Adrenalin Rush
3pm on Friday. So I'm bored at work, and I'm feeling stressed. E-mails come
through from MancGoff concerning people's plans to go out clubbing, and it occurs
to me that that might be just what's needed. A snap decision is made. E-mails go
out to MancGoff and to the Evil Harridan announcing my plans.
Home, time to grab some clothes (clean and dirty), a sleeping bag, and then off
to the station. As I'm walking to the bus stop, there's a huge rush of adrenaline.
I'm off again, doing something fundementally dumb and expensive on short notice,
just because I *CAN*. It feels great. I'm being unpredictable, keeping on the
move, travelling. I'm getting out there and doing things, instead of another night
in front of MTV. Not that those aren't good, but it's getting to the point where
that's almost expected of me.
On the train. I'd flyered a random gothgirlie at Oxford station, purchased a
ticket and some coffee (a quad-shot of espresso, to keep the caffeine pumping),
and got on to the platform in plenty of time for the slightly-delayed Virgin
Trains service. I've got Covenant's "Dead Stars" bouncing around my brain, the
caffeine filling my limbs and brain with fire, and a book on chaos and fractals
fucking with my head. I feel great. The miles are passing by me - Banbury,
Coventry, Birmingham, Stoke... and I'm smoking, reading, thinking, dreaming. I
feel alive, more alive than I have done for a long time. I've turned my life into
a game, a parody, a roller-coaster ride that feels far more exciting than it would
seem to an uninvolved onlooker. I want to run, scream, shout and smash.
Manchester Piccadilly. I haven't seen this station for longer than I care to
remember - certainly before my graduation, and perhaps even before my finals. Come
to think of it, I probably last saw it when I went down to Oxford to get dumped.
And it feels great. I feel so happy, just because I'm here. And now, I'm off into
town. A little apprehensive - will the Scary Ex be there, and what will I say to
her if she is? Will my friends be there with me? Can I find the new club, Satan's
Hollow? What's about to happen to me?
Apprehensive, but happy, and determined. I walk to Piccadilly Gardens, arms
spread wide, laughing all the way. It's good to be home.
