A moment of silence and stillness followed, as though the entire universe had come to a halt as a result of the landing………….
Suddenly, a dosage of panic flooded into the room as Daniel arose! Panting heavily, trying to assess his whereabouts, he came to some resolution as he realised that he was somewhere familiar. His bedroom.
*Drip drip*
Daniel looked up as he felt the drops from what looked like leak in the ceiling above his bed.
“Hmm, so that’s where the ‘rain’ came from,” he thought as he kissed his teeth, coming to terms with the strange, vivid and seemingly real dream he’d just experienced.
He started getting flashbacks of key parts of his dream: his mum acting differently to her usual self, the incident at the park, the stabbing, the house and the familiar face he saw as he was flying into the sky. It was all a bit overwhelming.
Daniel, usually an ambassador for logical reasoning, was also a very curious lad, and thought it would be good to make a few notes of what happened – in case there were some way to explain it or there was reason to seeing those particular images in his head.
After saving the notes in his secret Evernote file (he couldn’t let the mandem see it), Daniel stepped out of his tiny room to make way to the kitchen via the hallway and get some breakfast. He could see his breath as he walked through the dingy, cold hallway and, with no light bulb, he had to navigate his way through using his phone. He entered the kitchen, and the difference from his dreams were telling. The table was filled with old newspapers, flyers and letters and looked like it hadn’t seen a cleaning for decades. The sink was full of old, moulded dishes and the work surface was caked with unknown substances. A very accurate dream, thought Daniel ironically.
“Let’s see what’s in the fridge…”, he said to himself as he walked over to inspect its content.
Once opened, the result, as grim as it may have been, was exactly what he expected to see judging from his reaction. There were just three items: a bag of white Hovis bread with three mouldy slices; a half-filled pint of milk (which Daniel was sure had been there for a month); and an almost empty tub of butter. Desperate to eat something, Daniel got a knife and scraped off the mould from the bread slices, spread some butter on each of the pieces, eating one for himself and saving the other two for his mum and sister. Business as usual, he thought.
Having finished his food, Daniel was taking a plate out of the kitchen to give the rest of his family the little breakfast their fridge had to offer. As he was passing the table, something caught his eye. There was a letter, next to his keys, that had been opened. The header was labelled the with the “NHS” logo and, upon scanning it, was dated to a few days previous. He gulped, almost knowing that the contents of this letter may be something more painful than having to eat mouldy food.
But, due to his curious nature, Daniel picked up the letter and started reading:
“Dear Miss Rebecca Campbell,
We are writing this letter to notify you of your position on the waiting list for a series of chemotherapy treatment sessions with regards to your condition of lung cancer.
You are currently no. 258 on the waiting list.
While we endeavour to make sure that you are seen as soon as possible, due to unforeseen cuts to government spending on the National Health Service, it is likely you won’t be able to receive the treatment for at least another 6 months.
We recognise that it is urgent you are seen to, so financing some private treatment may be something you would like to consider. Considering the treatment you need, it is approximated that it would cost you £30,000.
We are sorry that we are not able to offer any times to be seen earlier. If anything changes though, you will be notified immediately.
Please do not hesitate to write, email or phone us if you have any queries.
Thank you”
*Drip drip*
Rather than any leaks, these were Daniel’s streaming tears dropping off his face and onto the letter, slowly soaking through the 120 gsm paper the heavy message was printed on.
He was soon using his sleeve to wipe his face, as he could hear his sister walking through the hallway. He didn’t want her to be worried about anything.
“Daniel, please hurry up, I’m gonna be late for school!” barked Lola as she thrust open the kitchen door.
“That’s the last thing to worry about, sis” thought Daniel “The last…”