It's A Nightmare !

No. I couldn’t have. Surely I couldn’t have. I tried to look through the misty windows and sure enough I could see the black outline of the gate near to the car, Tan’s gleaming white new VW Tiguan.

I hoped that the crunching sound I’d heard was the tyres running through the gravel washed into a heap by the heavy rain on Monday, or a bit of old oak tree which had fallen and was being crushed under the wheels, but that gate looked awfully close.

I should have stopped but I was late in picking Tan and Angie up from the airport. The windows were all steamed up. Someone had left one of the windows open and there was condensation everywhere. I’d switched on the blower and was sure the windows would be clear by the time I got to the end of the lane but I really should have stopped before going through the gate.

I got out of the car and as I walked around to the passenger side, I hoped against hope that it would all be ok but as soon as I turned the corner I could see the damage – a dent from front to back across all four panels and it wasn’t just a dent. It looked like someone had taken a French can opener to the car – you know the ones – they don’t actually open the can, they just score the metalwork – and boy was it scored. From working in the car industry, I knew as soon as I saw the damage that the car would need four new panels. The bill would run to thousands!

What would I say? He would be ok I was sure but the disappointment in seeing his new car, sorry, Angie’s new car, ravaged from front to back was something I was not going to look forward to. The joy of their 10^th wedding anniversary in Egypt soured by a plonker who couldn’t clear the windows before driving off.

‘Thomas, Thomas. Wake up.’

Ah ha. It was a dream. Boy was I relieved.

‘Thomas – wake up. There’s a dead rat and it’s so big, I can’t open the kitchen door to get my breakfast.’

Nope – I was still dreaming. A dead rat so big she couldn’t open a door! What sort of cheese had I had last night that I was having two extremely realistic, but totally different dreams?

‘Thomas – if you don’t get up now and clear that rat away, I’ll be late for school.’

I rubbed my eyes. Yup – that was Kitty all right. And she was still going on about this dead rat.

Still not sure if I was in a dream or not, I threw some clothes on and went into the lounge and sure enough, there in front of the kitchen door, were the biggest bits of rat body I’ve ever seen. A decapitated head. A tail which would have done a monkey proud. A pile of innards, the likes of which I hope I never see again and a pool of blood which was straight out of the chainsaw scene in the film ‘Scarface’.     

As I started to clear the mess and nearly peuked – I knew the dream was over. I was now in a nightmare!