I AM FLYING AROUND TOWN being pulled through the air by a white mouse. I land next to my sister. She has my mum’s Dymo label maker. She has been printing hundreds of labels and sticking them to people’s cars and houses. The owners are furious because it’s left a sticky residue. They demand to know who did such a thing but my sister has scarpered. I go to fly away but my mum stops me. She’s upset with me. She says my mouse is too small to pull me around. She waves her hand and my mouse turns into a large fur blanket.
My mum walks away. Then my dad turns up. He phones my mum and she tells him about the mouse. Now my dad is upset with me too. We walk into a small cottage. I see an old man sitting in a rocking chair. My dad tells the old man about the mouse and says I can’t live with them anymore. I have to move out and find my own place. I ask the old man if I can live with him but he says “No”. I walk outside. The fur blanket is still laying on the ground. Then a ferret crawls out from underneath it. It is a flying ferret! We go for a fly around town together. The ferret is okay but I miss my mouse.
I am back home with my parents at 259 Slade Green Road. My parents have repurchased the house. I am in my parent’s bedroom but it is at the wrong end of the hallway from how I remember it as a child. The ceiling is covered in newspaper. I am sitting on the floor by the door with my mum. She tells me they are thinking of selling the house again. I say I don’t want them to sell it because it was my childhood home and I have lots of fond memories. I notice the carpet is orange. The previous owners have scattered peanuts around the floor as a “feature”. I tell my mum we should get rid of the peanuts. I look out of the door up the hallway and notice there are no skirting boards but that’s okay—I can fit new ones.
I walk into my old bedroom. The blue flowery curtains and yellow roller blind I had as a child are still there. I walk down the hallway toward my sister’s old room. Someone has drawn a large tiger on the wall. I meet my dad in the hallway. He hugs me and says I can continue living with them after all. I go into the small bedroom that used to be my sister’s. This will be mine now. I think I will fit the curtains and blind from my old room to make it more familiar. My sister’s old wardrobe is still there more than forty years later. The walls have been decorated with a Christmas-themed wallpaper—I will have to change that—and one wall is still painted bright pink. I shall paint it grey.
I realise I need to pay board to my parents. I am back home with my parents because my marriage has broken up. I’ve not been paying them anything for a while because I lost my job, but now I’ve got a full-time job at Gamston Airport. I walk back into the hallway. I see a small door in the wall. I open it to reveal a cupboard full of green and white pots and pans.