This Should Be Written in the Present Tense

5

The first night in the house I slept sitting up. I sat in the armchair with my legs up and the duvet on top of me. I hadn’t put the sheets on the bed, though Dorte had reminded me about it.

‘Remember to put your sheets on first thing. You’re always knackered after a move.’

Apart from that the bed was assembled and ready, it took up nearly the whole room. I could only just get the door open. By the time I got my head down it was almost midnight. I lay there for ages staring into the dark. There was nothing to see. Eventually I got up and went into the front room, switched on the lamp and sat down in the armchair. I sat quite still and listened. There was nothing to hear either. I reached into my canvas bag on the floor and found a packet of chewing gum, took four pieces and chewed. What a racket it made. I stopped and listened. I chewed until the flavour was gone, then after that I went into the kitchen with the lump. When I opened the bin the vacuum cleaner fell over behind me with a loud clatter. The noise was still ringing in my ears when I sat down in the chair again. I wrapped myself in the duvet and fell asleep with my head hanging down, and slept until a goods train a mile long passed through when morning came. The lamp was still on as the sun came up.