Football fragment...

England are playing Germany in the World Cup final. Some friends and I are anxious to know the result. I queue up with a Communion wafer at a check-out in a late night store; believing somehow that its purchase and consumption can affect the outcome of the game... The place I am staying in is semi-rural; and the night sky is illuminated by many strange lights, which hover and dance like a conclave of aliens gathering to observe the match. Gradually, like the all-clear after a bombing raid, news begins to emerge. It's nil-nil at the end of extra time; a result which (according to the rules of dreamland football) will trigger an England victory if they don't concede a goal. A group of crusties are camping out under the stars, and an assortment of glamourous student-types, possibly swingers, are sharing my digs.

The stars twinkle... An England win? I am jubilant, yet crestfallen too. These are days I had longed to witness, yet now they have arrived it doesn't feel like I thought it would. Now the dawn is breaking too quickly; revealing the mysterious lights to be mere aeroplanes, the hipster swingers icy and distant. A short, elfin girls celebrates with her friend, taking photographs. As I drive back into town, my van veers all over the road. I mistime my attempt at parking, overshooting the space and colliding with a stationary black vehicle in front. I manage to regain control and bring the vehicle to a stop, but realise with mounting horror that the car park I have ended up in is crawling with police... I have been caught drink-driving for a third time, signalling another ban and jail time.