My Boots Are Too Big For Me, Not The Other Way Round
Author: zed
Bryn (my boyfriend), Gill (his ex) and I were lying in the same single bed, trying to sleep. ["I like the sound of this dream," Bryn commented, when I told him about it.] Bryn was asleep; Gill kept moving around. She apologised to me. Then, a bit later, she insisted that she and I moved to a double bed in the same room. We sat on it, and she said something along the lines of, “Why do you put up with Bryn?” except it was phrased in an ambiguous fashion and I wasn’t sure what to answer. Before I could, Bryn’s mother came in and said, “Get up, Bryn. It’s eleven o’clock. I got a phone call and your contact lens appointment is at twelve thirty.” (He really did have a contact lens appointment the next day, at two pm.)
At that point I woke up, but quickly fell asleep again.
It was the first day of a term. My friend Soppygit and I went to Rutherford Dining Hall (part of UKC), only it looked more like the McDonald’s in Carlisle, as far as the layout went. We sat next to the stairs. I noticed my friend Claire and her friend Jo nearby, and was about to talk to them, when two guys started talking to Soppygit. She left the room, feeling threatened, with me following. She complained that her favourite place had been ruined and next time I saw her, she was wearing her white hooded top. The hood was up (Ku Klux Klan style) and her face was entirely covered by bits of white toilet paper, except her eyes, which were edged in black. I thought it looked rather gothic and cool, but I didn’t think much of it as a policy for avoiding unwanted attention.
Soppygit, our friend Ibid and I were trying to climb through a small square upstairs window of the building housing the sports halls and the changing rooms at my school. I tried to get through, but realised my boots were too big. Instead, I entered the building through the door downstairs. I wasn’t supposed to do this, but no one noticed me. Inside, there was a stall selling cruddy plastic jewellery and other things I had no interest in. There were a number of girls standing around it.
I was involved in a sporting competition with fifteen other people. It took place in a hall. I had to play tennis against a Chinese boy on a very small court. The edges were rows of trees. I couldn’t get into the swing of the game, so I lost quickly. I wondered if we all had to switch activities, but instead, we entered a big grassy area, with a nearby huge lake. I walked alongside a bloke who physically resembled Bryn. I had known him for a week and I really fancied him (I was single in this part of the dream) but was too nervous to talk to him. There was some sort of fairground ride - it looked like an outdoors ghost train - floating on the lake. The bloke commented on it, but I didn’t understand what he said, so I didn’t reply.
Matt2, an acquaintance from UKC, fell into step with us. A song by Black Sabbath called “1969” started blasting from an unknown source. (Shrug.) Matt2 and the bloke started headbanging as they walked.
It wasn’t obvious how to get on the ride, but I went down a footpath that led into a forest. It came to a dead end, but four doors led off from it. I saw some of the door opened, and there were dense bushes behind them. People passed through them, but I knew the difficult of doing so. I also knew this was how to get onto the ride.
I was in London. I was going to go home to Cumbria, but needed to buy some provisions. I thought it might be easiest to fly to Hong Kong to get them, but decided I could just get them in London.
Bryn and I were travelling from Wembley to Victoria by tube. At one point, we needed to change line, and for this, there would be a six-minute wait. I decided to use it changing a five pound note into change. There was a table on the platform where this could be done; the Queen was assisting. When the transfer was done, I was sure I had more money than I should do, but Her Majesty insisted I should take what I had.
University was where my school is. On the first day of a term, I went to the laundry, which was along the road from it. A boy walked with me and talked to me, and we got along well. When we arrived, many people were standing in a circle, waiting to use the machines. At this point I realised I didn’t have any washing powder. However, there were displays of things for sale all around, so I imagined I could buy some washing powder there. It took me a long time to find any, and I eventually thought I was looking for shampoo instead, and found some right under my nose. Everyone assured me it was a good brand. It came in a wide red tub, and only cost 59p.
