the motorway, at university, we drive home, semi autonomously. Sometimes I feel I can do without the present, the past is more than enough, I silently weep, a job well done. Homeward bound…we change gear.

Thank you to all the talented artists for submitting your works to our showcase this week. If you would like your work to be considered for entry in to our weekly Mobile Photography and Art Flickr Group, please submit it to our dedicated group, here. You can also submit images to our Instagram tag for this section #theappwhisperer.

clau_clara, marshadraws, _soulkitchen_, dayindigo, wstairs, ja_graham, joe.legrand61, klimtt – M. Cecilia Sao Thiago,  ilemusi – Ile Mont, clizit2020 – Clint Cline, mitrydate, thelma.penteado, cooksbay, alisasmithwilliams, laurence_bouchard, coeiphoneart – Gerry Coe, rejanerubino, berleyart, lillorizzo, ritaipunina, dinalf – Dina Alfasi, eva.peopleoflondon, imaco57 – Isabel Alfonso, csernusphotography, kein_grund, Lee Atwell, p.a. hamel, Susan Rennie, Gianluca Ricoveri, Andy Alexandre, Jennifer Bracewell, Cintia, Sebastian Burczyk, Jun Yamaguchi, Damian De Souza, Tomaso Belloni, Lorenka Campos, Deborah McMillion, Christine O Sobczak.

Music this week is by Freya Ridings entitled ‘Lost Without You’