Like some kind of magic trick, Dad turns the floor into lava, and suddenly I’m running around the living room, jumping from the sofa to the armchair like I’m Aladdin in the cave of wonders, desperately reaching for solid ground before everything crumbles, and Mum is finally smiling again because she knows tonight, he’s in a good mood, tonight he’s on the right side of drunk, and if I can just keep running, then maybe we’ll be okay, maybe we’ll be happy like those families you see in photo albums, our smiles beaming like nothing is ever going to change.

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Billie J Daniel is a writer based in London, from a working-class background. He graduated from Central Saint Martins with a degree in Fine Art and currently works as a teaching assistant. In his time away from writing, he likes to go birding with his partner, play board games with his friends, and analyse his favourite sport, boxing. His work has previously appeared in Short Beasts and explores ideas of love, connection, anxiety, and trauma. You can follow him on Instagram @billiejdaniel and Twitter/X @dansflashworld, and you can visit his website https://www.billiejdaniel.com/.