The first time I noticed something had changed was on a shopping trip.Mum doesn't have a car, so I didn't take much more than a brief glance at the oil prices. If someone asked me, I would have thought it was unlikely that Sainsburys would be the first sign of the apocalypse but there it was. A bare shelf where the bananas had been and a sign: out of stock.

I thought nothing of it. I didn’t like bananas much anyway. I crossed it off my mother’s list and took a pair of mangoes instead. I put the mangoes back when I saw the price tag. Mum would kill me if I spent six pounds on two fruit. A woman behind me in the queue stopped me taking plastic bags and gave me one of her cotton ones instead to pack my shopping in.

"They might start charging for the plastic ones soon love," she told me. "The oil, you know."

I nodded but didn't really get it. How come petrol prices mean I have to pay for my shopping bags? I thanked her for the cotton bag and headed home.

Walking back up Whiteladies Road there were distinctly fewer cars on the road than there had been a few weeks ago. The ageing double-decker buses creaking up the hill were packed and I actually hadto wait for the second one to come before I could cram myself into thestanding space for the journey home. The bus driver charged me £3 - itwas £2.20 a week ago.

My brother wanted to go see a film at the mall in Cribbs Causeway when I got back. I don't think I've seen mum look so worried since dad left. She took us into the kitchen and made us sit down.

"It's going to be a bit tricky for a while," she said. She looked at me more than David. He looked baffled and pouted when she said we couldn't go to the cinema. He stormed out. Mum looked at me with tired eyes.

"Mia," she said, telling that I was annoyed at this withdrawal of fun as well, "this is really important.Let your brother know that, ok?"

"But why?" I said. "It's just the cinema. we always go."

"We're running out of money," Mum said. "This oil crisis is only going to get worse pet. I need to make sure we have enough to eat later in the month. You understand, right?"

I didn't, not yet. It would be weeks before the new reality we found ourselves in would truly hit home.

[author's note: monday, week 6]