The world moves so fast sometimes that it seems like everything is changing and you can’t know anything for certain about the future. For a lot of people, this uncertainty can be quite unnerving, and the whole idea of transcience and change is something that we try to ignore as much as possible. However, I was under the impression that though we may try to ignore change, we have to face up to it sometimes, as there is nothing that remains constant in the universe. But I was wrong.

My journey into the land of permanence began on a routine stop to WHSmiths for some pens. I hadn’t been to my local Smiths in years because, well, Paperchase is better. Once I entered the shop it appeared just like any other, the bored woman at the checkout till, the magazines flapping faintly in the breeze of the air conditioning. But as I delved deeper into the shop, I realised something. Everything was the same as it had been 12 years ago when I was taken to get a set of crayons. The paint was still peeling off the grotty displays, the air still smelt stale: the comforting mixture of paper mixed with dust, and the fluorescent lights were still gently humming. Nothing had changed in over a decade, and, more importantly, I am pretty sure no-one had been that far back in the shop since I had, because, let’s face it, Paperchase is better for almost every stationary need.

Whereas when you look at the sky, or a landscape, or into the sea at night, you get a feeling that the world is too big, like you are this tiny insignificant dot, when you enter the back of WHSmith’s you get the feeling that you matter. When you look out of a train window the whole world goes wizzing past and every person you see has their own worries and concerns. The man with a broken down car, the woman who didn’t have time for breakfast. And so you think: how can I ever understand this huge world, the history, the people, the world is just too big and complicated. But in Smiths, mixed with the stained blue carpets is the sense that you don’t need to worry about change or the vastness of the world, because no matter what happens; no matter how much humans pollute the world, no matter how old you get, the back of WHSmiths will remain the same for ever and ever, a place where no-one goes because Paperchase is better, but a place that will always be there for you, no matter what. And all you have to do is pick out your crayons and be content.