ErraticHopper

I'm clicking through the pages on a shopping site, which lists 'sellers' - of what, I don't know. I see a picture of each seller's head and shoulders. The only one I remember, on the last page, is a Japanese woman in a high-necked shirt with a ruffled collar, with dark brown hair in a chignon on top of her head but also twisting over her right shoulder. She seems to be middle-aged with a warm smile.

On the second-last page, under the list of sellers, is a large image of a clock and a sign saying 'Radio Tokyo' on a bustling street in the evening. A caption below says 'Write to Radio Tokyo'. I click onto the last page. Three sellers pop up (including the one described above) but after a moment they disappear. This is a problem with the site that I was already aware of, so I refresh, but am not much impressed by the sellers. I scroll past. Below, under a picture of a red light flashing in the night sky, the caption says: 'Message Joe at the Observatory'.

Then I'm sitting at a sort of bar. This place is hard to describe. It's a narrow, polished wooden table, piled on one end with books and papers, facing into an empty ordering window in the wall of a bar. There are people in there and a man is sitting next to me in a rumpled brown suit. I realise I am on the street in the 'Radio Tokyo' picture. It's late at night and all the street lamps and shop lights are on, glowing golden. There is a radio on the table in front of me with several wires and jacks coming out of it, and a pair of headphones. The man sitting next to me has one earbud in and is listening. I realise that this radio is for free listening and pick up the other earbud, holding it to my ear. I think I hear something, although I don't remember what. On the radio's narrow screen is the date: 'Today is Friday, 28th January'.

Then I am at home, at the dinner table. We have some guests here. I join in the conversation with everyone and it feels like we have had this conversation before. I get up and walk around the table to pick up a large pillow and a small thin bag from under two of the chairs, and I remember it all happening in reverse. Some other time I put all of those things there.

Our discussion makes me think of that website I was looking at. I say that now there is a cost-of-living crisis, people can't afford to be choosy even when sellers are unreliable - they have to pick the cheapest option, even knowing they won't do a good job.

It's too short for a new post, so I will also include Day 29: Night of Sunday 21.01.2024

Fragment: Half-asleep, I see my mother standing over me, asking if I feel sick. She tells me not to take a sick day from school but to think of our family's pride. She says she knows I just want to skip school because I'm too lazy to work, and I'll have a bad reputation if I always blow such trivial matters out of proportion and expect sympathy. Talk about harsh!


Notes:
- First time I've used the internet in a dream? As well as other technology - laptop, headphones, radio.
- Entered the location of a photo!
- An incorrect date, if only I'd been more aware...
- Finally, I almost completely remembered a face.
- Don't take my dream advice if you are poor and looking to hire workers.
- I haven't been practicing any techniques since I got sick, so this is all I've got since the competition. I'm better now so will get back to work and hopefully recall will go up!