Chapter 2 - Dream a little dream
Holly lay in her bed, staring at the dark ceiling. Her room was cold, her pillow flat and her Sleeping Beauty duvet failed miserably to draw in warmth. Her Winnie the Pooh waterbottle could not warm her Peter Pan pyjamas, so she lay shiverring in the cold. She'd tried reading, but neither Tolstoy, nor The Doctor and the Milkman nor Cosmopolitan's 'Position of the Month' had brought sleep. The cold was too much.
She glared at the unknown man beside her, who was sleeping soundly, clutching a disgustingly tatty bear-like creature in his arms and murmering his love for "Mummy". Holly gleamed as he put his thumb in his mouth and pulled more of the duvet over him. Lots of bad words drifted into her mind. Could she say them? Why not? Afterall, Kate wasn't here to force her to put more of her cash, hard earned with EF, into the swear jar. Holly decided it was OK, and swore almost inaudibly at the man beside her, only to wince as the annoyingly chirpy "That's another fifty pence!" came from Kate's room. Holly swore again.
"And another!" Came the voice again.
Holly mouthed a swearword in fury.
The voice was harsh this time, no longer so chirpy. "Holly! Stop it!"
How did she know?
Holly lay back and stared at the dark ceiling. Matt's features floated into view. His ruggedly handsome face, a slight stubble on his chin resulting from six weeks without shaving. His incredibly trendy spectacles glinted in the imaginary sunlight and he winked his beautiful blue eyes at her.
Holly's heart pumped as, in her mind's eye, she saw him reach out and squeeze her knee and she gasped in guilty pleasure and felt her hand stretching out to take hold of his. The squeezes got tighter and tighter and Holly closed her eyes in a heavenly dream.
***
She jumped up with a start as the doorbell rang. She turned over, groaned and looked at the clock on her bedside table. 03:12. Holly clawed her way out of bed, rubbed her eyes and stumbled down the stairs. Who the hell was calling at this time?
She pulled open the door and James greeted her with a cheery "Good evening!". Under one arm was a small games console, while a cardboard cup from Taste was held in his free hand. He pushed past Holly and climbed the stairs to the living room, closely followed by Henry, who set up the Playstation as James went to greet Anna.
Grumbling, Holly put on the kettle. Of all the cheek, turning up at this time of night... When she went back into the living room the two adolescents were playing a noisy game of Kung Fu Kick 'Em. As she settled herself on the sofa Holly was happily informed by James that he had a Spanish test in the morning. She thought to her own Tolstoy essay, due in the following day. She'd read the first chapter and had some clear ideas. Perhaps Henry and James' visit wasn't so bad. She could, at least, use the time to read the rest of the book. As she perused the pages of her English translation of the work, flicking to find a word in her English-Russian dictionary from time to time, Holly let her mind drift once more to Matt. A guilty smile spread accross her face as she remembered her dream, and she thought about what Janet would say. She was a lucky girl. She could have her knee squeezed by Matt whenever she wanted.
"He stole her from me," she thought to herself. "She should be mine, under my control, then I could take Matt for myself. I could squeeze his knee every night of our married life, I might even be able to hold his hand." And she blushed at the thought. "But he did, he stole her from me. She's mine and I want her back. She's my precious."
Her thoughts were interrupted as the man from her bed entered the room, scurried towards the mirror, took out a comb and adjusted his hair. He winked at himself in the dusty glass and pointed at his relfection as though admiring a beautiful woman before hurrying back in the direction of Holly's room.
James, now jumping through his linked arms like a hairy baboon, asked who he was.
"How the heck should I know?" Came Holly's shrieked reply.
"Hey, hey, have you heard that Janet has 371 shoes?" asked Henry excitedly.
"Winner!" said Jim from the sofa beside Holly.
"Where the hell did you come from?" shouted Holly. "Now out, out, it's time for me to go to bed."
The group left, and Holly returned to her Sleeping Beauty duvet and her guilty dreams of Matt.
She glared at the unknown man beside her, who was sleeping soundly, clutching a disgustingly tatty bear-like creature in his arms and murmering his love for "Mummy". Holly gleamed as he put his thumb in his mouth and pulled more of the duvet over him. Lots of bad words drifted into her mind. Could she say them? Why not? Afterall, Kate wasn't here to force her to put more of her cash, hard earned with EF, into the swear jar. Holly decided it was OK, and swore almost inaudibly at the man beside her, only to wince as the annoyingly chirpy "That's another fifty pence!" came from Kate's room. Holly swore again.
"And another!" Came the voice again.
Holly mouthed a swearword in fury.
The voice was harsh this time, no longer so chirpy. "Holly! Stop it!"
How did she know?
Holly lay back and stared at the dark ceiling. Matt's features floated into view. His ruggedly handsome face, a slight stubble on his chin resulting from six weeks without shaving. His incredibly trendy spectacles glinted in the imaginary sunlight and he winked his beautiful blue eyes at her.
Holly's heart pumped as, in her mind's eye, she saw him reach out and squeeze her knee and she gasped in guilty pleasure and felt her hand stretching out to take hold of his. The squeezes got tighter and tighter and Holly closed her eyes in a heavenly dream.
***
She jumped up with a start as the doorbell rang. She turned over, groaned and looked at the clock on her bedside table. 03:12. Holly clawed her way out of bed, rubbed her eyes and stumbled down the stairs. Who the hell was calling at this time?
She pulled open the door and James greeted her with a cheery "Good evening!". Under one arm was a small games console, while a cardboard cup from Taste was held in his free hand. He pushed past Holly and climbed the stairs to the living room, closely followed by Henry, who set up the Playstation as James went to greet Anna.
Grumbling, Holly put on the kettle. Of all the cheek, turning up at this time of night... When she went back into the living room the two adolescents were playing a noisy game of Kung Fu Kick 'Em. As she settled herself on the sofa Holly was happily informed by James that he had a Spanish test in the morning. She thought to her own Tolstoy essay, due in the following day. She'd read the first chapter and had some clear ideas. Perhaps Henry and James' visit wasn't so bad. She could, at least, use the time to read the rest of the book. As she perused the pages of her English translation of the work, flicking to find a word in her English-Russian dictionary from time to time, Holly let her mind drift once more to Matt. A guilty smile spread accross her face as she remembered her dream, and she thought about what Janet would say. She was a lucky girl. She could have her knee squeezed by Matt whenever she wanted.
"He stole her from me," she thought to herself. "She should be mine, under my control, then I could take Matt for myself. I could squeeze his knee every night of our married life, I might even be able to hold his hand." And she blushed at the thought. "But he did, he stole her from me. She's mine and I want her back. She's my precious."
Her thoughts were interrupted as the man from her bed entered the room, scurried towards the mirror, took out a comb and adjusted his hair. He winked at himself in the dusty glass and pointed at his relfection as though admiring a beautiful woman before hurrying back in the direction of Holly's room.
James, now jumping through his linked arms like a hairy baboon, asked who he was.
"How the heck should I know?" Came Holly's shrieked reply.
"Hey, hey, have you heard that Janet has 371 shoes?" asked Henry excitedly.
"Winner!" said Jim from the sofa beside Holly.
"Where the hell did you come from?" shouted Holly. "Now out, out, it's time for me to go to bed."
The group left, and Holly returned to her Sleeping Beauty duvet and her guilty dreams of Matt.
posted by Kirk Yetton | 10:30 pm
2 Comments:
This is the funniest thing I've ever read.
It's a serious work.
G.W.
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