I am chilling at my house, apparently living with my dad and my sister. The house is one I used to live at, with my dad, but not for a good 15 years at least. The house has grey and white walls and a grey-blue carpet, very dull. To complete the picture of dullness, I start playing video games on an old grey TV.
I don't get on well with my sister at all, and the fact that I'm living with her is making me quite annoyed. I'm keeping it in though, and trying to distract myself with some gaming. I believe the game I'm playing is a PS2 game, perhaps Gran Turismo 3, but I'm not certain.
Eventually my sister does what she always does: starts to antagonise me. She jumps up behind me and starts yelling at me whilst trying to grapple me to the ground for some completely unknown reason. My dad watches from the sideline whilst I get out from her wrestling, getting more and more angry. Can you believe she's 5 years older than me?!
Eventually I throw her off, no harm done but I am livid now. My dad pulls her off to one side and starts having a quiet conversation with her. "You're meaner and angrier than her, but 'author' is stronger and smarter, so you would never win this sort of thing". The name he calls me isn't 'author' nor is it my real name, it's a name that is incredibly personally insulting and he doesn't correct himself afterwards. This angers me even more, and I get back to my game to try and calm down.
My dad comes over to me, and his attitude doesn't seem quite right. I get the feeling that he's been talking to someone, though I'm not sure who. Maybe my granddad, but since he's been dead for 18 years I find this unlikely. My dad suggests that I have been more confrontational recently, and that I have been directing conflict to suit my own outcome in conversation. He also says that he won't stand for it any longer.
My response is to react angrily. I have just been attacked by my sister, unprovoked. My dad then insulted me, and is now telling me I am the one with a problematic attitude that needs sorting? He takes my response as more evidence for his argument, suggesting I'm responding this way to guilt trip him in some sort of manipulative fashion. This is the final straw.
I start collecting my things together. My grey coat (more bloody grey!), a laptop bag, a backpack full of clothes, a somewhat larger bag of clothes, and an acoustic guitar. I somehow collect all of this together while my sister and my dad continue to agitate me. I then leave the house with the intention of not coming back. I get the feeling this won't go down well, and that they will just follow me and make my life miserable, so I set off in a random direction as quickly as I can, wondering what to do.
I'm in Cardiff. I know this though nothing around me is in any way suggestive of the real Cardiff. I seem to be in an out-of-town area with a few warehouses and business parks, a weird place for a house. I decide to ring for a taxi, though I am aware that my finances aren't in the best of shape. I just need to get away from this place. It's a bit overcast on a warm day and my coat is a bit much, but I can manage for now.
I ring a taxi company and a lady picks up. Immediately things begin to get confusing. She asks me if I'm ringing from a mobile, which I confirm. Somehow I'm showing up as having a different mobile number which has caused an inconsistency in their software. "Have you booked with us before?" she asks. I'm not sure, maybe? "You shouldn't be ringing on a mobile to book anyway, it doesn't work," she continues. She then suggests I try texting, and when I ask how she means, it sounds like she starts laughing to some coworkers, so I just hang up.
I've been walking along some large roads at this point and have gotten to a Subway that is blaring out incredibly loud dance music. I'm not far from a large shopping centre, which I believe is near town anyway, so I continue on and think of who to ring next. I have a friend that lives in Cardiff (SH) and decide to ring her. I do so and she answers with a "Hello hello," in a perfect recreation of Lois' voice from Family Guy. I realise it's my friend and that it's a put-on, I immediately compliment her on it, as it is rather impressive. We talk and she continues to switch between her regular voice and her Lois voice.
I enter the shopping centre at this point. Creamy marble floors and walls, a skylight up top, vibrant clean shops. This place seems very new and feels almost Mediterranean in style. I continue talking to my friend and ask her if she can guess where I am. She has no clue so I answer with "Norway!" She seems rather impressed, and I can hear her boyfriend in the background also sounding very impressed. I'm not in Norway though, and have no idea why that's where I say I currently am. I explain this to her, and she seems somewhat confused but willing to roll with my apparent quirykness. I start walking down some stairs onto a lower level of this shopping centre and I correct myself on the phone, explaining that I'm actually in Cardiff.
I woke up.
I don't get on well with my sister at all, and the fact that I'm living with her is making me quite annoyed. I'm keeping it in though, and trying to distract myself with some gaming. I believe the game I'm playing is a PS2 game, perhaps Gran Turismo 3, but I'm not certain.
Eventually my sister does what she always does: starts to antagonise me. She jumps up behind me and starts yelling at me whilst trying to grapple me to the ground for some completely unknown reason. My dad watches from the sideline whilst I get out from her wrestling, getting more and more angry. Can you believe she's 5 years older than me?!
Eventually I throw her off, no harm done but I am livid now. My dad pulls her off to one side and starts having a quiet conversation with her. "You're meaner and angrier than her, but 'author' is stronger and smarter, so you would never win this sort of thing". The name he calls me isn't 'author' nor is it my real name, it's a name that is incredibly personally insulting and he doesn't correct himself afterwards. This angers me even more, and I get back to my game to try and calm down.
My dad comes over to me, and his attitude doesn't seem quite right. I get the feeling that he's been talking to someone, though I'm not sure who. Maybe my granddad, but since he's been dead for 18 years I find this unlikely. My dad suggests that I have been more confrontational recently, and that I have been directing conflict to suit my own outcome in conversation. He also says that he won't stand for it any longer.
My response is to react angrily. I have just been attacked by my sister, unprovoked. My dad then insulted me, and is now telling me I am the one with a problematic attitude that needs sorting? He takes my response as more evidence for his argument, suggesting I'm responding this way to guilt trip him in some sort of manipulative fashion. This is the final straw.
I start collecting my things together. My grey coat (more bloody grey!), a laptop bag, a backpack full of clothes, a somewhat larger bag of clothes, and an acoustic guitar. I somehow collect all of this together while my sister and my dad continue to agitate me. I then leave the house with the intention of not coming back. I get the feeling this won't go down well, and that they will just follow me and make my life miserable, so I set off in a random direction as quickly as I can, wondering what to do.
I'm in Cardiff. I know this though nothing around me is in any way suggestive of the real Cardiff. I seem to be in an out-of-town area with a few warehouses and business parks, a weird place for a house. I decide to ring for a taxi, though I am aware that my finances aren't in the best of shape. I just need to get away from this place. It's a bit overcast on a warm day and my coat is a bit much, but I can manage for now.
I ring a taxi company and a lady picks up. Immediately things begin to get confusing. She asks me if I'm ringing from a mobile, which I confirm. Somehow I'm showing up as having a different mobile number which has caused an inconsistency in their software. "Have you booked with us before?" she asks. I'm not sure, maybe? "You shouldn't be ringing on a mobile to book anyway, it doesn't work," she continues. She then suggests I try texting, and when I ask how she means, it sounds like she starts laughing to some coworkers, so I just hang up.
I've been walking along some large roads at this point and have gotten to a Subway that is blaring out incredibly loud dance music. I'm not far from a large shopping centre, which I believe is near town anyway, so I continue on and think of who to ring next. I have a friend that lives in Cardiff (SH) and decide to ring her. I do so and she answers with a "Hello hello," in a perfect recreation of Lois' voice from Family Guy. I realise it's my friend and that it's a put-on, I immediately compliment her on it, as it is rather impressive. We talk and she continues to switch between her regular voice and her Lois voice.
I enter the shopping centre at this point. Creamy marble floors and walls, a skylight up top, vibrant clean shops. This place seems very new and feels almost Mediterranean in style. I continue talking to my friend and ask her if she can guess where I am. She has no clue so I answer with "Norway!" She seems rather impressed, and I can hear her boyfriend in the background also sounding very impressed. I'm not in Norway though, and have no idea why that's where I say I currently am. I explain this to her, and she seems somewhat confused but willing to roll with my apparent quirykness. I start walking down some stairs onto a lower level of this shopping centre and I correct myself on the phone, explaining that I'm actually in Cardiff.
I woke up.
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