Daily Dreaming

My Sister and I were sat at the dining room table in our parents’ house. In front of us were rows of cards with various Doctor Who characters on them. It was an old card game that I had collected when I was a kid, and for the first time in years we were engrossed in a match.

The game operated much like Top Trumps, with each card having a list of stats. Each round was fairly simple, as both players would take it in turns to pick a stat on their card that they hoped was higher than the other player’s corresponding value. I seemed to be losing this particular round, which was rather embarrassing considering it was my set of cards we were using. As per usual, my sister was relishing the opportunity to beat me at my own game.

After a few more rounds my defeat became an inevitability and I decided to concede. My opponent was very smug and left me to the loser’s role of tidying up. Before I had a chance to collect up all the cards, my mum appeared from the downstairs hallway to remind me that we were heading to my Auntie and Uncle’s house for Christmas dinner.

I’m not sure how I could have forgotten that it was Christmas, but this news was music to my ears and I decided to pack the cards away later. I headed upstairs to get changed into something a bit more formal and when I exited my room, I found that I had emerged atop the stairway of a different house. The stairs were straight and enclosed within two walls, but at the bottom I could see the start of a kitchen unit. Heading down, I emerged into an open plan kitchen occupied by my mum, my auntie, my uncle, and also my Grandma.

Given that she has been gone for a few years now, I was overjoyed to see Grandma again and headed over for a hug. Greeting my Auntie and Uncle as well, we headed from the kitchen into a small lounge where the rest of the family was sitting. Announcing that dinner would be ready shortly, my Auntie proceeded to share out some snacks and drinks. We got to chatting about what everyone had been up to, and settled into another cozy family Christmas.