The van had been parked there all night.
About midday, the rear doors opened, a ramp dropped down and a pair of elephants came out and headed slowly down the road towards the High Street.
Sometime later, the doors opened again, and two lions strolled out, a male and a female. The male, a magnificent beast with a full, dark mane, looked across the road towards the park where some dogs roamed, but the lioness swished her tail angrily at him and, reluctantly, the lion followed her down towards the shopping arcade.
It was only when the gorillas came out and went next door to the pub that I began to think that perhaps everything was not quite as normal as it ought to be in downtown Suburbia.
I put on my jacket and went downstairs to investigate.
The van was an old, white-painted Leyland re
