my desk

this is my desk. it is my little corner of the house. i am a bit possessive about it. i resent people just sitting down to use it without asking.

i bought this desk when i was a student. i left home to go to college. this desk was in a local second hand shop. i could not afford it at all but the minute is saw it i had to buy it. i spent ages sanding it down and varnishing it. i took the fold-down lid off and took it to a shop where they put on new green leather with gold squiggles round the edge.

when i was 10 or 11 i had a desk like this. my dad and my step-mum bought one for each of us. they were in the living room. we used to do our homework at them. mine was also a stable for the model horses i played with. the little dividers for envelopes and letters made perfect stalls for the horses.

one day my desk got broken. i cannot even remember what started it. i must have said something to my dad that he took as rude, or cheeky. suddenly he hit me really hard round the head. he didn't hit me often but when he did it was with the full force of a grown man in a rage. for years i would jump if anyone moved suddenly near my head. i fell across the room and landed on the lid of my desk. the hinges broke and the lid was hanging down.

i was terrified and ran upstairs into the room i shared with my sisters. i shut the door. my dad was outside trying to open it but it caught on the rug. i thought he was going to smash it down. i was screaming that the door was stuck. i think my stepmum came up - somehow things calmed down.

i suppose my dad must have fixed my desk. i can't remember. but when i saw the desk in my picture i had to buy it. no-one will break this one.