1.
Lucid Dream: Between sleep and awake I dream of Billy, an obnoxious, ugly, fat, hairy guy who is a classmate in Janus
2.
! A few days later, Aphrodite will inform me Billy is interested in lucid dreaming a lot, and Alexander has been teaching him in private! What a serious person for the guru to teach personally! Is Bill supposed to be balanced enough for this? ?
3.
He brought Kate her son, and asked her if he could name him Billy, after the friend he lost on the way to Dragons Hill
4.
said, “Really, Billy, you should spend more time with your parents
5.
Billy could think of nothing worse than having to spend an
6.
maiden aunts, Billy started to scream inside his head
7.
Billy was ashamed of his parents
8.
his adult life, was a grave disappointment to Billy
9.
Billy had no regrets about spending the rest of the day
10.
As soon as he was able to, Billy rented a small studio flat and
11.
Despite the fact that it was raining, Billy parked his
12.
After Billy picked up the curry, the popadoms and the pot of
13.
at the bottom of the road where they lived Billy came face to face
14.
Billy was stuck
15.
Billy had an idea
16.
Billy pushed the plastic bag full of cartons into the stream of
17.
to happen in slow motion, but try as he might Billy couldn’t reach
18.
Billy continued to fall and fall until he thought that he was going
19.
Billy was in the great hall of the King of
20.
detritus and Billy knew from the smells all around him that he
21.
The old woman looked at Billy as he knelt in the mire and said,
22.
gift of this foul creature of the sun, and that is how Billy ended up
23.
Perched high up on one of the shelves, Billy felt as cold and as
24.
immortalised in pottery, Billy could still move his eyes and as he
25.
more and Billy could sense the torment in the souls around him
26.
was a truly dreadful thing for Billy to find himself stacked on these
27.
Billy could hear
28.
Billy looked down at the bulbous shape of his own jug and saw that
29.
Billy continued to stare at his own painted body
30.
It was then that Billy noticed the smell of burnt chicken Madras
31.
Billy was stiff
32.
It seemed to Billy that his
33.
It was then that Billy felt a tear fall upon his glazed face
34.
Billy realised that his parents, that his employer and his friends
35.
listened and ranted back at these disembodied sounds, Billy heard a
36.
The little boy's heart was breaking for Billy
37.
As the years have drifted by, and as Billy has continued to shout
38.
Billy knows that he can never expect
39.
Billy knows that the flies will
40.
Billy knows that flames will lick and crack his glaze,
41.
Billy Whitlow and his daughter are in the kitchen unpacking the shopping
42.
Billy and Bex enjoy the smallness of domesticity, breaking the back of a confusing, sometimes threatening world by carving life up into manageable chunks
43.
One or two are the real deal, though, and Billy will meet Tod in a few days
44.
It is Billy who is uncomfortable
45.
Billy plays a game with her, one they have enjoyed for some years now
46.
Billy puts a hand on his daughter's head and strokes her hair gently
47.
Billy and Bex arrive at Snuggles just after eight
48.
When Billy and Bex turn up the few poor souls in the bar are tourists
49.
The young lad behind the bar acknowledges Billy and takes an immediate interest in Bex
50.
They get through two bottles in short order and Billy suggests that Bex has a Coke next
51.
Billy loves the primary colours that teenagers use when daubing the world with their opinions
52.
Maggie spots Billy and waves as she beats a hasty retreat and helps with the serving
53.
Maggie doesn’t see her but Billy does and he manages to catch Maggie's attention
54.
Maggie makes her way over to Billy and Bex now that the punters are firmly focussed on the stage
55.
How's the old man treating you?" She winks at Billy
56.
Billy sits back and takes it on the chin
57.
Billy tells me it's crunch time
58.
Billy tries to watch the act on stage, but keeps one ear tuned in to the conversation just in case they start ganging up on him again
59.
Someone has told her she can sing but she warbles and Billy can't watch
60.
Billy rejoins the conversation between his daughter and Maggie Heard
61.
Billy prefers not to ask about the business and Maggie wouldn’t say anything, anyway
62.
Billy knows how much Maggie hates Jock using the club as his office
63.
She and Billy exchange a sharp glance
64.
Billy has found a new low
65.
The young man stares at Maggie for a few seconds and then turns to look at Billy
66.
Billy retreats to his seat, smiles at Bex and says, "Who'd run a pub?"
67.
She thinks about joining Billy and Bex, but decides that she needs a moment to herself
68.
Billy checks the bar again and then heads down to the kitchen, but he finds nothing there except a load of cutlery on the floor
69.
Billy knocks on the office door and enters, finding Ted surrounded by the local hoods
70.
Billy sees the look of desperation in Ted's eyes
71.
Billy opens the door for Ted
72.
He smiles weakly at Billy and together they hurry down the corridor and into the main bar
73.
Billy asks him what the hell is going on, but Ted shrugs and makes his way to the stage
74.
From where Billy is sitting at the other end of the bar he cannot help but catch Ted's eye
75.
Ted has finally caught Billy's attention and he beckons Billy over, mouthing something that Billy cannot understand
76.
Billy smiles at Bex and the ladies, and excuses himself, picks up his beer and walks over to where Ted is sitting
77.
Ted offers Billy a vacant bar stool, but Billy prefers to stand, leaning on the bar
78.
Billy has watched Ted on stage since the incident in the office
79.
Billy assumes it’s the muscle
80.
Billy is starting to feel a little confused
81.
So, thinks Billy, the old bastard wasn't as innocent as he made out
82.
Billy sees an opportunity, a chance to open up a route to Maggie
83.
Billy has never quite been able to shake off the provincial history of the six counties
84.
Billy rolls his eyes and gives in
85.
Not a bad night, thinks Billy, when all is said and done
86.
"Hi, Billy, that's better
87.
Billy still has not worked out how to broach the subject of Ted Line
88.
Billy clears his throat
89.
Maggie hates telling Billy to shut his eyes to the obvious
90.
"Even Snuggle's, Billy
91.
Billy looks for a way out of the conversation
92.
Billy tries to stay calm, straining the boundaries of his own voice now
93.
Billy is back from a brief trip to the supermarket
94.
Last year’s failed attempts at container gardening still bear the skeletal proof that Billy does not posses green fingers
95.
Billy lets the moment of self pity break over him
96.
Billy winces slightly as the coffee curls around the back of his tongue
97.
Billy looks appalled, but not because Bex thinks he is incorrigible
98.
Billy changes the subject
99.
Billy sits back and looks at his daughter
100.
What amazes Billy is that she knows she is a star pupil but has never allowed herself to become pompous or overbearing