Sleep Talking – Daniel 7

[For back story see lower numbers in archive]

Daisy was finally asleep. Daniel was thankful for this in the way he usually was thankful for small mercies and to be honest this particular mercy was very small. He surveyed his flat. Along with the blown-up microwave, smashed coffee table (now slightly remedied through the use of a handy piece of plywood slapped across the top of the legs) he also noted the pen marks across his walls, the paint splashes on the sofa, he counted in his head the number of smashed glasses and cups dust-panned away and reminisced on the motivational poster that had finally bitten the dust when he knocked it off the wall on a rescue mission to get Mr Sparklehat from behind the book shelves.

Besides this, everything was sticky.

Daisy was finally asleep on the sofa. She was going to go to sleep in her bedroom as usual but then became worried, tearful and wanted a cuddle although didn’t want to discuss why. Daniel provided the cuddle and reassurance and said she could tell him anything, anything. He carefully introduced the idea of discussing the virus that had turned Daisy’s life upside-down and prevented her from seeing her friends, her mum, her grandparents. He apologised too for all the times he had shouted at her, all the times he’s shouted any word and when he’d muttered ‘bucket’ or ‘truck’ under his breath. Sometimes grown-ups found life a bit difficult too. Especially at the moment given everything he’d already talked about. 

And part of the reassurance did mean he talked about death. He hadn’t meant to but he knew Daisy had been in front of the television when the subject had been raised and she might not fully understand everything that was happening. She was at the age where the concept of life itself was new, so the idea that it could be over – for other people she knew and even for herself – was mind blowing.

“You won’t die for a long time yet,” said Daniel.

“Not until you’re dead?” she asked, hopefully, and Daniel forgave her.

“Absolutely,” said Daniel. “Me first. Then you a long time after.”

“What about Mr Sparklehat?” she asked.

“I’m…. not certain when he’ll die. I don’t know how old he is.”

“No,” said Daisy, “I don’t mean when’s he going to die, I mean how is he going to get back to the Kingdom without his sparkly horse?”

“Er, oh, so he’s lost his sparkly horse?” ventured Daniel, trying to get up to speed.

“U-huh.”

“Can he ride Perky Pig?”

“Uh-uh.”

“Why not?”

“Oh, daddy. Perky Pig’s not real.”

“Not..?”

“He’s Paisley Pig.”

“Ah, right. So can he ride on Paisley Pig.”

“I’m not sure,” said Daisy in all seriousness. “His feet might drag on the ground.”

With Daisy finally asleep on the sofa Daniel ended up in her bedroom as he couldn’t get a plug socket to work properly for him to sit on his own bed. Ironically her room was the most reassuring and relaxing mainly, Daniel realised, because it was the room which had been least trashed. As the call connected Nadia complemented Daniel on the starry night effect around him – Daisy’s favourite lampshade – and praised him for his parental work.

Daniel was still ready to deflect any success. “I missed a couple of calls this morning because we both overslept. I’m used to my alarm clock going off and – there are no batteries in it. I’ve forgotten why.”

Nadia asked whether they could meet soon. Admittedly it would still be at a distance of at least two metres in a park of their choice, but it could be, you know, fun. Daniel said he’d consider it but felt it was really too early. And he’d have to bring along Daisy and he felt it might be unlikely that she would respect the two metre rule or do anything but make straight for the play area.

“Well, if you’re not keen,” began Nadia.

“And then there’s Chrissy,” said Daniel, pressing on in spite of Nadia’s sigh. “I mean, we’re only meant to see one other person from outside our household, right? She’ll be really annoyed if we don’t make that person her.”

“But she’s miles away,” noted Nadia. “You could do her on another day.”

“Really?” asked Daniel, “Is that how this works? A person outside your house, but one a day – a different person every day, do you think that works?”

“I think…”

“I mean that would mean we could see seven people a week, couldn’t we? And seven people is a hell of a lot more than one. I don’t know, sounds a bit risky.”

“I only…”

“And what if you had something, gave it to Daisy and she passed it on to Chrissy – what order should we see people in – I mean not that we’ve been ill, have you been ill or anyone you know..?”

Nadia gave up. Daniel was tired to the point of being a jabbering wreck and to be honest he knew it. He’d go to bed, although he’d be staring at the ceiling for some time to come, trying to work out who he could see, at what distance and when. Or possibly just trying to visualise if Paisley Pig could carry someone home if he stood on his rear feet and gave them a real actual piggy back.

They said goodnight. Daniel logged off, closed there computer, stood up and in that movement knocked the beaker of blackcurrant juice off the bedside table and on to the floor. It still took him a full minute to remember why it was there and why it was an open cup and not a closed bottle. It was like that so Daisy was happy to go to sleep in her own room.

He went to bed without bothering to try and clean it up.