Daily Dreaming

I was sitting in a meeting room, looking at my laptop screen. On the other end of the call, my manager was looking unhappily at her screen. As someone who is usually so happy and optimistic, it was disconcerting to see her so visibly upset; even more so, given that I was the cause. I wasn’t sure what I had done, but it must have been bad.

I offered an apology, but it felt like an empty one. My manager started talking, stating how it would be difficult to fix the issues that I had caused and that she wasn’t sure if there was any way around the problem at this point. I started to feel as though this might be my last meeting with her, so bad was the impression she gave me. I offered to try anything that I could, and my pleading seemed to bring her somewhat around. With a flicker of a smile, she asked me to go back and come up with a plan of action to remedy the situation. Thanking her profusely, the call ended and I laid back in the seat, hands on my head.

—

Now it was morning, and I was in a bedroom I didn’t recognise. Sat at a desk with a laptop on it, I looked around and saw a clock on the wall showing 7:30. By the light outside, I assumed this was AM. It was time to get dressed ready for a school day, so I opened the small chest of drawers near the bed and started changing into my uniform.

Once I was ready, I sat back down and realised that I had left the laptop paused on a game I was playing. I still had a bit of time until I needed to leave, so I decided to complete the level that I was on. It was an isometric third person adventure game, but not one I recognise now. Whatever it was, it was engrossing, and before long I was fully engrossed.

Following a particularly challenging boss, the stage clear screen appeared and I relaxed. Then I sat bolt upright and looked at the clock. 8:45. Now I was really late. I dashed out my room and downstairs, grabbing my school bag on the way. After that things were a bit of a blur, but I eventually found myself at the school gate. I could see a few late stragglers in front of me, but I was just about the last person arriving.

As I jogged through the reception and towards the building housing my tutor group, I suddenly had a thought. I’d forgotten my Nintendo 3DS! My friends and I would spend our breaks playing on these and now I was going to be left out of today’s session. Served me right for running late.