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Lucid Dream: Between sleep and awake I dream of Billy, an obnoxious, ugly, fat, hairy guy who is a classmate in Janus
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! 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? ?
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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
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said, “Really, Billy, you should spend more time with your parents
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Billy could think of nothing worse than having to spend an
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maiden aunts, Billy started to scream inside his head
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Billy was ashamed of his parents
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his adult life, was a grave disappointment to Billy
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Billy had no regrets about spending the rest of the day
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As soon as he was able to, Billy rented a small studio flat and
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Despite the fact that it was raining, Billy parked his
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After Billy picked up the curry, the popadoms and the pot of
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at the bottom of the road where they lived Billy came face to face
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Billy was stuck
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Billy had an idea
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Billy pushed the plastic bag full of cartons into the stream of
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to happen in slow motion, but try as he might Billy couldn’t reach
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Billy continued to fall and fall until he thought that he was going
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Billy was in the great hall of the King of
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detritus and Billy knew from the smells all around him that he
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The old woman looked at Billy as he knelt in the mire and said,
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gift of this foul creature of the sun, and that is how Billy ended up
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Perched high up on one of the shelves, Billy felt as cold and as
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immortalised in pottery, Billy could still move his eyes and as he
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more and Billy could sense the torment in the souls around him
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was a truly dreadful thing for Billy to find himself stacked on these
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Billy could hear
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Billy looked down at the bulbous shape of his own jug and saw that
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Billy continued to stare at his own painted body
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It was then that Billy noticed the smell of burnt chicken Madras
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Billy was stiff
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It seemed to Billy that his
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It was then that Billy felt a tear fall upon his glazed face
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Billy realised that his parents, that his employer and his friends
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listened and ranted back at these disembodied sounds, Billy heard a
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The little boy's heart was breaking for Billy
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As the years have drifted by, and as Billy has continued to shout
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Billy knows that he can never expect
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Billy knows that the flies will
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Billy knows that flames will lick and crack his glaze,
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Billy Whitlow and his daughter are in the kitchen unpacking the shopping
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Billy and Bex enjoy the smallness of domesticity, breaking the back of a confusing, sometimes threatening world by carving life up into manageable chunks
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One or two are the real deal, though, and Billy will meet Tod in a few days
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It is Billy who is uncomfortable
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Billy plays a game with her, one they have enjoyed for some years now
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Billy puts a hand on his daughter's head and strokes her hair gently
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Billy and Bex arrive at Snuggles just after eight
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When Billy and Bex turn up the few poor souls in the bar are tourists
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The young lad behind the bar acknowledges Billy and takes an immediate interest in Bex
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They get through two bottles in short order and Billy suggests that Bex has a Coke next
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Billy loves the primary colours that teenagers use when daubing the world with their opinions
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Maggie spots Billy and waves as she beats a hasty retreat and helps with the serving
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Maggie doesn’t see her but Billy does and he manages to catch Maggie's attention
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Maggie makes her way over to Billy and Bex now that the punters are firmly focussed on the stage
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How's the old man treating you?" She winks at Billy
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Billy sits back and takes it on the chin
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Billy tells me it's crunch time
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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
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Someone has told her she can sing but she warbles and Billy can't watch
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Billy rejoins the conversation between his daughter and Maggie Heard
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Billy prefers not to ask about the business and Maggie wouldn’t say anything, anyway
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Billy knows how much Maggie hates Jock using the club as his office
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She and Billy exchange a sharp glance
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Billy has found a new low
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The young man stares at Maggie for a few seconds and then turns to look at Billy
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Billy retreats to his seat, smiles at Bex and says, "Who'd run a pub?"
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She thinks about joining Billy and Bex, but decides that she needs a moment to herself
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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
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Billy knocks on the office door and enters, finding Ted surrounded by the local hoods
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Billy sees the look of desperation in Ted's eyes
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Billy opens the door for Ted
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He smiles weakly at Billy and together they hurry down the corridor and into the main bar
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Billy asks him what the hell is going on, but Ted shrugs and makes his way to the stage
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From where Billy is sitting at the other end of the bar he cannot help but catch Ted's eye
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Ted has finally caught Billy's attention and he beckons Billy over, mouthing something that Billy cannot understand
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Billy smiles at Bex and the ladies, and excuses himself, picks up his beer and walks over to where Ted is sitting
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Ted offers Billy a vacant bar stool, but Billy prefers to stand, leaning on the bar
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Billy has watched Ted on stage since the incident in the office
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Billy assumes it’s the muscle
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Billy is starting to feel a little confused
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So, thinks Billy, the old bastard wasn't as innocent as he made out
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Billy sees an opportunity, a chance to open up a route to Maggie
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Billy has never quite been able to shake off the provincial history of the six counties
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Billy rolls his eyes and gives in
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Not a bad night, thinks Billy, when all is said and done
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"Hi, Billy, that's better
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Billy still has not worked out how to broach the subject of Ted Line
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Billy clears his throat
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Maggie hates telling Billy to shut his eyes to the obvious
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"Even Snuggle's, Billy
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Billy looks for a way out of the conversation
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Billy tries to stay calm, straining the boundaries of his own voice now
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Billy is back from a brief trip to the supermarket
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Last year’s failed attempts at container gardening still bear the skeletal proof that Billy does not posses green fingers
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Billy lets the moment of self pity break over him
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Billy winces slightly as the coffee curls around the back of his tongue
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Billy looks appalled, but not because Bex thinks he is incorrigible
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Billy changes the subject
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Billy sits back and looks at his daughter
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What amazes Billy is that she knows she is a star pupil but has never allowed herself to become pompous or overbearing
