One Among the Sleepless, a novel written and performed for podcast by Mike Bennett. This novel is intended for an adult

audience. Episode 6.

Chapter 4

Mick bent down and began to move the small wheels of the number-coded lock that secured the

rear wheel of his bicycle to its frame. The underground car

park was manned throughout the working day by an attendant, Charlie, but the lock

provided Mick with an extra sense of security.

The numbers clicked into place and the lock came apart in his hands.

Mick wrapped the chain around the bike frame beneath the saddle.

Of course, if someone were determined to steal the bike, then no chain, nor any number of chains

would make much difference.

But then, unlike so many mountain bikes, if someone were to

steal a mixed bike, they'd have a job concealing it beneath anything so transparent as

a new coat of paint.

For no one else in this town, nor anywhere else he'd seen for miles around, rode a rally chopper.

The Harley Davidson of the bicycle world, the chopper was mixed single greatest joy in life.

Throughout his childhood he'd pestered his parents to buy him one, but they were pragmatic people.

They saw no practical advantages to the strange hulking contraption that for some curious reason was so adored by their son and indeed most of the

nation's sons back in the 1970s.

They felt the racer they'd invested in for young Michael was a splendid machine and saw no point in buying him another bike.

Mick shook his head.

How could they have understood the allure of the chopper? How could they have known that to the

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