Buckby Bottom Lock, Grand Union Canal

Yesterday was pretty traumatic for such a sensitive soul; we had to go up some locks, which is OK, and I've done it before...Dad says its just like going up a watery staircase, very poetic, but I still don't like it much.
I normally have to stay on the boat and the sound of all that rushing water makes me want a wee, and I know that there won't be a p-mail stop until we've done the last one.

When we finally got back onto the flat, we started speeding up and I don't know what Dad was thinking of, but we headed at full speed into a big black hole that someone had made in the side of the hill. I've seen these things before, and I KNOW that trains come out of them ever so fast....
What would happen if we met one......
What would happen if one caught us up.......
What would happen if one tried to overtake on a corner, and there was another one coming........

I decided to sit inside and cuddled Mum, because I knew that secretly, she was as worried as I was.
The big black hole was very dark, it was damp, it smelled like Dads socks when he's been wearing his wellies, and it seemed to go on for ages.
Just when I thought that we were going to make it, a bright light came shining through the window, even with my eyes shut I could still see it, getting brighter and brighter, getting nearer and nearer, I could hear the noise getting louder and louder.........I knew that it was going to end here, in this dark, damp place that smelled of Dads socks, with so much of my life still unlived...
Blinded by the oncoming light, blood pounding in my ears.....all the past episodes of 'One Man and His Dog' flashed before my eyes, right back to the ones where Phil Drabble had hair....
Then I could hear a voice calling me from far away, echoing slightly...............
Beau!!... Wake up!! do you want to go out for a walk or are you going to lie on that bed all day??

xx Beau