tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25981660572006818362024-02-07T16:45:06.533-08:00Atheist DadUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2598166057200681836.post-52617675867659560862016-11-19T21:20:00.000-08:002016-11-21T15:37:08.071-08:00The Itch Unexpected<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>The man arrived at the
start of the day</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Sat at his desk and
worked hours away<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He took no morning tea
nor ate any food<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And he never played
music to brighten the mood<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He arrived each
morning and sat there at work<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He never called sick and
never felt any hurt<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He wove every day with
threads from a sack<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>That he arrived with
each morning over his back<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He spun threads into
patterns with focused intent</i></span><br />
<i>Reaching into his bag until his materials were spent </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Then in the darkness he left for the night<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Looking up to
the sky and the absence of light<o:p></o:p></i></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/a1/5c/a8/a15ca8a952fd9a3b47cf6e07e3ce3cf4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><i><img border="0" height="320" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/a1/5c/a8/a15ca8a952fd9a3b47cf6e07e3ce3cf4.jpg" width="228" /></i></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>For years he had
worked and said not a word<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He never hummer or sighed and nothing was heard<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He wove and he spun
and he created the pattern<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>Letting time pass as always had happened</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>For years he worked
and knew nothing more<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Until one day his thumb twitched and became briefly sore<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He dropped a
thread for the first time ever<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And he stopped abruptly, taking no pleasure<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>One thread there lay as
long as his chin<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>There on the floor
curved like a grin<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>One thread he dropped and let fall away<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>One thread unwoven for the first time today<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He reached down and
lifted the thread to his face<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Breathing out softly
as it wafted in space<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">"Hmmm"</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> he sighed softly hearing the sound<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">"Hmmm"</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> he said staring at the thread he had found<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He held between fingers and
looked at his work<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Then tucked the loose
thread in the cuff of his shirt<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The next day he worked
hard as he ever could<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Watching as
each thread went where it should<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He wove and he focused and toiled all the day<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He neither sighed nor
spoke and had nothing to say<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He worked until sunset
then noticed one thing<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The thread now circled his finger as a ring<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He looked at his
finger and the thread tied right there<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Sighed and yawned and
scratched at his hair<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He looked at his
finger where the thread was wound twice<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And oddly he found
that he thought it looked nice<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>It occurred to
him the thread looked yet longer<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And thicker and darker and
very much stronger<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The next day the
thread had looped round his wrist<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And when he saw unthinking he gave it a kiss<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He sat at his work
weaving the threads from his sack<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>But stopped now and
then to stretch out his back<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The thread it hung
loose until he stood up at last<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And he saw something
remarkable had passed<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The thread was now
something quite else<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The thread was no
thread but now was a self<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>A baby, a newborn,
sleeping and warm<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>A baby, a child, a
sapling, a fawn<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“Well now’ <i>he said for
the first time in life<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Then lifted the child
and walked into the night<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><o:p><i></i></o:p></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i><a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/3f/24/11/3f2411f8d5b88c9fe892ad5c40f65d05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/3f/24/11/3f2411f8d5b88c9fe892ad5c40f65d05.jpg" /></a></i></span></div>
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>
</i></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>
</i></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Each day from then on
he arrived with the child<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And as he worked
through the day often he smiled<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He sat at his chair
and wove with attention<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>But he now sung songs
and found stories to mention<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He warmed milk and
filled bottles and changed nappies as well<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And each duty bought
joy - except for the smell!<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The baby grew bigger
and started to grin<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Releasing its
personality from somewhere within<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The man realised one
day the babe had no name<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And he frowned and he
blinked and then heard the rain<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He reached out one
hand and touched the babes cheek<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And he let his ancient
cracked voice slowly speak<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“Raindrop” <i>he
whispered and the baby fast blinked<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Accepting the name
like a contract fresh inked<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“Raindrop, my
daughter”<i> he said and stopped at his task<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Lifting his daughter
to kiss her at last<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“Raindrop” <i>he said and
the baby cried out<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“Raindrop” <i>he said
this time with a shout<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Raindrop grew fast and
soon learnt to walk<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>She stumbled and
giggled and started to talk<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>She stretched into her
body and flexed at her toes<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>She chewed at apples
and picked at her nose<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Raindrop would sit
drawing or sleeping or watch<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>As her father wove
fabric with no thread ever dropped<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Then one evening at
the end of the day<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>As her father stood and they both walked away<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Raindrop turned to her
father as they looked to the night<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And asked him a question
as the moon shone full bright<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“Where do you go while
I’m sleeping in bed?”<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And her father stopped
walking and scratched at his head<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He looked back at the
shed when he worked every day<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Looked into the
distance with no words to say<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He looked down the old
path to the house where she slept<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He looked into the
night not knowing what’s next<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He looked to his
daughter and his heart filled with hope<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And he lifted her to
him and still never spoke<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>But that night he took
her with him far from their home<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>That night he went
walking this time not alone<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>That night he had
company as he filled up his bag<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And though she was
frightened she also was glad<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>She watched what he
did with silent eyes<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Never speaking or
sighing or showing surprise<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The first place he
walked her was an old house by a lake<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Where an elderly
couple sat eating this year’s birthday cake<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The old man was
gumming sponge into submission<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>While his wife sat
knitting in a familiar position<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The old man stopped
and frowned and reached to his neck<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Scratching at an itch
he did not expect <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Then he coughed and
slumped forwards and his wife cried out<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And Raindrop watched
her father soft move about<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The old man was dead
that she could tell<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>As the old lady
started sobbing like the clang of a bell<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Raindrop watched as her
father reached for the man now dead<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Stroked at his neck
and drew back a thread<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Then they walked on to
a road in the city<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Where a girl walked
and talked so dazzlingly pretty<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>She was watching her
phone and striding along<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Mouthing the words to
a buoyant pop song<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>When she stepped in
the road and reached to her neck<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Scratching an itch she
did not expect<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Again Raindrop watched
her father stride in<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>To where the girl lay
waiting for her end to begin<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He reached to her neck
and pulled back the thread<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>As Raindrop watched
the girl, all words unsaid<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The car that had hit
her sat silent and still<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The driver inside it
looking shell shocked and ill<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Then to a plane sat
keen to depart<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Raindrop watched her
father watch for the start<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>There were hundreds of
passengers sat all in rows<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>All in their happiness
and holiday clothes<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The engines purred and
then built to a roar<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the plane hurtled
the runway determined and sure<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://l7.alamy.com/zooms/f077b03dc3744ba7bc19d6c8d3407dc6/airplane-passengers-on-the-way-to-majorca-1955-e0069r.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><i><img border="0" src="http://l7.alamy.com/zooms/f077b03dc3744ba7bc19d6c8d3407dc6/airplane-passengers-on-the-way-to-majorca-1955-e0069r.jpg" height="264" width="320" /></i></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And as it arose every
passenger there<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Reached up to their
neck to an itch suddenly there<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>They waved fingers on
skin as the plane suddenly exploded<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And their lives in one
beat were swift eroded<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Raindrop floating
watched as her father<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Gathered the threads
with his bag growing larger<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The night was long and
speckled with death<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Raindrops father there
for every last breath<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He stood silent
witness and reached for the thread<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>As every new person
became newly dead<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Raindrop walked with
him, this man, her Dad<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And felt unchecked
love as he carried his bag<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Then the sun came and
they came back to the shed<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Both awake and alive
and in no need of bed<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The bag was bulging
with the threads now to weave<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And Raindrop handed
them one by one with such speed<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>They worked together
and smiled and shared<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Knowing and showing
how much that they cared<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>That night they went
walking with the bag once again<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Watching and
witnessing love and such pain<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Grandparents died and
her father collected<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Each thread that
curled from the itch unexpected<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>From adults and
children and all who died<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Her father caught the
thread that sprang from inside<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>One night in a
hospital ward they both awaited<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>A heart torn mother as
she sadly dilated<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Raindrop stopped her
father as he walked to the bed<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Holding his hand and
shaking her head<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Raindrop walked in and
stepped to the child<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Lifelessly laying all
moments un-smiled<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Raindrop reached out
and plucked at the thread<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Turned to the mother
and silently said<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“I’m sorry this
happened truly I am<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">But I’m here with my
father and we understand”<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the mother she
wept and the nurses stood by<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And Raindrop and her
father walked to the sky<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>For years they walked
as Raindrop grew older<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Gathering the threads
from plumbers and nurses and soldiers<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Gathering threads from
pilots and surfers and sons<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>From lives long
lived and lives just begun<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>For years they
gathered and wove daily together<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Believing that this
would be this way yet forever<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><o:p><i></i></o:p></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i><a href="http://www.authentichistory.com/1939-1945/1-war/1-39-41/bob/1940_BOB_Building_Collapsing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.authentichistory.com/1939-1945/1-war/1-39-41/bob/1940_BOB_Building_Collapsing.jpg" height="268" width="320" /></a></i></span></div>
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>
</i></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>
</i></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Then one night her
father watched a building slow burn<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>As more lives yet to
death took their final turn<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And as he stepped
forward his step caught a hitch<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>As he felt a sudden
strange, and unexpected, itch<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And he turned to Raindrop
and looked at her there<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>This girl that his
life had found room to share<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“Is it my turn?" <i>he
asked and Raindrop reached a hand<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Knowing he knew but
could not understand<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Raindrop stepped
in and wrapped her arms at his neck<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Where his skin tickled from the itch he did not expect<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“I love you,”<i> she
whispered as her father died in her arms<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Safe and beloved and kept
far from harm<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“My daughter” <i>he sighed, the final breath in his chest<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Feeling relief from
the itch that no one expects<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Raindrop found his thread and held it to her heart<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Crying in moonlight as
time pulled them apart<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Then slowly she went with all the threads gathered<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And she sat at the
loom and worked at what mattered<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>That night the sun
set and her weaving was done<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>She stepped to the
darkness in the wake of the sun<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And before she went
walking out into the night<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>She looked to the sky
and the absence of light<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And she pulled out the
weaving and threw it on high<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Where it swiftly
unfurled and became the night sky<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Every memory and
moment from every thread <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Every promise and betrayal from every word said<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Every passion and
parent and dream ever dreamt<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Every moment and
opportunity, wasted or spent<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>It all spread far in beauty and became the night sky<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Added to daily as time
passed swift by<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And that night as Raindrop
threw out the stars<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>A brighter one shone
in distance afar<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>A shimmering diamond
woven that day<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Woven with everything
there was no time to say<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>A sparkling perfection of light and of love<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Raindrop looked to her
father as he sparkled above<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And that night as she
walked and gathered the dead<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>She stopped by the
grieving and softly she said<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“They are not gone,
look to the sky every night<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Their love shines
there still in every stars light” <i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>She gathered and
witnessed and returned to her home<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Working each day, working alone<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Raindrop works with her fingers so swift<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And each thread she
weaves is a thread she has kissed<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>She works knowing one
day a thread will slip free<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Fall to the floor and slow come to be<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>She knows as
she weaves the threads she’s collected<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>That one day she’ll to
feel the itch unexpected<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://wallpapercave.com/wp/KKSGGBW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://wallpapercave.com/wp/KKSGGBW.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2598166057200681836.post-47059005989604401792016-05-08T21:59:00.000-07:002016-11-21T15:49:27.365-08:00The Man in the Ground<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa Malone’s very first
word was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">NO</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>S</i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">aid with a rage she would frequently show<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">18 months old she’d
scowl from her seat<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Slamming her hand down
on food she won't eat<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa Malone was a
furnace of rage<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And this is the story
of how all of that changed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/angry-at-me-mickey-raina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/angry-at-me-mickey-raina.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">In school age 6
Theresa caused up roar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">When Mr.Cage and Theresa
in class went to war<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa disliked that
he smelt of stale smoke<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">So when he would talk
she’d clutch at her throat <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Mr.Cage would then
keep her in during break<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">So Theresa watched her friends playing out by the gate<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Mr Cage in class lost
his temper again<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">As Theresa declared
his nose looked like a plane<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He slammed down his
pens and made several kids cry<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">As Theresa pointed out
a jet passing by<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa</span></i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"> he shouted, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you will be quiet as
a mouse</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Mr Cage,</span></i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"> she screamed <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I’m going to burn down
your house</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">This was the way for
the angry young girl<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Who saw red fringes
lining the edge of her world<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Door slams,
detonations and temper eruptions<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Inside or outside
she was a constant disruption<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">But at home Theresa
was silent and scared<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Her father was the
ogre who ruled coldly there<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://art.ngfiles.com/images/362000/362938_elseedy_ogre-man.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://art.ngfiles.com/images/362000/362938_elseedy_ogre-man.jpg" height="228" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa’s mother died
when Theresa was 7<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The police softly said she’d gone up to heaven<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">They tried to hide the unpleasant truth<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa’s mother another case of “domestic abuse”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">But Theresa knew as
her father was taken away<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">That she’d lost both
her parents in one bitter day<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Her father was tried
and then sentenced to jail<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">His serious stern temper
turning childishly pale<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And Theresa was sent to an
aunt out of town<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Where it was hoped she
would thrive and maybe calm down<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Her aunt fed her
apples and plenty of cake<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">But Theresa still shouted
and threw food from her plate<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">For months her aunt
tried every tactic she knew<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">But nothing would work
or ever get through<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And when Theresa
smashed a window with an old china plate<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Her aunt felt
taking her in may be a mistake<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa, my love, I can’t cope with all this<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And she dropped to her
knees and hoped for a kiss<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa could see the
pain that she’d created<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">But the anger in her heart
could not be abated<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And she stormed from
her aunt there on her knees<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Out to the garden and
the flowers and bees<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And she sat at the end
over looking the fields<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Trying to find the
world she’d somehow concealed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She sat hunched with
her knees to her chest<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">When she first saw the
man lying at rest<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He was just a mound of
dirt and leaves and grass<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">But seeing him there
made her gasp and then laugh<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">For though he was just
dirt, grass and leaves<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She could see his head
and his arms and his knees<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">A man lying there with
his arms behind his head<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">A man lying peaceful
as though comfy in bed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The man in the ground
Theresa saw laying there</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The man in the ground
with flowers for hair</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He was just soil nothing
more, just mound on the lawn<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">But Theresa felt
certain a friendship had born<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://images.fineartamerica.com/images/artworkimages/mediumlarge/1/hanaleis-grassy-hillside-kicka-witte.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images.fineartamerica.com/images/artworkimages/mediumlarge/1/hanaleis-grassy-hillside-kicka-witte.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I’m angry</span></i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"> she hissed and then started to cry<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I’m angry so often and I just don’t know why<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She wept by the man
and the man lay un-moving<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">But him lying and
listening was simple and soothing<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">So Theresa she wept
and spoke of her mum and her dad<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And tranquillity
swift flowed and submerged all the bad<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She returned inside
and found her aunt in her bed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa opened the
door and stood and soft said <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I’m sorry Aunt Josie, I’ll be better I hope<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And Aunt Josie held
her so perfectly tight, warm and close<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">They went to the
kitchen and made pastry together<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And Aunt Josie had
hopes that things may get better<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">From then Theresa
would go to the garden each day<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She’d fret and she’d speak
her bad thoughts away<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She’d let them all
spill to the man in the ground<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Who took them to the fires that lay deep and down</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She’d go inside
calmer, heart light and temper cool</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And Josie would cook while they talked about school</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">A storm tore the night
when Theresa was 9<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">It ripped branches
from trees and laundry from lines<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">It shattered windows
in town and broke the church spire<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And it tore down
reception from telegraph wires<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Aunt Josie came to
Theresa’s as the sky turned deep red<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">But found that Theresa
was not in her bed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She tore through the
house calling her name<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Afraid of burglars, kidnappers
and menace unnamed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She saw the back door
was open to the night<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And snatched at a
torch to throw a weak light<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She raced down the
path towards the fields and the farm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Praying her niece was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">please</i> safe from harm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She found Theresa sat
with an umbrella held tight<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Singing to the garden
in the dark of the night<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Josie stood motionless
and Theresa stroked the grass<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">As the lightning shock
crackled and thunder crashed past<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I’ll keep you dry</span></i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"> Theresa said to the ground<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And laughed as the
lightning flashed all around<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://cache3.asset-cache.net/gc/200021683-001-girl-walking-under-umbrella-during-heavy-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=yAodohZMP48BbXOeoFVtAXMskPHLhSFjr%2Fb91hXyINJOYUU18PkfNVNC1bcHNoP4" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cache3.asset-cache.net/gc/200021683-001-girl-walking-under-umbrella-during-heavy-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=yAodohZMP48BbXOeoFVtAXMskPHLhSFjr%2Fb91hXyINJOYUU18PkfNVNC1bcHNoP4" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">What were you doing?</span></i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"> Josie asked her within<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">As the paper quick
crackled so the flames could begin<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The man in the ground was washing away<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa replied, and
that’s all she would say<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">So Josie made cocoa
and they sat there together<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The flames flickering
high slow calming the weather<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa held her anger
within now as she grew<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The man in the ground
the only one who now knew<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She would hold her
fists as she was taunted in class<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">About her mother and father
and violence of the past<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She would come home
with tears and rush to the yard<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Where she knew she
could say all that was hard<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Christmas Day, birthday or Halloween night<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa told the man everything
that wasn’t right<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Josie would watch
and accept as a fact<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">That Theresa felt
better after she’d been and done that<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa even wrote a
letter when she was turning 13<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">To Mr Cage apologising
for being so childishly mean<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">When Theresa was 16
Josie had news<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">That hurt like a bee
sting on top of a bruise<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Her father was being
released in a weeks time<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The courts deciding
he’d been punished fow for his crime<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He wanted to see her
but it was entirley her choice<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Did she want to see
him or listen to his voice?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa looked at her
Aunt and blinked her tears back<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">As the world spun in backward
and the sky turned to black<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I need to speak to my friend</span></i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"> was Theresa’s reply<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And she went to the
garden and sat under the sky<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She told the man in
the ground her father was coming<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Then sat rocking quietly
as the bees started humming<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa dug memories
from deep in her mind<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">That there were few remaining she was saddened to find<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Her mother crying and
screaming <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">No More</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">As her father ripped
his rage and kicked at the floor<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Her mother un-moving as
he smashed at the walls<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And Theresa age 6 and
her emergency call<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Now 10 years later he walked from his cell</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Started walking slow towards her with feelings to tell</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He wanted his
daughter, he wanted to meet<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Wanted to build a
bridge to her heart under his feet<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The man in the ground
just lay under the sun<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And Theresa told her
aunt that her father could come<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And then there he was
with his eyes to the path<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">At her front door and
Theresa wanted to laugh<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Here was the man who’d
watched her life begin</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Asking and crying for
her to let him come in<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I’m so sorry</span></i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"> he said and wrung hard at his hands<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Please can I try to make you understand?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa stood alone
but felt something shift<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Heard soil break apart
and grass and dirt lift<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Behind her she knew
the man was stood there<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">One hand on her
shoulder to show that he cared<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The man in the ground
had her back now she knew<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">So she said to her
father what she felt was true<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Dad</span></i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">, she said and he started to weep<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">As for the first time
years he heard her voice speak<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I forgive you</span></i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"> she said and gave him one kiss<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">But that’s all I have, that’s all that there
is<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She shut the door and
saw him through the glass<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">As he slow retreated
back into her past<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://cache1.asset-cache.net/gc/200295352-001-silhouette-of-man-knocking-on-frosted-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=tkllx965JC27vLdfjqrZoWr8HtEhUiF19pHV4T3%2BCiIoS4r%2BEllL8QmQMjYdcpWHK3frjQSjj3gS7TN2IHuQtw%3D%3D" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cache1.asset-cache.net/gc/200295352-001-silhouette-of-man-knocking-on-frosted-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=tkllx965JC27vLdfjqrZoWr8HtEhUiF19pHV4T3%2BCiIoS4r%2BEllL8QmQMjYdcpWHK3frjQSjj3gS7TN2IHuQtw%3D%3D" height="261" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The man in the ground
was laying at peace<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">But she saw dirt on
the carpet down by her feet<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The man in the ground
lay under the sky<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">With daisies growing
close to his left eye<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa, the girl, who
was no longer a child<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Saw wind move the
grass so it appeared that he smiled<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa went to study
and Aunt Josie cried<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">As her heart filled
with hope and then filled with pride<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa studied hard
and came home each term<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And laughed and
related all that she’d learnt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Then she’d go to the
garden and give to the man<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Small samples of soil
she’d saved in a can<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Dirt from her
university and sand from the shore<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Dirt from a pub that
she liked and then more<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Spoonfuls of soil from
places she’d been<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She scattered on the
man and the grass wet and green<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And the man lay at
rest with his arms behind his head<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Just like a man lazing
on Sunday in bed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa finished
university and found her feet keen<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">To go seeking vistas
and sights yet unseen<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She explained to Aunt
Josie that it was time to travel<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">To see what was out
there and the future unravel<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She flew to Morocco
and Vietnam and Laos<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Sending back postcards
of where she was now<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She travelled through
Europe and Russia as well<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Mailing back promises
of stories to tell<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She lived there in
London and Hamburg and Spain<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And criss-crossed the continent
cheaply by train<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She came back before
Christmas in her 23<sup>rd</sup> year<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And Aunt Josie opened
the door with excitement and cheer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">They talked and they
sipped as Theresa told tales<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Of eating bugs, horse
meat, intestines and snails<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She showed Josie a
tattoo she’d gotten in Mumbai<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The date her mum was
born and the date that she’d died<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And then she told Aunt
Josie the thing she had to say<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Aunt Josie, I don’t know if you know this….I’m
gay<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Aunt Josie smiled and
said that she knew<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">But I didn’t want to say anything, it was all up to
you<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Josie sat happy and so
very proud of this girl<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Who’d climbed such a
mountain to be here in this world<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa the girl with
the wild furious rages<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Was now a young woman
writing her pages<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa then sat with
the man in the ground<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Told him of her
journeys to the humming bee sound<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She pulled a tobacco
tin from out of her clothes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Opened it and inhaled
happily through her nose<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">This is the world, I’ve bought it to you<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">A spoonful of soil
from every country she’d been through<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Mud from Siem Reap
near Ankor Watt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Soil from Italy where
she’d briefly stopped<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">A scoop of America and
a dash of southern Spain<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">A pinch of Germany
near where she caught a train<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">A little bit of London
and a wee dash of Wales<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And a wet piece of
Scotland dug up in a gale<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Sand from the Red Centre
near Uluru<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">All safely transported and bought back for you<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">A little of Russia and
a touch of Nepal<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She kissed each offering and watched the dirt fall<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And this,</span></i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"> she told him <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">is from the
seas I have seen<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The oceans and rivers of the places I’ve been<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/cme_public_images/www_livestrong_com/photos.demandstudios.com/90/233/fotolia_4252533_XS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/cme_public_images/www_livestrong_com/photos.demandstudios.com/90/233/fotolia_4252533_XS.jpg" height="313" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The man in the ground
lay with arms behind his head<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">As any man who was
lazing on Sunday in bed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The dirt scattered
softly and water trickled slow<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Little pieces of the
places that he could not go<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Then Theresa lay with
him and she let herself doze<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And woke with a flower
on top of her clothes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Aunt Josie was helping
at a sausage sizzle one day<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">When the end of her
life swift had its way<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">A stroke seized her
mind and sent her to sleep<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And she woke uncertain and
unable to speak<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa rushed to her
bed and held her good hand<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Telling Josie she loved
her hoping she’d understand<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Aunt Josie smiled weakly
and blinked one tired eye<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Amazed that time had
so swift passed her by<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa hugged her and
asked her <i>please</i> just to stay<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And in the warmth of
that moment Josie passed away<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa wept then in that bright
hospital room<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Feeling her time with Aunt Josie had gone far to soon<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">One week later
with her aunts’ final remains<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa sat in the
garden with the man once again<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">This is my Aunty; she’s left the house to me,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">This is where my heart is and where I will be<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And she scattered
the ashes right next to the man<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Hoping he would keep
Josie safe and warm in his hands<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa found love in
buying vintage clothes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">As she sneezed from
the dust that tickled her nose<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">A tissue was handed
from a woman named Jane<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Who fell onto her
heart like the softest of rain<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa and Jane soon
shared life together<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And though they
couldn’t marry they promised forever<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">They laughed,
worked, adopted and grew<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Went on marches for injustice and equality too<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">They sat sipping wine
on calm Sunday nights<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">While the kids they’d
given homes lay lit by nightlights<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa lived a life
shared with tears and with laughs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And visits down the
garden to the man in the grass<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Jane and Theresa,
Theresa and Jane<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Became grandparents
three times and then once again<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The fourth was a frowning girl named Collette<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Who was bitterly angry
and savagely direct<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Her first word was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">No</i> and the next <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Go Away</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa told the man
laughing one cool winters day<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She was older now with
her hair wispy thin<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">But she had the same
sparkle and the same happy grin<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She laughed with the
man at Collette’s latest wrath<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Throwing mud at the
clothes that had all just been washed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She did it because she was wearing odd socks<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Pelted the sheets with mud and dirty old rocks<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And as she laughed
with the man Theresa felt strange<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Like something in her
chest had fast rearranged<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Oh</span></i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"> she said as her breathing grew still<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And she sat back in
her chair before she could spill<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She looked back at the
house where Jane gently waved<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Where
grandchildren were laughing at the games that they played<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Am I dying?</span></i><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"> she asked of the man in the ground<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">But her words were
impossible to bring into a sound<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Her eyesight grew
darker as the bees hummed close by<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And Jane saw Theresa
sleep instead of seeing her die<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">It was half hour later
when Jane bought her a wine<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">That she found our Theresa had run out of time<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://christinabennettme.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/hour-glass.jpg?w=1400" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://christinabennettme.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/hour-glass.jpg?w=1400" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">But in that hour
something had quietly stirred<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And something
impossible impossibly occurred<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa was sat in her
chair calm at peace<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Looking rested and loved
not cold and deceased</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">n reds, blues and yellows laid with such care<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Hundreds of flowers
had been woven into her hair<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Jane sought permission
and it was allowed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">To inter Theresa right
there in the ground<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Beside the man only
Theresa could see<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Under the warmth of
the sun and the hum of the bee<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Jane laid her to rest
with joy at their life<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">My beloved, my best friend, my lover and wife<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.rainbow-careers.be/Repository/Cached/Stockphotos/shutterstock_132632972-piece-625.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.rainbow-careers.be/Repository/Cached/Stockphotos/shutterstock_132632972-piece-625.jpg" height="112" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Then a band played old
love songs and cakes were devoured<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The sun sparkled
through crystals and rainbows were flowered</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Jane wept long and
often but she laughed much as well<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And when anyone asked
she had stories to tell<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Her children and grand
children held her love dear<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">That even now widowed
Jane was glad to be here<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And a week later
Collette was visiting filled with ire<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Her parents tugging
their hair at the girl there on fire<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Collette knocked over
the table and shouted out <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">NO</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And stormed outside where
her Grandmother would go<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Collette sat near
where Gran T had been lain<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And shouted in
frustration and fury again<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Collette was 5 and
possessed of such aggression<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">That instead of soft
toys rage was her possession<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">But there in the
garden Collette found she could see<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Her grandmother, Aunt Josie - and he<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">A man lying resting
with his arms under his head<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Just like a man lazing
on Sunday in bed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Her grandmother
Theresa placed one hand to her lips<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Then winked at
Collette and blew her a kiss<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The man smiled broadly
and Collette felt safe from harm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And knew that speaking would help her feel calm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">So she stumbled and
uttered her words in a rush<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">As Theresa nodded and
then said to her <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hush</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Any time you are raging or torn up inside<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Come visit us here with nothing to hide<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Send your fury down into the lava below<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Let it warm up the world and help the trees
grow<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">We are here my love, any time you need speak<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">At the end of the garden, just come here and
seek<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And at the end of
the garden outside of the home</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Where Jane still lives
warmly, well loved but alone<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Theresa, Aunt Josie and the Man in the Ground<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Hear the world
ageing and every soft sound<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Collette comes to
them often and her rage slips away</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And they lay
there together at peace at the ebb of the day</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2598166057200681836.post-5662716855527807472016-04-30T18:18:00.001-07:002016-11-21T15:43:43.784-08:00Sailor And The Girl in All Books<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">When Sailor was 3 his mum read to him nightly<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Pointing to the
pictures and holding him tightly<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She read of
elephants escaping the zoo<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Of wizards and
whales and sea monkeys too<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She read and he
frowned at the things he heard<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Staring intently at
the parts with no words<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Outside his home as
slowly he grew<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The sun rose and set
and the birds swiftly flew<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The cars parked at
kerbside were red, blue and green<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And clouds hung
soft fatly like thought bubble dreams<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The car colours dulled
as they sat there unwashed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And though it was
sunny the trees curled with frost</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">When he was 5 he
was sounding out phrases with care<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Stuttering over words
that he could see there<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">But with each Red Fish
and Blue Fish and Cat in the Hat<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He was sure there were
more words to read than just that<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">At the foot of each
page another sentence he'd see<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Which he slowly
sounded - <i>Sailor, rescue me</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">New cars on Brent
Street were muted and gray<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And the slide in the
kid’s park was taken away<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Tape sealed the
park and the gate was now locked<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">But no parents
noticed as they tugged kids to the shops<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Clouds bruised
with rain and wind whipped up leaves<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">As stray dogs sniffing
grass snorted and sneezed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">When he was 7 he
was tucked up in bed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Pockmarked with rash
coloured chicken pox red<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Outside rain
hammered hard on the pane<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Sluiced down filthy
walls and into the drain<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Sailor read about
Bilbo and the dragon and gold<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
He saw one more line – <i>Sailor please, it’s dark and it’s cold</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The bookstore in town
closed down with a sigh<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Replaced by a shop
selling bland tasting pies<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The paintings of the
ocean in the cafes and bars<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Were replaced with
postcards of black and white cars<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The cinema showed only sequels and remakes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And the swimming pool
had locks placed on the gates</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">When he was 9 Sailor
was addicted to sports<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Books he loved
but it was goals that he sought<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Sailor was stronger
and taller and fast<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He didn’t
win every race but he rarely came last<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He limped through one
book and it took most of the year<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
But on each page he
saw the words <i>Sailor, I’m here</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">School camp was
cancelled due to asbestos concerns<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Cooking classes were
cancelled for fears about burns<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Art class was
shortened to make way for more math<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The art teacher
retired having <em>had quite enough of all that<o:p></o:p></em></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Graffiti on walls
became signs warning of thieves<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And the trees sadly swayed
as they lost all their leaves<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">11 year old Sailor was jogging back home<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And was hit by a truck
crossing the road on his own<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
The driver white faced
said <i>He ran into the street,<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>I hit the brakes but
I knocked him clear off his feet</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Sailor leg plastered
was confined to his bed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And given a
stack of books to keep his brain fed</span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Birthday cakes with
electric candles as flames were unsafe<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Games deemed too
competitive were gradually replaced<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">People on streets
seemed to dress all alike<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Catching the bus
rather than risk taking a bike<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Every person sitting
was lost in a screen<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Playing a re-run rather
than dreaming a dream<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Sailor yawned and he
itched and he longed to be free<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">On his PlayStation or
iPad or on the PC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">But mum said he
must read at least 3 hours a day<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Flex your brain
before those stupid games that you play</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">So Sailor cracked a
book as his bones slowly re-knit<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And saw on the page
words that just didn’t fit<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Sailor please I am
here as I have been for years</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The words on the
page made his eyes wet with tears<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Sailor please oh
please oh please rescue me</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He showed his mum but
she could not see<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Sailor please you must break me out</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Sailor lay there uncertain
and riven with doubt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">That long summer as
his bones slow repaired<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Sailor scoured his
books for the extra words there<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Sailor I’m
imprisoned, break me free from these bars<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>I need sun light
and moon light and sight of the stars</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Sailor threw down his
book and closed his eyes hard and tight</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
And his mum shouted <i>Sailor, if you won’t read then please write</i><br />
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/86/Modern-ftn-pen-cursive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="154" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/86/Modern-ftn-pen-cursive.jpg" width="320" /></a></i></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Flu jabs and vitamins
and modified crops<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Jeans for one season
and super tough socks<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">TV’s that learnt what
you liked to view<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Stock piling ever more
shows just for you<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Sailors mother stopped
reading as she gazed at her shows<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Snugged in the lounge
room where apathy grows<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Sailor stared at a
page and held a pen in his hand<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And wrote down the
words<em> I don’t understand</em></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He blinked and he
stared and didn’t know what to do<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">When he saw the words
<em>Sailor I believe so strongly in you</em></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">His pen quivered and
hovered before he wrote again<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><em>How is it that you
know me and my name?</em></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He waited, watched, wondered
and stared<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">As the words
danced on the page before settling there<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Sailor I’ve known you
since the first book you saw<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Crying when mum
stopped because you wanted more<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>I’m trapped in pages
and paragraphs and tales<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Tumbling with Hobbits
and Morlocks and whales</i></span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><a href="http://static1.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_super/8/83918/1803311-morlock1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://static1.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_super/8/83918/1803311-morlock1.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>I’ve locked here for
millennia, or a week or a day<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>But I know you can
save me, you’ll figure a way</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And Sailor wrote in
confusion, without a clue<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><em>I don’t know
anything, please who are you?</em></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And the page scuttled
with words that formed in his view<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>My name is Libraro -
I believe in you!</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The weather reported
temperatures warming<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Ice shelves fast
melting ignored as a warning<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The barrier reef
bleaching into bitter decay<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">As screens flashed
with games that chased boredom away<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The cars on the road
were sullen and dark<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And no one heard music
in the beat of a heart<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Sailor was finally
allowed from his bed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">With the bones now
repaired in each of his legs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Though he believed in
Libraro he was still just a boy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">A boy in sunlight is a
boy lost in joy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">How could be free her
as he swung from a tree<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><em>What can I do? I’m just
simply me</em></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Sailor grew older and
became lost in the facts<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Devoured by formulae and grammatical syntax<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He chiselled essays, doggerel
and algebraic equations<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Charted averages and
percentages and military invasions<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">His mind was diluted
with revision soon to be tested<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And though he still
read his imagination was rested<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He waded into exams
focused on scores<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Steeled for each test as
though tilting at war<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">His results made his
mother beam with such joy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Sailor her young man now
grown from a boy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Sailor left home and
studied his degree<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And those words on the
page he no longer could see<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">A banker a realtor a
doctor or law?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The choices were there
and Sailor was sure<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He gazed at a
paintbrush but knew there was no pay<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">If he chose to direct
his future that way<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">So Sailor worked hard
towards his life choice<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Selling insurance with
his welcoming voice<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Then Sailor was
married with a child of his own<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And he read to her one
night in the warmth of home<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Slowly he sounded out
words to his baby girl<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Tracing his fingers through
her ringlets and curls<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Then at the end of the
book he read calmly out loud<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Sailor you’re grown -
I’m just ever so proud</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Outside in the street
headlights fast flicker flashed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">A homeless old lady
found a full meal in the trash<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">A cat rubbed against
the leg of a man passing by<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Who stroked at its ear
without thinking why<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">As a shooting star
shot several eyes looked up<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And seeing the stars
their minds came unstuck<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">In his arms his
daughter lay fast asleep <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And Sailor was scared
but managed to speak<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><em>Libraro</em> he whispered
and the book ran with words<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">It’s been so many years since my name I have
heard<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Sailor please now release me from pages<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I’ve waited and watched you for heartbeats and
ages<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">But Sailor whispered
<em>I just don’t know how</em></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And he heard his
mothers voice come to him now<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">In the warm of the
room he held his girl tight<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Hearing his mum say <i>Sailor, if you won’t read then please write</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">So he wrote these word
touching the page only slightly<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>When Sailor was three
his mum read to him nightly</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The moon glowed
brighter and the ocean exhaled<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">In the dark in the
depths came the singing of whales<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">iPhones fell dark as
conversation started<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And kisses blossomed
with joy now full hearted<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Music was played with
volume and passion<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">As toes tapped and
knees bopped so dancing may happen<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And Sailor wrote out a
long sprawling verse<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Believing it may end
with the lifting of curse<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He wrote it for his
daughter and for you and for me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He wrote so Libraro
may now be free<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And he wrote down these words
with purest belief<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>LIBRARO, I NOW GIVE YOU RELEASE</i><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And the page before him
blossomed with gold and with flame<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">As Libraro stepped from
the page to her freedom again<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She smiled with words
tumbling from her hair<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">All words and all
languages filling the air<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She smiled and she
spun and thoughts flew from her form<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She danced and she
sang through the night to the dawn</span><br />
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://grantamechurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/wordexplosion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://grantamechurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/wordexplosion.jpg" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">When the sun rose
Sailor heard laughter outside<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">As people blinked daylight
back into their eyes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He saw people pick up
litter and look to the distance<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Realising with wonder their
life and existence<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Libraro is everywhere,
every house and home<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Libraro is free and no
longer alone<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">So Sailor writes for his
daughter and his son on the way<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He writes words in
rhyme so he’ll know what to say<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The T.V. is silent and he cooks food from scratch<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He grows carrots and broccoli
in a vegetable patch<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He heard a man strum a
guitar by the bus stop tonight<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And he threw him a
coin in that shone in moonlight<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Libraro is free,
you’ve read that its so<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Her heartbeats in pen
ink where sentences grow<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Inspiring chapters and
verses and statues and songs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Creating free expression where nothing is wrong</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The girl in all books
is the girl running free<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">In every sentence I
read she is smiling at me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Sailor reads stories and writes them as well</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Sailor's children dream versions waking eager to tell<br />
There is no darkness now that a laugh cannot light<br />
No sleep is disturbed if a stories told right<br />
The world with it's pain will spring hope forever<br />
With nothing insurmountable when we all come together<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/ce/54/de/ce54de953bfb16721d3e442eb936cbec.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/ce/54/de/ce54de953bfb16721d3e442eb936cbec.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Libraro is waiting for your turn to come</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Reading your story now it has begun</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
She's smiling and hoping and cheering for you</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Your biggest fan waiting to see what you do</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Libraro is there for that wonderful when</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
The moment you sit and pick up your pen</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
<o:p></o:p><br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2598166057200681836.post-25400606826245705752016-02-20T21:54:00.001-08:002016-02-20T21:54:35.814-08:00Room 03<div class="MsoNormal">
The call came in about
an agitated man on Mount Street.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">It was early morning,
the sun just nudging upward, and I was a few sips into my coffee. My partner grunted
something about the Irish, whiskey and venereal disease as I shuffled out to
our car. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He threw me the keys
and took three swift drags on a cigarette, then tossed the rest towards the
homeless man who lay sleeping by the wall at the back of the station. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Driving across town
joggers pounded the pavement alone or in packs. “Fucking mothers jogging with
prams are the worst,” Davis said pressing the switch for his window and gulping
his black coffee.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I didn’t reply. I
couldn't handle Davis until I’d had a full hit of caffeine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I pulled up outside
the unit block and as I stepped out I heard him, the agitated man. I jogged up
the steps, Davis slouching behind me. Along the upper walkway that ran past
five front doors, all ajar and full of eyes, was a sharp left turn and a man
waving his arms frantically as a woman peered out from a gap in her door. I
caught sight of the chain lock she had.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“Let me the fuck in.
Who the fuck are you? Where is Meg?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He sounded close to
tears and I coughed and went to place a hand on his shoulder but stopped just
before.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“Hi” I said, light
tone, non-judgemental, desperately needing more coffee. “What’s the problem
here?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He turned to me. He
was early thirties. Short cropped hair. Slight stubble. Wide eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“Officer, my unit has
been broken into and my wife kidnapped. The woman inside will not answer me.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I looked at the woman.
She was almost in tears. “Miss Derickson?” I asked and she nodded.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“You know her?” the
agitated man asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“Miss Derickson is the
one who phoned us. Now how about you come away from the door here, and we’ll
try and work all of this out.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The agitated man
looked down the stairs to where a hills hoist was hung with faded towels and
torn t-shirts. He turned back to the door and the stared at me with desperate
eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“Where’s Meg?” he said
and then collapsed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">At the station I sat
him in room 03 and ran his name through the system. He’d told us his version of
things. He’d gone out for a morning run just after 5am. He’d done his five km
and come home to find the door locked. He’d left it on the catch. He’d knocked
lightly and then harder when Meg didn’t answer. Eventually the door opened and
a stranger was staring back at him. He’d asked where Meg was and the woman had
shrugged and said he was at the wrong address. He’d shaken his head. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Explained
he’d lived there for two years. Then as she’d gone to close the door he’d
jammed the toe of his runner into the gap and demanded to know where Meg was.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Shortly after we’d
been called.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">After calming him down
he’d told us his name – Peter Reynolds – and repeatedly given us the address
we’d been called to as his home address. Then he’d given us his mobile number
and that of Meg. He tried to call her on his phone, a shonky old Motorola flip
top, but frowned and said he wasn’t getting any service. I punched her number
into my phone but was told that the number dialled was not recognised.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I showed him my phone
from the front seat and shrugged. “Sorry Peter, looks like her number has been
disconnected.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He stared at me, then
I realised it wasn’t me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He was staring at my
phone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I went into room 03
and placed a coffee and two slices of burnt fruit toast onto the table. Peter
looked up at me, his crappy old Motorola inert on the tabletop. I had vague
memories of playing Pairs or Snake on something like that when I should have
been writing essays.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“Have you found Meg?”
he asked immediately. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I gestured to the
toast. “Eat mate, then we’ll see what we can work out.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">His eyes found the
food and I saw saliva spill from his mouth. He snatched at the toast and took a
huge bite, margarine running over his lips. As he swallowed he winced and
sipped the coffee, hot though it was. He cleared the plate in under a minute
and chugged the coffee down.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“Hungry huh?” I asked
him and he looked at me confused.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“I guess, yeah”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I noticed his runners.
They looked like a pair I’d had back in uni. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“So Peter Reynolds,
husband of Meg Reynolds.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He nodded.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“Tennant of Unit 7,
183 Mount Street.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He nodded again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“Employed at State
Transi</span>t. Project Manager. Graduate of Sydney University.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He nodded again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“Have you found Meg?
Only…”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I pulled my phone out
and he stared at it in wonder. I pulled up the screen I’d found after a few
tries on Google. A headline. I turned and showed it to Peter, believing this
would end whatever prank was being played. Some kind of Channel Seven paid
actor trying to revive cold cases. Some wannabe angling to get his hands on
money from a deceased estate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Peter stared and read
the words I knew to be there. “Man Vanishes During Morning Run.” Beneath the
headline were details about Peter Reynolds. About no trace being found. Suicide
being suspected. The shoreline searched.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“What?” Peter’s mouth
hung open. “I went for a run this morning.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“Peter that’s
impossible. In fact I don’t think it is possible you are Peter Reynolds so how
about you start telling me what’s really going on here.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“What do you mean I’m
not Peter Reynolds?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I looked at him. The
man clearly in his early thirties.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“Peter Reynolds would
be 43 now. And unless you have a damn good moisturiser mate you are not 43.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He put a hand to his
face. He coughed. He looked like he might throw up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“F…f….f 43? Meg….where
is Meg? She was preg….” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And he passed out
again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He was Peter Reynolds.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">We dug up some photos
and he was an exact match. He was still sat in room 03 nervously fidgeting as
we traced Meg on the system. She was in Queensland now. Married. Two kids. One
age 11, the other age 6. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">11. Peter’s kid. A
boy. She’d named him Peter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I called Meg and heard
a cheery voice answer. I slowly, carefully, laid out what was happening and the
cheerful voice vanished. Silence replaced it. After a while I asked the
question I needed to know. “Meg, is there anything distinguishing about Peter,
any way we can do a verification that this is him?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She was quiet but then
said in a barely audible whisper. “Top of his left shoulder. Peter has a scar.
It looks like a bite. He fell backwards onto a tent peg as a child.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I thanked her and she
asked what next. I told her we would be in touch and left her world broken in
Brisbane and turned back to room 03 in Sydney.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Peter pulled his t
shirt aside and I saw what looked to be a long faded puckered bite on his
shoulder. He told me about camping. Falling. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He asked about Meg.
About the pregnancy. His eyes were running red. A phone trilled outside and I
realised I’d left the door open. His eyes snapped to the electronic ringing and
I saw them go opaque. His lips trembled and I turned to look behind me. For a
moment I saw the room beyond darken, as though the fluoro tubes had all lost
current, but then the room brightened and the phone was answered.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I looked back at
Peter. His face was white and he was tugging at his left arm, pulling at the
skin above his elbow. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“Teeth” he said and
started to sob.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I wanted rid of this.
I typed everything up and called through to missing persons and the on duty
psyche support. The man in 03 was brittle. I could see him through the glass
tugging at his elbow, snapping glances at the window. Three more rounds of
fruit toast had been cleared away and he was on his third coffee.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I was about to hit
send on the file when it clicked that I needed a photo. I opened the door and
asked Peter if I could take a quick snap. He looked in wonder at my phone as I
turned it to one side and snapped a quick picture of him and then before he
could say anything I returned to my desk.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I flicked the picture
across to my desktop and dragged it to the e-mail. Then out of habit double
clicked it open to make sure it was clear. There on my screen was Peter,
staring in desperation. Mouth open. Hands slightly above the table. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And above his left elbow
a long dark line that curled and drifted upwards towards the ceiling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I took six more
pictures. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">On my phone the line
was just visible but on the bigger screen it was perfectly clear. A thick dark
almost wet looking rope snaking from a twist around the skin above his elbow
and drifting towards the ceiling. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I showed it to Davis
who shrugged and said “fuck it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I showed it to a few
others who called it fucking weird but showed no other interest. Then I got a
wave that Line 3 was a woman called Meg calling from Brisbane. I reached for
the phone and wondered if I should patch it through to room 03 and let her
speak to Peter. I wish I had.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">As I lifted the phone
I saw Davis walk into the room and saw him reach out to Peter to shake his
hand. A few more questions. A different angle of approach. See if we could get
to the bottom of this. As their hands touched I saw Peter snap tight as though
he’d been yanked. Davis went rigid and in a moment the room was empty. Just a
curl of dust in the air.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">In my ear was Meg’s
voice. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">She was asking to
speak with Peter. She’d know if it was him if she could just speak to Peter.
Could she speak to Peter? Please?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Around me the station
went to hell as people started to scream. The room wasn’t empty as I had first
thought. The ceiling was covered in blood and as I tried to answer Meg I saw it
start to rain down along with what I thought was a nose.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Hours later I was
allowed to leave. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The pictures on my
phone had been seized. My account of the morning taken. Verified. Signed off
on. Room 03 was sealed. Davis was missing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I heard a disjointed
story that in Petersham a guy who’d gone missing eight years earlier had turned
up with one leg missing screaming outside his old home. As soon as an ambo had
touched him they’d both vanished in a gout of blood and bone fragments. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Then as I left Jordan
at the front desk told me he’d just heard that in Maroubra a man had been
running screaming through the streets and been recognised as a dodgy fucker
who’d vanished himself three or four years back to duck out of a debt. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Someone had filmed him
and Jordan showed me the clip. Teenagers laughing at the running man. A
concerned Joe Public stepping into the road to calm him. The man stopping and
looking desperately over his shoulder. Turning to the man and breaking into a
scream. The man putting his hand out to placate. That simple human instinct of
touch. Hey man it’s ok, here calm down, take it easy, let’s talk. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And the minute they
touched the red and the screams and…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I didn’t go home. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I went to the headland
where Peter had vanished. I followed the route Meg had reported twelve years
before. Stepping along the path eyes scanning for the past. He ran laps along
the headland, down the snaking path towards the Dunningham Reserve, back around
and up Beach Street, hooking right up the hill and connecting back again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I walked it three
times and on the third I stopped and looked at the beach, at hundreds of happy
people basking and swimming. I felt a chill and for a moment the sky seemed
darker. As though someone had pulled a filter across the sun. a greenish
filter. Sickly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I pulled out my phone
and snapped a shot of the beach. I looked down at the screen and saw the
greenish hue was present. I saw<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that
from the sky, like spilt ink, black wisps were curling down towards the sand. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I turned and shot a
snap of the town and looked down at the screen. Black lines snaking from the
sky towards the shops and streets and lives. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I looked up at the
late afternoon blue sky and the birds wheeling in the air. I raised my phone
and took a shot directly above me. I held the phone there and looked at the
image. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">It was black. It was
fringed with green. It was stretching towards me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Now I sit in the
basement of my building. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Now I eat cold beans
from the can. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I piss in the empty
water bottles I’ve already drunk. I shit in the corner on the floor. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I smoke more that I
eat. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I hear screams. I used
to hear screams. I’ve been down here for eight days. I locked myself in after I
took the pictures on the headland. I’m sure some people fought back. I’m sure
the army made valiant attempts. I’m sure mankind did it’s best. And its worst.
I’m sure for every moment of valour there was a rape. For every life saved
there was a life shattered. Whatever happened though I stayed down here. Even
when I heard pounding on the door I stayed down here. Even when my snatched
food supplies dwindled I stayed down here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Then there was a
moment a day, two days ago, where I knew, I fucking knew, I was the only person
left on the planet. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I knew every other
life had gone. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I hear them, the
creatures at the end of the tendrils. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>hear them howling into the green night.
I smell them, burnt sugar and copper. I hear a grinding sound of teeth gnashing
at my world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I scrawl by
candlelight. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">My phone is almost out
of charge. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Peter Reynolds slipped
into some other, some other fucking place. Some place hungry. He slipped in and
slipped back. Just a blink, a flicker, but twelve years here. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Other people slipped
through too and slipped back. On the same day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">But they weren’t sent
home. They were bait on hooks. They were worms on fishing lines. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">And I guess we taste
good. A fat fucking reservoir of food.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">My last cigarette. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">My phone is on the red
line. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The electricity is
gone. The signal is gone. My lighter sparks and then catches and I hear that
creature scream as the flame flickers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">They can smell me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I look at the red
line. 5%? 2%? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The battery almost
gone. For some reason that breaks my heart more than anything else. It’ll never
be charged again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I point the phone
ahead of me and take one shot. With the flash on. I don’t need to see the
screen. I saw it in the light of the flash. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Black tendrils all
around me, snaking closer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">A wet wide maw of
teeth stained in blood and torn faces.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I’ll stand in a moment
and toss my lit cigarette at it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The candle is
guttering and my cigarette is almost gone and I can feel something tug at my
leg and if I can just keep writing then someho <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2598166057200681836.post-58855674607199605222015-12-29T16:41:00.000-08:002016-11-20T19:08:41.490-08:00The Girls Gone Away<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/4c/16/9e/4c169e18ea49ee304ad5096ac05062cb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/4c/16/9e/4c169e18ea49ee304ad5096ac05062cb.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Twenty years ago the
first girl became lost<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Somewhere between
O’Neils fields and the frost<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Her footsteps could be
seen so clear in the snow<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Away from the village to
where no one would go<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Beyond the farm house,
and far past the fence line<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Beyond all that O’Neil
swore “is all mine”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Into the woods where
nothing ever was found<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>With nothing to see
but bare trees and cold ground<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The village searched,
sobbed and accused <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>As rage bought them
nothing and hearts slowly bruised<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And days became weeks
and weeks became longer<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the memory of the
girl grew fainter not stronger<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Silently they agreed
to let no feelings show<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>But hold their pain
deep and there let it fester and grow<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Until one frosty
morning it just came to be<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>That the image of the
girl no villager could see<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Her parents were
workers and by working each day<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>They forgot the pure joy
of the girl gone away<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And life carried on as
life always will<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>With no remnant
remaining, just long winter chill<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Then seventeen years
ago the second girl became lost<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Somewhere between
O’Neils fields and the frost<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Footsteps were clear
and easily traced<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>She’d walked from the
town with no soul giving chase</i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://cache3.asset-cache.net/gc/159274068-girl-with-balloon-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=LR3sIM4BMtBWzZnu2h3KBtN2G%2FdlyhEGyjOqHKMz4stmZzuIIHTmj2N7HsQolLCn" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cache3.asset-cache.net/gc/159274068-girl-with-balloon-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=LR3sIM4BMtBWzZnu2h3KBtN2G%2FdlyhEGyjOqHKMz4stmZzuIIHTmj2N7HsQolLCn" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><br /></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>She’d walked away in
the depths of the night<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Out of their homes and
out of their sight<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And as the villagers
searched, sobbed and accused<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>They felt familiar
pain in their hearts once more bruised<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And this time as they
searched a boy aged just six<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Saw the old scarecrow
of torn cloth and sticks<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Saw its head tiled now
on one side<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Saw it turn just so
slightly with a smile open wide<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He saw one stick arm
raise one branch to its lips<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And he saw old decay
blow just one kiss<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The girl not found remained
unreturned<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the children were
berated, why could they not learn?<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Stay in your homes,
don’t leave don’t take risks<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>They were tucked warm
and whole, warned and then kissed<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And time did its march
and inched forward once more<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And feelings were
locked up for certain and sure<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Had her name been
Suzanne? Or Airdrie? Or Jane?<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>No matter, no mention,
it would not happen again<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Then fourteen years
ago the third girl became lost<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Somewhere between
O’Neils fields and the frost<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Footprints again marching
out in the snow<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>While people slept at
home with coal fires aglow<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>While people slept
deeply eyes closed on the world<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The village of Reigns
End lost its third girl<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The villagers were
furious and afraid and irate<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Hammering new fences
with and a barricade gate<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>They defended instead
of searching afresh<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>They defended the
north, then the south and the west<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>They built walls from
rocks and dirt and wood<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And declared the village
sealed closed now for good<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Then the boy, now aged
a strong wiser nine<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Crept to the field
beyond the fence line</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://art.kenyon.edu/studioart/facultypages/Spaid/images/plain_pictures/PP-FarmAcrossField7x7web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://art.kenyon.edu/studioart/facultypages/Spaid/images/plain_pictures/PP-FarmAcrossField7x7web.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He skulked to the
scarecrow frozen and still<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And felt afraid and
uncertain and bitterly ill<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The scarecrow in
moonlight was a shadow and form<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Unmoving, uncaring and
tattered from storms<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>“Where is she?” the
boy asked and the scarecrow remained<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Not speaking or
winking, completely unchanged<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>“Where is she?” he
asked and kicked at the figure<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Who whipped up its head,
as its smile grew bigger<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Its eyes blinked wide
open and his mouth was a leer<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>“The girls are all
gone long ‘way from here”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Its voice was a hiss
of hoar’s frost and death<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the boy smelt sewerage
and death on its breath<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The boy ran screaming
and collapsed to his bed<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Where memories became
nightmares and nothing was said<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>For a week he was
feverish and pale and near departed<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>More stress on a
village so oft’ broken hearted<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Then temperature
dropped and appetite returned<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>But of what he’d seen no
parent or friend would learn<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>For as with the grief
that the town rushed to subdue<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The boy submerged his
encounter and believed it not true<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Seven years passed
this time before a new girl was lost<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Somewhere between
O’Neils fields and the frost<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>O’Neil was long dead
and his son moved away<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>But the fields were
O’Neils so the town’s folk would say<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>A new church had risen
and farming had changed<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And people had moved and
homes rearranged<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Old fears were
superstitions neither founded nor real<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And light and base
fact left all things revealed<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The girl simply vanished
just as with the others<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Walking away from her
family and her two baby brothers<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>No traces, no signs,
no hope, and no sight<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Just there during the
day and then gone to the night<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The villagers were
solemn and sombre and stoic<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>With no act undertaken
be they cowardly or heroic<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>They mumbled and trod
and gave heed to a search<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>But they never
mentioned loss or acknowledged hurt<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the boy now
sixteen huddled deep in his home<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Afraid to go out and
face things alone<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He knew the scarecrow
was in O’Neils field yet still<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Turning its head with
its slashed mouth and ill will<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He knew it was waiting
and abiding aware<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>But he just could not
move, just would not dare<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>So the year passed and
stained the boy in shame<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And he hung his head silently
absorbed all the blame<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the village
continued and never spoke of the loss<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the village
returned to winter and frost<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Then just three years
past, the boy now a man<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Turned to the fields
able now to understand<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The woods were no
danger, just the thing in the field<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The thing that one
winter had malice revealed<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The boy now a man with
girls of his own<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Who he watches each
night and never lets alone<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The boy now a man with
a mans pain and remorse<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And a mans intent to
alter an ill fates course<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the boy now a man
married to a wife he adores<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Who he loves as he can
despite his hearts flaws<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the woman his wife
sees the shadows in his eyes<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And waits each night for
him to speak ‘ere sunrise<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>But each night he is
stoic and silent once more<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And she loves him as
is but hopes for yet more<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the man he wakes in
darkness at one<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>With the earth hard and
icy and far from the sun<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And he hears a creak
on the stair and see’s a child of his own<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Stepping in her sleep to
go away from his home<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He leaps from the bed
and snatches his axe<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>As his girl steps out
side leaving bare footed tracks<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He shouts her name but
she yet does not hear<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Just walks away
surefooted and into his fear<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He pressed into the
wind that she does not feel<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And slips and trips on
the ice at his heal<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>She draws away as he
screams for her to wake<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Past the boundary and
the farm and the old rusted gate<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He staggers and weaves
and screams to the night<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Please let his girl be
alive and alright<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And in a shaft of the
moonlight he sees now revealed<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The scarecrow there waiting
no longer concealed.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Colossal, eight
legged, with its body hunched low<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Its many eyes all
ablaze with hatred to sow<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Under its body are
gathered webbed sack like pearls<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Each sack containing
bodies of the gone away girls<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The scarecrow was
hunched like a predator hunting<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Straw mouth and straw
throat growling and grunting<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The boy now a man now
a father stood resolved<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And called to the
daughter his heart longed to hold<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the village behind
him finally awoke<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Lit torches as remorse
and denial finally broke<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>They surged to the
field and the man with the axe<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the girl walking
closer to the loss and the black</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRBeos8xEeuY_Fjs04JzWjvrnEmiAPRxfi7lWcRzpRnze9tmqx3dj72i0F4Cbi6gDmlLD4I_Vz0j_2MSH3AuT4j2n20taqmnitFzQ23jypnHZA7o_X8X69VQa-NOX5DL-MoX_jMaFb/s320/torches+and+pichforksjpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRBeos8xEeuY_Fjs04JzWjvrnEmiAPRxfi7lWcRzpRnze9tmqx3dj72i0F4Cbi6gDmlLD4I_Vz0j_2MSH3AuT4j2n20taqmnitFzQ23jypnHZA7o_X8X69VQa-NOX5DL-MoX_jMaFb/s320/torches+and+pichforksjpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And with his village
now with him the mans bravery grew<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And he stepped to the
creature as a bitter wind blew<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The eyes of insanity
and night and despair<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Met the eyes of a
father filled only with care<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The man raised his axe
and the scarecrow raised limbs<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the axe swung wide
as the creature roared at him<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the daughter she
stopped and turned to her Dad<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Seeing him enraged and
frightened and screaming and mad<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And she looked to the sacks
so close now to hand<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>She blinked her eyes
clear and could now understand<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>It was on the town’s
grief that this the creature it fed<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Not on the girls gone
away and long believed dead<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>She could see through
the webbing to the girls inside<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Breathing so slowly these
white webbing dressed brides<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And she turned to her
father and hoped that he knew<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>That though her action
was reckless it was meant pure and true<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And screaming he saw
her dive to the sacks down beneath<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And he screamed out
her name to the girl out of reach<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>“No” he screamed
louder as she vanished from sight<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the creatures foul
snapped wildly to bite<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He screamed out again
now pinned where he lay<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Seeing the night darken
to black from cold gray<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the creature it
turned and sought the girl beneath<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Howling and roaring in
pained disbelief</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/PSM_V37_D052_Sector_of_a_dew_laden_orb_web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/PSM_V37_D052_Sector_of_a_dew_laden_orb_web.jpg" width="227" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>As sack after sack was
swift torn away<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The girl rolled and
stood and turned then to say:<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>“No more”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the villagers
surged forward with flame and with might<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And clove and slashed
and burnt this creature from night<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the scarecrow, the
spider, it howled and it hissed<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Surging and stamping and
slashing to resist<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The girl saw her
father and took up his axe<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And charged at the
scarecrow with relentless attack<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The scarecrow was
shrinking and bleeding and afraid<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Its stature diminished
as the girls were dragged away<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>It was hissing and
stamping with fear in its poise<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the man now a
father became once more just a boy<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Only this time fear would
be routed and the nights would be shorter<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The boy stood and took
the axe the axe from his daughter<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the blows rained
and splintered and severed<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the scarecrow
crumpled and bled into forever<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the daughter saw
her father the brave hearted man<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Saw his leg pulsing
blood and he unable to stand<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the girls gone
away now returned found arms<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>As their parents ran
screaming from their houses and farms<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Each girl had not aged
and looked just as they’d been<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Each blinked and
stretched now delivered from dreams<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Each held to sobbing
parents and received kisses and tears<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>As each was returned
from their families worst fears<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the father, the
man, the boy collapsed dead away<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>With a bite in his leg
scorching flesh grey<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>His daughter she
kissed him and felt skin turn ice<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And she turned to her
mother and sister that night<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>They wept together
over their now dying man<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Holding his loved head
and both of his coarse hands<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And he blinked one and
saw his wife and his girls<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And he coughed and he whispered
“You are my world”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Then breath ceased and
life flickered still<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the sun rose
unknowing as always it will <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the night frost
abated and melted to water<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the wife walked
back home with both of her daughters<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And their husband and
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>They never buried his
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And often remembered
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the days he had
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the grief they
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>As they spoke of him
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The scarecrow the
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The grass burnt beneath
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>It stayed grey and
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>So the villagers encircled
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>That grief has a home
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And that grief, though
painful, must stay connected<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Grief and loss so
easily swallow us whole<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Tear at our world and
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Grief chews and it
gnaws and it bruises and pains<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Takes everything clean
and leaves it bitter and stained<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>But grief is a product
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Of childish wonder that
nothing ever can destroy<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The memories of all
things are with us still<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>As always they have
been and always they will<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And those that we’ve
lost who we’ve loved and adored<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Should never be closed
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Turning from lost love
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>So if to anyone “I
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Then that person’s
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>So the boy now a man
now a father now dead<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Was held to the light
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the children of
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>That love and not fear
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<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>All loved and held
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>But her children and
grandchildren held her memory plain<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Because even in death loves
purity remains</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2598166057200681836.post-47665734767687327632015-08-01T02:46:00.000-07:002016-11-20T19:02:43.256-08:00O'Toole Tells Tales<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.lovethispic.com/uploaded_images/39381-Abandoned-Haunted-House.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.lovethispic.com/uploaded_images/39381-Abandoned-Haunted-House.jpg" height="229" width="320" /></a></div>
<i><br /></i>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><i>The house lay
forgotten at the end of the road</i></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Where no children, no pets
or postman would go<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The windows were
broken and the doors creaked on rust<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the carpets were
carpeted in layers of dust<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Whoever had lived
there was long lost today<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Whoever had lived
there, well no one could say<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Then one morning a van
trundled by<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Stopping beneath a
perfect blue sky<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And movers moved
swiftly with boxes and chairs<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Each shivering faintly
at forgotten nightmares<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>They worked as quickly
as working men could<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And unloaded the truck
onto bare boards of wood<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The neighbourly people
wondered and frowned<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>As word spread through
every café in town<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Someone had bought
that house long forgotten<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Where dust coughed and
spluttered and all things lay rotten<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Someone was coming quite
soon to move in<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Who could it be? Was
it a her? Or a him?<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The answer came
shortly as a red car arrived<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>With its owner slow stretching
from his long lonely drive<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>A man it was, a man
named O’Toole<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Who up until recently
had head-mastered a school<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>O’Toole was a man with
no child or wife<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Who’d worked every day
and called it a life<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>O’Toole was a barrel
chested man of age sixty-four<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Who had woken one
morning and decided “no more”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He abandoned his one
bedroom house in the city<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And decided to move somewhere
both quiet and pretty<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And after two weeks of
searching he knew what to do<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He’d buy an old house
and make it brand new<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And now here he stood
on this perfect blue day<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Looking at abandonment,
loss and decay<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He rolled up his
sleeves and picked up his tools<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And unloaded planks
and wire in spools<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Inside the yard where
the grass grew dry and thin<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He gazed at the house and
eyes gazed back at him<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://alfajriputra.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/dusty-room-800-600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://alfajriputra.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/dusty-room-800-600.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>That first day he
threw open all of the doors<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And with a new broom
he swept the old floors<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Explosions of dust
burst in clouds from the house<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Triggering sneezes
from a rat, cat and mouse<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He swept and he swept ‘til
the dust was all gone<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>“I’ll have this house
new” he thought “before long”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>That night he slept on
the bed that he’d bought<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Dreaming of classes
that he’d recently taught<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Around him the old house
creaked and adjusted<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>To being clean swept
and so thoroughly dusted<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And up in the attic
deep in the night<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Six pairs of eyes
blinked and turned left to right<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The eyes belonged to
children unknown and unfed<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>As these were children
who were sadly long dead<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>These were children
who’d had short lives of no care<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And who one cold
bitter winter had been abandoned right there<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>They’d died early that
winter with the saddest belief<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>That the saddest of
lives garner no ounce of relief<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The six children, half
girls and half boys<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Remained in the house
and spun dust into toys<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>As the windows cracked
and the garden overgrew<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The children continued
and the world never knew<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>They stayed at their
ages, from two up to twelve<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The youngest the boys
and the oldest the girls<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The next morning
O’Toole awoke and exclaimed<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>“Today that garden
will bloom once again”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He breakfasted on
coffee and sausage and eggs<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Chewing each mouthful
and drinking to dregs<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And as he was about to
take a shovel and set to his work<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He saw that his home again
sunken in dirt<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He frowned and he
pondered and picked up his broom<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And chased away dust again
from each buried room<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Had it blown in at
midnight from the garden outside?<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Swirling and whirling
as he dreamed safe inside?<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He swept and he swept
and then placed glass in frames<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Of the windows so to
stop this occurring again<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>That night he dreamed
of classes once more<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Reading stories to
children sat on the floor<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And as he slept three
boys age two, four and six<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Whipped up a perfect
dust and dirt mix<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And three girls age twelve,
eight and ten<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Spread candy floss
clouds of dust out again<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>So the next day was
filled with dusty disdain<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>O’Toole swept and
swept and swept yet again<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And later that
afternoon he repaired every door<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And sealed them all
fast and firm to be sure<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>With everything closed
and the dust chased away<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>O’Toole, with
satisfaction, called it a day<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>But that night instead
of retreating to sleep<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>O’Toole read his book and
heard the house creak<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And for reasons, if
asked, he could never explain<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>O’Toole cleared his
throat and strongly exclaimed<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>“Marley was dead, to
begin with” <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 108.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>and heard the house gasp<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>As six long dead
children heard someone reading at last<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://cdnvideo.dolimg.com/cdn_assets/36d51fd278d086f47c2cbbbdc8735e1a81667a91.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cdnvideo.dolimg.com/cdn_assets/36d51fd278d086f47c2cbbbdc8735e1a81667a91.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>O’Toole read A
Christmas Carol from commencement to end<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Then yawned and sighed
and slumbered again<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the children from
the attic thrilled and imagined<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The ghosts and the
characters Charles Dickens had fashioned<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the dust that each
night regathered<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>No longer came in and
no longer mattered<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>O’Toole the next day
sandpapered the floors<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Sandpapered the walls
and sandpapered the doors<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He prepared the
surfaces and started to paint<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>In shades blue and of
yellow he felt were quaint<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>That night he lit a
fire in the main room downstairs<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And settled himself in
an old leather chair<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He opened a new book
and once more read<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>To his invisible
audience of children long dead<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He read of Hobbits and
a dragon named Smaug<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Reading each page
luxuriantly loud<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And as the tale ended
and he fell to his ease<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The children stayed
with him, unable to leave<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>O’Toole dreamt that
night of the wife he’d not found<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Since his only true
love had been placed underground<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>She’d died aged just
twenty in a lake in the spring<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>A lake where O’Toole
was to propose with a ring<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He’d come back to the
world broken and shattered<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>As without his one
love whatever else mattered?<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He lay in his torpor
bereft and unclaimed<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Hating himself and
gathering blame<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He thought of her
dreams and made them his own<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And he realised a
future his true love had shown<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>A teacher and wife she
had hoped to be<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>“So a wifeless teacher
is what comes for me”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The house was painted
when he woke from his pain<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Softly crying Pippa,
that long cherished name<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He blinked away tears
as he wandered his home<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Heart broken and
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>For right before him
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>A two-year-old boy picked
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>O’Toole crouched down
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Who smiled right back
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He ran to the books
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Clapped with his hands
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Shortly thereafter he
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Who sat on the floor
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The two year old
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Of a beautiful white uncatchable
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And his sisters and
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The house was ignored
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And the boy fell to
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And now O’Toole’s
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<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And he rose and went
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>When something
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Outside the room five
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Nervous and hopeful
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The eldest girl
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And hearing O’Toole
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>O’Toole saw a puff of
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>“And then you came and
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And O’Toole found
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The next day the
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>To see where a new day
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Where they had been
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Their memories of
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>O’Toole as well found
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<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>One evening O’Toole
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Reading The Iron Man
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>None of them flinched
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And Pippa softly
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>She kissed O’Toole as
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Pippa smiled and
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Pippa sat on the arm
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Feeling warm and alive
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
<i>
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]-->
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>There is no greater
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>With each night “story
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>Children grow
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>In the forest of tales
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>O’Toole never knew he
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>He just read to his
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>The house was forgotten
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And no one ever sought
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>No one that was but
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>They gazed through the
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><i>And found safety,
found warmth and stories…..evermore<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2598166057200681836.post-76226492464066030092014-07-29T22:34:00.000-07:002014-07-31T19:49:40.834-07:00Sunday on Thursday<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">My breaking an
entering career has entailed one abandoned church, my own car and a house in my
hometown. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">During the summer
holidays when I was 6 and 7 I would be dropped off at a three-story house to
stay with a lady who had 4 daughters. The second
youngest kissed me and one of her teeth fell out on my bottom lip, the next
eldest had Days of the Week under pants that she wore on the wrong days. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_SyrK2wlfVZI/TSOOnON-TRI/AAAAAAAAL5M/DN1cHUkcK0M/s800/days%20of%20the%20week%20panties.jpg..png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_SyrK2wlfVZI/TSOOnON-TRI/AAAAAAAAL5M/DN1cHUkcK0M/s800/days%20of%20the%20week%20panties.jpg..png" height="206" width="320" /></a></div>
The youngest ate butter covered in sugar
for lunch and breakfast while the eldest would sit in her room playing albums while gazing out the window in dismay.<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The mum liked cheap
wine and watching her boyfriend work out obsessively in the lounge room. I only
ever saw him in shorts and a singlet and for our amusement he would drink raw
eggs.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">When I was 8 they
adopted 2 African boys called Randall and Rory. They were 11 and 8 respectively
and the dynamic of the house changed with their arrival. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The Days of the Week
were no longer available for my viewing and were shown exclusively to the 11
year old Randall and Wobbly-Toothed kisses were now the province of Rory. The
butter eater still ate butter and the older sister still moped but also played
bad guitar as she did so and shouted at Rory if he let himself into her room,
which</span> he often did.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The mum still drank
cheap wine and the partner still pumped iron.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">We made bombs from tin
foil and the contents of the caps from our cap guns. Rory squeezed tomato sauce
into the limbs of an Action Man doll and we sat him on a large foil bomb. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.museumofchildhood.org.uk/__images/site-images/collections-images/action-toys-images/action-man-1977.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.museumofchildhood.org.uk/__images/site-images/collections-images/action-toys-images/action-man-1977.jpg" height="320" width="231" /></a><a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/17/20509305_a2723b24db.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/17/20509305_a2723b24db.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
We
put the heads of matches in his clothing as Randall poured lighter fluid over the
doll. Then he lit a string of cotton we were using as a fuse. We watched the
cotton burn towards the prone Action Man and sighed in disappointment as nothing
happened before screaming as ketchup exploded and plastic limbs spun through
the air. Flaming chunks of his clothing landed around the garden and wiped
sauce from our faces.<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090426163407/naruto/images/0/02/Dragonfire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090426163407/naruto/images/0/02/Dragonfire.jpg" height="244" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">We were immediately dismissed
until lunchtime and the older boy went to check what day of the week it was in
the nearby bushes leaving Rory and I to wander around.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“My Nan lives nearby” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“I thought your Nan was
in Africa”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“Nah, she came over.
She lives nearby. Lets go say hello.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">We crisscrossed
streets as he looked for his Nan’s house and finally settled on a quite looking
place. He knocked at the door and when no one answered he slapped himself on
the forehead.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“I forgot, she’s out
today but she said she’s leave something for me. Come on.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He led me round the
back of the house where he jostled a kitchen window until it swung open.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“Nan leaves this open
so I can get in.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I believed him and
boosted him up so he could climb in. He unlocked the back door and I stepped
into his Nan’s house.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“What are we picking
up?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He smiled. “She said
she’d leave me some money for sweets but she hides it. Tricky Nan.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He stepped into the
house and I followed. The kitchen table was yellowing Formica, the sink clean
of dishes and the small fridge grumbling in the corner. The lounge had a stiff
looking sofa and a dust free cabinet filled with small ornaments of cats and
frogs. A television stood in a cabinet with thin wooden legs. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.oldtechnology.net/images/gec2112.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.oldtechnology.net/images/gec2112.jpg" height="259" width="320" /></a></div>
The hallway had
pictures hanging and I realised none of them showed Rory or his brother. <o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Rory darted upstairs
and I followed him. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">There were two bedrooms and a bathroom and Rory ducked into
the bathroom to pee and didn't flush. I checked the first bedroom. I saw a
single bed with the covers in a heap. Pink slippers on the floor and a cup on
the bedside table.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I heard Rory cheer and
turned to see him holding two five-pound notes with a big grin.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><a href="http://oldenglishbanknotes.com/images/five_pound_note_front.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://oldenglishbanknotes.com/images/five_pound_note_front.JPG" height="168" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“Tricky Nan.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I turned back to the
bedroom and saw the covers shift slightly and realised there was someone
sleeping under them. I could now hear thick wet breathing and the creak of the bedsprings.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“Is that your Nan?” I
asked nodding into the room.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Rory froze and I
realised what I guess I had been denying to myself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">He tugged my arm and I
looked at the sleeping figure as it started to roll over. Rory was running and
I followed him out the back door as behind us I heard a thin voice call “Hello”.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">My lungs were soon burning
and my legs screaming in protest but we ran for a long time. Rory finally
stopped ahead and waited for me to catch up. When I did he handed me one of the
notes and I shoved it back.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“Take it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">I pushed him and he
flinched.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“I’ll tell it was your
idea,” he said and I panicked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“I don’t want the
money.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Rory looked around and
saw the mini market where we would buy matches and chewing gum. He marched in
with the money and emerged with a large bag of sweets and crisps and several
boxes of matches. We walked home and I succumbed to the idea of candy.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><a href="http://www.keepitsweet.co.uk/images/Girls-Sweet-Jar-1ltrKIS-GIF-GSJ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.keepitsweet.co.uk/images/Girls-Sweet-Jar-1ltrKIS-GIF-GSJ.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“Did you spend it
all?” I asked and he shook his head.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“This for my brother”
he said showing the other note. “But this for us” he shoved another toffee into
his mouth and I took one. We hid the sweets in the bushes near to the house
planning to come back for them the next day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">In the house Days of
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Wobbly-Teeth asked
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“Walking” I said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">“Yeah, just walking,”
he agreed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">The next day the
lollies were gone but Rory still had the matches. He suggested we try and find
a cat but I convinced him snails would be a better choice. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">Wobbly-Teeth and Days
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a snail and down the entrance to an ants nest I turned and discovered a day I knew to be
Thursday declaring itself to be Sunday.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.korijock.com/Product%20Shots/Mini%20Collections/Days%20of%20the%20Week/Sunday-Days-of-the-Week-Closeup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.korijock.com/Product%20Shots/Mini%20Collections/Days%20of%20the%20Week/Sunday-Days-of-the-Week-Closeup.jpg" height="229" width="320" /></a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2598166057200681836.post-25563460329936731992014-05-20T13:23:00.000-07:002014-07-31T19:50:43.074-07:00Monkey Business<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
The campfire flickered as the night grew colder. Wood
cracked and hissed and the wine swirled warm in my glass.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“Yeah, basically that’s why I became an atheist.”</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicK3Ra-cSgAc0XBIvtJiyTDy8UHvgAxPc2qujXTU1dU-69tpPSW6lFtQgcrQ1xcVij7DQHZQ6RfWyAGd1T0ndBE6CnHoI8yXx91LgY-du-SGcVGT400EyhYfFXnaDDEU2NMAWkN2Dsukkc/s1600/wine_campfire_sm.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicK3Ra-cSgAc0XBIvtJiyTDy8UHvgAxPc2qujXTU1dU-69tpPSW6lFtQgcrQ1xcVij7DQHZQ6RfWyAGd1T0ndBE6CnHoI8yXx91LgY-du-SGcVGT400EyhYfFXnaDDEU2NMAWkN2Dsukkc/s1600/wine_campfire_sm.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a>My wife gaped at me. <i>“You have to write that down.”</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“Shit no, it’s way too embarrassing.” </i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She shook her head. “It’s great, just write it. Stop
worrying about being embarrassed.” I shook my head.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“Its ridiculously personal, no one would want the mental
images.”</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“Rubbish” </i>she said, still laughing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“It’s too much”</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“Write it down and let other people decide. Let your spirit
soar and your writing flow. Write and be damned. Kill your idols. Embrace your
talent. Let words tumble and fall where they may.” </i>She frowned. <i>“Why have you made me into your internal monologue? I don’t
speak like this. Are you even listening to me? You seem to be staring at my
boobs.”</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Boobs, I thought. I like boobs.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As a child I had an audience at all times and they were all
dead. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZwiWr05tDDN7h917CYXU8K3p9UM80_S5x5bXBb-2IQbvHCOTp2QrdIRIlTXPMxZu7rhHCou9PDNFVJkEBLklWQ0pmT-NiTXPniRHpAlPk8MF0gKlTZ6C_yF6CVRTNQxHFcMd19ALnHq4/s1600/BOB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZwiWr05tDDN7h917CYXU8K3p9UM80_S5x5bXBb-2IQbvHCOTp2QrdIRIlTXPMxZu7rhHCou9PDNFVJkEBLklWQ0pmT-NiTXPniRHpAlPk8MF0gKlTZ6C_yF6CVRTNQxHFcMd19ALnHq4/s1600/BOB.jpg" height="100" width="200" /></a><a href="http://cdn.screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/walking-dead-spinoff-prequel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cdn.screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/walking-dead-spinoff-prequel.jpg" height="103" width="200" /></a>My spirit guides were always watching me, advising me,
assessing me. My grandfather had identified them to me. I had a Navaho Indian (as
everyone on Earth did as they were so spiritually advanced), a Down Syndrome
man (a sign of my emotional maturity as according to him Down Syndrome people know only love), a
blue vibrating blob from another world (as heaven was home to all life forces)
and I also had my grandmother and occasionally a doctor (only when the need
arose as I guess health care in heaven was also underfunded.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“These are your guides,”</i> I’d been told.<i> “They take the form
of your instincts. If your instincts feel stronger it is your guides pushing
you in a direction.”</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I knew they were there. I was a child, I’d been told it, and
so I accepted it. I prayed every night to God asking for my loved ones to be
protected and for help if I was behind in school work or worried about
something, and then I prayed to my guides, mostly my grandmother, running
through my world and my life and my aspirations. Then I’d doze off a happy
guilt free spiritualist soldier with my guide army watching over me from the
heavenly wings.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then something happened. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMjA3NjUzOTExNV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNjc2MDU5NQ@@._V1_SX640_SY720_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMjA3NjUzOTExNV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNjc2MDU5NQ@@._V1_SX640_SY720_.jpg" height="320" width="215" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Cybil Sheppard changed on Moonlighting. She stopped being
just a woman and suddenly became BOOBS. It was impossible to watch the show
without focussing on only her chest. Wild thoughts ran through my head about spilt
correction fluid on her purple blouse or rain, lots and lots of rain, falling
indoors everywhere she went. My imaginings were confused but I was greatly
enjoying them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I realised it wasn’t only Cybil who had boobs. At least half
the population had them. The girls at school were growing them by some obscure
magic. Teachers had them. Shop assistants, lollypop ladies, librarians, they
were everywhere. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Along with this realisation came a developmental spurt. The
same one every teenage boy has. But with this sudden newfound hobby came the
crushing realisation that my spirit guides were watching me. Even as I was
hiding in the bathroom concentrating on blouse buttons and the music from
Moonlighting my spirit posse were watching, making spirit notes, frowning. They
were watching as I glanced up at the magazines on the top shelf of the news
agents, they were watching my discomfort when
my English teacher leant forward too much, they were even watching when saw the girl from up the street getting felt up in the
alley behind my house. No matter what I did, they were watching.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://gigafytes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/walking-dead-meme-glenn-barn-full-of-zombies-ultimate-cockblock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://gigafytes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/walking-dead-meme-glenn-barn-full-of-zombies-ultimate-cockblock.jpg" height="140" width="200" /></a><o:p> </o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This made it impossible to pursue my hobby. You couldn’t
hide from them, they were omnipresent. A Navaho, a down syndrome guy, a
vibrating blue blob (who I now imagined as a vibrating blue boob) and worst of
all, my grandmother. I was two happy developmental growth spurts down and had
become – for want of another term - cock blocked by the dead.</div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For a week I wrestled with this issue while noticing around
me the other boys in school had developed a languorous walk, a swagger that
implied the stress I was feeling was not a stress they were concerned about.
They spilt themselves into chairs while I snapped my rigid limbs into a seated
position. They laughed in the showers after Games lessons while I scowled. None
of them were spiritualists, none of them knew about their ever present panel
and I realised what pleasure ignorance must be. What utter pure passionate
pleasure it must be. What freedom. They only had to worry about their mothers
finding out whereas I knew for a fact that every fumble and fiddle was being
noted and observed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-h_VMvTRAbOf9Zicr25vdh-pXX96IIpZwTvvMp9-Xbsn1Yrzyu3ZBSDSGfjuC6h2DMvn4QCxXBFy8rB2hdVf_jyPRWNrAxjh4f09RoSLVWNH-zexod7NuptOLc7usaCvgbEZ9EbfKji4/s1600/tinfoilhat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-h_VMvTRAbOf9Zicr25vdh-pXX96IIpZwTvvMp9-Xbsn1Yrzyu3ZBSDSGfjuC6h2DMvn4QCxXBFy8rB2hdVf_jyPRWNrAxjh4f09RoSLVWNH-zexod7NuptOLc7usaCvgbEZ9EbfKji4/s1600/tinfoilhat.jpg" height="200" width="185" /></a><o:p> </o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For another week I tried to work out how I could hide. Under
a blanket was no good as “they can always see you” my grandfather had said. A
TV show had a guy with tin foil on his head trying to block alien signals.
Could foil deflect spirit guides? So I fashioned a foil headpiece (yes, I did) and realised
it looked like a boob. There was no shadow dark enough to retreat into, no
corner I could hide in, no matter where I went there they were.</div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then came the long dark night of the soul. I prayed, as ever
I did, and I spoke with my dead grandmother. I relayed all my problems except the
fact that Cybil Sheppard wanted to race at hurdles. “Are you really there?” I
wondered. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I felt alone, ironically enough given i just wanted to <i>feel</i> alone. There was no one watching, there was
no heaven above. <o:p></o:p><i>“If your instincts feel stronger it is your guides pushing you in a direction.”</i> My instincts felt pretty strong but was it guides or hormones?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The following night I didn’t pray, I didn’t list my relatives
who needed protection and immediately felt I was goading God into punishing
them. I also didn’t speak to my nan, and I felt as though I had forgotten to
say thank you for something vital. I lay awake for a long time expecting a crack in the
world or the soft sob of my guides. There was nothing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
* <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.starstore.com/acatalog/DAZ105-CarryOnCVR-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.starstore.com/acatalog/DAZ105-CarryOnCVR-01.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a>The following day Moonlighting was on.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I didn’t pray. The habit was already fading. Cybil and I ran
slow motion hurdles and her shorts fell off (Carry On films were a big
influence on my adolescence.)</div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I didn’t pray the next night, but the presenter of a certain
kids show stopped making a lunar landscape out of egg boxes and tin foil and
instead complained about the heat and unbuttoned her top.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The further from God I drifted the happier I became until
eventually I realised it had been months since I had prayed. I expected to feel
guilt or anxiety but realised I no longer believed at all. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There wasn’t
a panel of dead folk watching me with a blue vibrating boob taking minutes.
There was just me, a freak collision of coincidence at the right moment that
bought me into being. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was born one day and I’d die one day and, all being well, in
between I’d see lots of boobs.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://famousface.us/wp-content/gallery/kim-cattrall/kim-cattrall-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://famousface.us/wp-content/gallery/kim-cattrall/kim-cattrall-8.jpg" height="130" width="200" /></a><a href="http://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1398/98/1398980782503.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img.4plebs.org/boards/tg/image/1398/98/1398980782503.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a>I felt relieved at the simplicity of life and noticed Kim
Cattral sidle into my room in her Police Academy uniform. She dangled handcuffs
and her buttons popped off. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I fought the law and the law won.</div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then five minutes later I fought the law again and the law
won. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“You became an atheist because of masturbation?”</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The campfire flickered as the night grew colder. The wood
cracked and hissed and the wine swirled warm in my glass. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“Yeah, basically that’s why I became an atheist.”</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My wife gaped at me. <i>“You have to write that down.”</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“Shit no, it’s way too embarrassing.” </i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She smiled and topped up my wine. <i>“If you write it down I’ll
show you my boobs.”</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://scienceinseconds.com/cmsFiles/pageImages/Blue%20Balls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://scienceinseconds.com/cmsFiles/pageImages/Blue%20Balls.jpg" height="111" width="200" /></a>In the beginning the earth was formless and empty. Darkness
was over the surface of the deep, and the cosmos was hovering over the waters.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A hairy palmed monkey swinging from a tree contorted his mouth and
ululated,<i> “Let there be boobs."</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And there were boobs.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And oh they've been good.<o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2598166057200681836.post-56389985073702439692014-03-25T02:28:00.000-07:002014-03-25T02:28:32.316-07:00Can I Get a Hallelujah?<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I am a faith healer. I never used to be but I cracked it at
the weekend.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’d been told I would be one day by my grandfather. He was a
faith healer with a crucifix on his palm and many successful healings of
scattered folk with moderate to mild illnesses. When I was a teenager I had my
spirit liver removed and bathed in blue liquid by my grandfathers’ spirit guide
and I had had my kneecap rinsed in the same blue liquid. I can’t speak for my
liver but my knee issues never went away. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I did wonder why, if this blue liquid of the Gods was so
good, we weren’t all bathed every night by our spirit friends? Given heaven is
infinite surely this blue balm wasn’t in short supply? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My grandfather told me that once I learnt to love unconditionally
I would be a great healer, greater even then him. At the time I was a teen so
preferred the idea of loving Linda Hamilton from The Terminator and loving her quite
specifically rather than unconditionally. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.glamour.com/images/beauty/2013/08/linda-hamilton-bad-worst-haircut-80s-terminator-h724.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.glamour.com/images/beauty/2013/08/linda-hamilton-bad-worst-haircut-80s-terminator-h724.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
Unconditionally suggested doing
laundry or gardening or putting up with her playing Bon Jovi albums.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It did occur to me that healing powers would be akin to
super powers. I could help the flat chested, the bad haired, the non Nine Inch
Nails fans, basically the females. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But that unconditional love thing…it was just too much
commitment so I forgot all about it beyond the occasional drunk pub boasts “one
of these days mate, I’ll be Captain Healer and you’ll still be ugly.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Later in life when my daughter had her accident the idea
bubbled up at 2am. Ideas that come at that time are always ridiculous. It
absolutely is a burglar you can hear, that is a lump you can feel and you are
financially fucked. So at 2am when it struck me that maybe there was something
to this healing power I wandered through to my daughters cot and held her
bandaged hand through the bars and thought “I do love her unconditionally.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I pictured a waterfall in Cambodia I had fond memories of,
pictured the blue waters running over her burnt skin and the damage falling
away. I held her hand for a while and hoped, loved and wished. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://richard-seaman.com/Travel/Cambodia/Highlights/KbalSpeanWaterfall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://richard-seaman.com/Travel/Cambodia/Highlights/KbalSpeanWaterfall.jpg" height="230" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nothing changed, we still have 2 years of treatments and
pain and the nurses, doctors and my wifes’ tenacity did her way more good than
my holding her hand at 2am.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Can’t say I didn’t try.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then this last weekend I had my road to Damascus moment.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My epiphany.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My awakening.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My powers came to life and I healed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://bostonunderground.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Twin-Peaks-Coopers-Dream.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://bostonunderground.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Twin-Peaks-Coopers-Dream.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Can I get a Hallelujah?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We were at a party. A huge bacchanalian celebration of
celebration. Friends who’d been together for 20 years and 3 children had
finally decided to marry and they’d erected 3 marquees, gathered countless
musicians, spit roasted pork, pumped barrels of local brewed beer and laid out
local wines. We drank, the kids ricocheted around a bouncy castle and the
various bands strummed Lou Reed, Pulp, The White Stripes and The Rolling
Stones.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Around half eight my daughter wanted to go to bed. My wife
was in a swirl of cigarette smoke and red wine so I took my six year old back
to the house and lay with her as she fell asleep. When she was down I wandered
back, found my son still bouncing inside the castle and my wife smiling. We
danced some more and my son appeared grinning and asking for juice. I carried
him over my shoulder and we wrestled over orange juice and made animal sounds,
him drunk on sugar and me on my ninth beer and fourteenth wine. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At around midnight he came back, finally tired and asked for
bed. I walked him back and lay with him as I had done with his sister. He was
hiccoughing and each time he tried to doze off he would shudder and snap awake.
This started to distress him given he was hugely over tired.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Unconditional love” boomed the voice of my grandfather
(played tonight by James Earl Jones). <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Dad I can’t sleep” my son hiccoughed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Don’t worry mate, we’re going to get rid of those
hiccoughs.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“How?” he asked and hiccoughed again and James Earl Jones
boomed again.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“With unconditional love.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My son couldn’t hear him and I didn’t think he’d appreciate Darth
Vader offering him love so I pulled him to me. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://schoolworkhelper.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/James-Earl-Jones-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://schoolworkhelper.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/James-Earl-Jones-2.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
I was supremely confident that
this would work, and I was drunk. So I guess in truth I was drunk therefore I
was confident that I could do anything.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I’m going to put my hand on your tummy mate and you’re going
to stop hiccoughing and fall asleep.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He hiccoughed again and became agitated. I shushed him and
held my hand there and thought quite simply “I love you unconditionally” and my
hand grew warm and his hiccoughing stopped. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He instantly fell asleep, I hiccoughed once and thought “Well fuck, that
was unexpected.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I went back to the party pretty chuffed. I’d woken some
dormant X Man power. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://logonoid.com/images/x-men-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://logonoid.com/images/x-men-logo.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I found my wife and told her about it. She gently
indicated that I was a little drunk and perhaps we </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
should go and get a little
drunker together and maybe have one or two more cigarettes and pretend we were
in our twenties.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Later, dancing to a punk version of Common People, it struck
me that the ability to faith heal hiccoughs was useless. It was the dumbest
power I could possibly have, akin to being able to always make bread land
butter side up when dropped or know how many times the guy next to me at work
will go to the bathroom each day. It was pointless. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I remembered the time I had had an out of body experience.
I’d looked down on myself sleeping and then drifted up to the ceiling where I
had had a really good look at the light fixture and the cobwebs and then just
hung there. I got bored. I was just floating on the ceiling. So I drifted back
to my body and thought “well that was pointless.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://uglyhousephotos.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/100203k.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://uglyhousephotos.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/100203k.jpg" height="210" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So if you have a child hiccoughing and I am drunk I’ll try
and help, or if you want your ceiling assessed, again I’ll try and help. I have to
say though for hiccoughs counting bald people in your head (honestly it works)
or sipping water from the other side of the cup may work better. And when it
comes to ceilings maybe trust a building inspector ahead of sleeping me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In fact skip the faith healing,
just go to the doctors or rub some natural goats yogurt on it and hope it doesn't ooze.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I do love my kids unconditionally, so for that at least can
I get a hallelujah?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1211072.1354310121!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/hallelujah3f-1-web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1211072.1354310121!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/hallelujah3f-1-web.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2598166057200681836.post-76126490741438719882014-03-05T00:03:00.000-08:002014-03-05T00:24:28.993-08:00Indiana Jones and The Intelligent Design.<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Science cannot stop trying to
prove the How of things, and that blinds these scientists to the awesome
intelligence that lies behind the design</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">A room full of slightly intoxicated men, high on
having witnessed Nazi immolation, gasped and started to grumble. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">After all, Intelligent Design should not come up
at a screening of Raiders of the Lost Ark.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">When I was seven a friend of my fathers had a
pirate copy of a movie we had never heard of. He clunked it into the top loader
VCR and smiled at us. I<i>t’s a bit scary
but you’ll be ok right?</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Pirate videos were cool, they had playground
kudos. The cassette was black and unmarked. Anything could be on there. The VCR
whirred and the screen flickered and we watched Indiana Jones stride into South
America and redefine excitement.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://billybullshit.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/vhs_video_cassette.jpg?w=640" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://billybullshit.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/vhs_video_cassette.jpg?w=640" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">A few weeks later Raiders came out at the cinema
and I saw it again and it was just as thrilling, if not more so. I’ve watched
Raiders at least once a year since, on VHS, on DVD, on Blu Ray, sober, alone,
with a room full of blokes all quoting lines, and finally at a special
screening with one of the cast in attendance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://static4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090618213545/indianajones/images/0/04/Raidersteaser.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://static4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090618213545/indianajones/images/0/04/Raidersteaser.jpg" height="320" width="249" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">In the years since the pirate vhs I had kids. My
son (Bear) came first and I resolved to show him various films – Ghostbusters,
Raiders, The Good The Bad & The Ugly and Jaws. I guess there’s misogyny in
this, but I grew up a boy so when I had a boy I knew what he would want to see.
To balance things out the other night my wife showed our daughter (Toes) Anne
of Green Gables and I was very confused.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Bear saw Raiders when he was 5, I told him it
was scary and that he wouldn’t be allowed to see the end. He pulled up his
blanket and we watched spiders, traps and Indy swinging towards a seaplane.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">And then God came into it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The Ten Commandments <i>- Yes, the actual Ten Commandments. The original stone tablets that
Moses brought down out of Mount Horeb and smashed.</i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><a href="http://www.filmsite.org/speeches/raiderslostark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.filmsite.org/speeches/raiderslostark.jpg" /></a></i></div>
<i><o:p></o:p></i><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Bear was confused so I sketched the commandments
(delighted that he had no idea what they were). I explained at the time the
movie was set everyone believed in God, and when the movie came out most people
believed. God was in schools, movies and books so when I first saw Raiders I
had no doubt God existed, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Towards
the end of the film I flicked it off, assuring Bear that Indy won but that what
happened next was too scary for him. This made him obsessed and he asked for
the movie all the time. One day I inevitably forgot to flick it off before the
face melting and Bear ran through to us delighted he had seen the ending. His sister,
then 4, had seen it as well and found it hysterically funny.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Raiders
was still great, the God aspect was manageable and life was red wine and cheap
cheese.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Then
the special screening. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://img3.rnkr-static.com/user_node_img/50009/1000170602/350/the-ark-must-not-be-disturb-film-photo-u1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://img3.rnkr-static.com/user_node_img/50009/1000170602/350/the-ark-must-not-be-disturb-film-photo-u1.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">John
Rhys Davis (Indy’s sidekick Sallah) was attending for a Q&A after the movie
and it was lovely to see him walk on stage, older, fuller, but unmistakably
Sallah. He settled down and stated talking - </span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I last saw the three Indiana Jones movies on the big screen years ago
with an audience in Thailand, it was a wonderful night watching the three......
wait, there is a fourth film now isn’t there? But I don’t ever want to see that
film again.</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The
audience cheered and I wondered if I am the only person who likes the 4<sup>th</sup>
movie. He took questions and had us hooked. Then he was asked where the acting ability
comes from and things went awry – <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Trying to distill such a thing….well
it reminds me of the problem with Science. The problem being the one question Science
cannot ever answer, but claims every day that it could, is - why does life
exist?</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The audience (geeks) flinched as the bubble
we’d been in popped. It was like to the moment in a nightclub where the lights
are raised, the music switched off and you realise everyone looks sweaty. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i1.cpcache.com/product/599403292/stunned_silence_rectangle_magnet.jpg?height=225&width=225" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i1.cpcache.com/product/599403292/stunned_silence_rectangle_magnet.jpg?height=225&width=225" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Science simply cannot show why life
exists.</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> He continued, clutching the microphone. <i>Science
strives to show what there was at the moment of this Big Bang but not the time
before. And we must look before it. We must consider what there was. If we do
we see a wonderful theology, a beauty of metaphysics, of mystery. Science
cannot stop trying to prove the How of things, and that blinds these
scientists to the awesome intelligence that lies behind the design</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Seats shifted, people coughed and mumbled.
I swigged the last of my wine, chewed the last of my biltong and stood up to
leave. Sallah smiled at us from the stage and continued down the Intelligent Design
rabbit hole.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I can do the side stepping around God when
watching the movies with my kids. It’s no different to explaining the presence
of dragons in <i>How to Train Your Dragon</i>
– <i>it’s just a story, in this one dragon’s
exist. <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">It’s
just a story; in this one you can catch ghosts with vacuum cleaners on your
back, <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">It’s
just a story; in this one a man wearing human skin mask hacks up hippies.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">It’s
just a story; in this one people believe God exists. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">But Intelligent Design? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Listening to a conversation on Intelligent
Design is like being told to wear jam instead of deodorant. Or suggesting we should
replace thumbs with inflatable sheep. It just makes no sense.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.fantazydressonline.co.uk/prodimages/95450.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.fantazydressonline.co.uk/prodimages/95450.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">So we left John to his intelligent design
and stumbled down the steps of the cinema. Beautiful women ran over to each
disgruntled geek and slipped their arms through ours. Mine was called Tiffany.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-hyphenate: auto;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Tiffany</span></b><span lang="EN">: </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Hey, what happened? You don't look very happy.</span><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-hyphenate: auto;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Me</span></b><span lang="EN">: </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Fool. Religious fool!</span><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-hyphenate: auto;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Tiffany</span></b><span lang="EN">: </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">What'd he say?</span><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-hyphenate: auto;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Me</span></b><span lang="EN">: </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">An audience of geeks, he had no idea what he had in there.</span><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-hyphenate: auto;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Tiffany</span></b><span lang="EN">: </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Well, I know what I've got out here. Come on. I'll buy you a drink.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c103/ThinWhiteDuke1/SFindy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c103/ThinWhiteDuke1/SFindy.jpg" height="136" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">We walked into the night, arm in arm,
leaving Intelligent Design chattering away to a dwindling cinema audience of
science fans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-hyphenate: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-hyphenate: auto;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Me</span></b><span lang="EN">: </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Hey Tiff</span><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-hyphenate: auto;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Tiffany</span></b><span lang="EN">: </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Yes?</span><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-hyphenate: auto;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Me</span></b><span lang="EN">: </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">I think we’re alone now</span><span lang="EN"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-hyphenate: auto;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">Tiffany</span></b><span lang="EN">: </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">True, there doesn’t seem to be anyone around<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-hyphenate: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><u><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Postlude</span></u></b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> – <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">So
the upshot was that I needed to know more about the history of the universe. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">So
I read Big Bang – The Origin of the Universe by Simon Singh and am now well
versed in red shift galaxies, CMB radiation, pulsars and the Steady State /
Expanding Universe debate. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Thanks
to the book I also discovered this - A Ukrainian born scientist, George Gamow,
one of the pioneers of the Big Bang hypothesis, was renowned for his
occasionally off beat physics. He once argued that God lived 9.5 light years
from Earth. This was based on the outbreak of the Russo Japanese war in 1904 causing
churches across Russia to offer prayers for the destruction of Japan. 19 years
later the Kanto Earthquake struck Japan, causing the prayed for devastation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Gamow
suggested God’s wrath was impacted by the speed of light and that the delay
between prayer and the earthquake could be used to determine the distance to
God’s home – 9.5 light years away. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">The
last time I prayed I was 12 years old so my last prayer should have landed with
God when I was 21 with my return due when I was roughly 32. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">My
final prayer, which I do remember quite well, was for Patsy Kensit to move in
next door and need me to hold a ladder while she changed light globes.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://cache2.artprintimages.com/LRG/59/5977/L7EQG00Z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cache2.artprintimages.com/LRG/59/5977/L7EQG00Z.jpg" height="160" width="200" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Thus
far, she’s a no show but just in case I have a ladder and some light globes and if she turns up I shall smile, doff my hat and say “Let there be light.”</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitNeM_kEg6aGcnGVCbdXav65G4YBCORCR5MnUipTlG9GsWezC6B7rLPcFtx3n9kA5RvQTx06zz6nTrArRYeObmiWhUfFl9bsxz0kgmEU8Boc2TNsartizdycdsE_jl-eoJ5uWYKLAuOFcN/s1600/lightbulb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitNeM_kEg6aGcnGVCbdXav65G4YBCORCR5MnUipTlG9GsWezC6B7rLPcFtx3n9kA5RvQTx06zz6nTrArRYeObmiWhUfFl9bsxz0kgmEU8Boc2TNsartizdycdsE_jl-eoJ5uWYKLAuOFcN/s1600/lightbulb.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2598166057200681836.post-84492245430627851942014-01-28T01:05:00.000-08:002014-01-28T01:05:31.804-08:00Twatted
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was a mystery and there were 4 of us under suspicion. I
was the main suspect due to the managers overwhelming dislike of me. The other
3 suspects sat with me in the office behind the shop surrounded by beer and
wine while the mid-twenties manager stared us all down. I was twenty-two and
working two jobs so as to fund pay my Cornish Pastie habit.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.fdin.org.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2pk-snack-pasties-3D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.fdin.org.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2pk-snack-pasties-3D.jpg" height="175" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Ten pounds is missing from the safe.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She had the accounts book open showing the last 3 days. Each
day tallied with the till roll but the money, which had been due to be banked
today thanks to ridiculously poor practice in the store, was ten pounds short. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Would anyone care to come clean?” She looked from one to
other of us and held her gaze on me for the longest time. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Her dislike for me started the week before on her first day.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I arrived, wheeled my bike through the shop and parked it in
the back. She was sat at the desk and introduced herself and I shook her hand.
As I slipped my bag off I knocked a bottle of Rolling Rock from the shelf and
it shattered on the floor. I apologised and grabbed a cloth to clean up as my co-worker,
Becca arrived and looked curious.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.productwiki.com/upload/images/rolling_rock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.productwiki.com/upload/images/rolling_rock.jpg" height="320" width="96" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I tawtted a bottle by accident” I said to Becca and the
manager suddenly screamed. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You will not use language like that in this shop.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I replayed things quickly and tried to work out what I’d said.
“Twatted?” I asked and she scowled. “I meant as in I hit a bottle of beer.
Sorry.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She stood, hands balled into fists at her side. “That word”
she hissed “means VAGINA as well you know.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I stepped back, as most Englishmen will when presented with
the word vagina (especially in upper case). <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I didn’t mean it that way. I hit the bottle by accident. I
didn’t mean to imply I had…well…vagina’d the bottle?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The door chime sounded and I retreated to the shop and sold
some beer, coming back through to find the manager closing her bag and Becca
sat at the desk. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“We’ll speak more on this later” she said and left. I sat
down, blasphemed and exhaled as my co-worker pulled a joint out of her bag.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“She really doesn’t like you.” She lit and inhaled before
offering it to me. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Is this entrapment?” I asked and she shook her head. I
didn’t know her well but she liked The Prodigy so I figured she was ok.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“She told me I was to tell her if you sexually threatened me”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I coughed out smoke as the door chimed and she went to serve
the customer. She came back and I passed her the joint.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Seriously?” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She nodded.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Because I twatted a bottle of beer?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She exhaled and passed it back. “No, because you vagina’d a
bottle of beer. You sexually harassed a bottle and it suicided.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We both started giggling and she turned up the stereo. We
sold beer to dance music and did the takings at the end of the night. I said
goodbye after checking I hadn’t sexually threatened her.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“As if” she said.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was on shift again the next night. I was good at selling
beer so I was rostered on most evenings and was working with a girl I’d known
since I started called Sue. Sue always had her passport and £200
in cash in her bag “just in case” though I never found what just in case might
be. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“So” she said.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“So?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“So you didn’t start well with the new manageress?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I slumped in my chair. “Have you been warned about my sexual
harassment?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“She called last night and told me she was concerned about
you. I told her I thought that sounded ridiculous.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I explained what had happened and she nodded.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Well twat can mean vagina.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I’ve never used it that way. And surely past tense –
twatted – cannot mean vagina’d?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sue looked thoughtful as she ran through the past tense
possibilities of vagina.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“And how the hell could I vagina a bottle of beer off the
shelf? Twatted means hit, or it means to be in no fit state to function. Twat can
maybe mean vagina but I did not say twat. I said twatted.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sue nodded. “He rests his case your honour. Judgement, he
may be a bit of a twat.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BLHO19MCQAAPCLW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BLHO19MCQAAPCLW.jpg" width="235" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We went and sold beer, sold wine, talked about movies and cashed
up at the end of the night.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The following night I was rostered on with Angela, the
youngest of the team. She was the deputy managers’ daughter and was only just
old enough to buy beer. Her large car mechanic boyfriend was sat in the office
as I rolled my bike in. The manager scowled at me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I’ve given Angela permission to have Lee in the office
tonight” she said as I said hi to Lee.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Mate” he replied and went back to his magazine, flipping
from a picture of a bike with a girl in the bikini on it to a picture of a car
with two girls in smaller swimwear. The manager left, giving me a toxic stare
as she did so.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://demonscy.ipower.com/pics/prostreet_white_300_custom_harley_motorcycle_mammoth_wheels_hot_chick_bikini_girl_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://demonscy.ipower.com/pics/prostreet_white_300_custom_harley_motorcycle_mammoth_wheels_hot_chick_bikini_girl_2.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I sat down and sighed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“What did you do?” asked Angela and I ran through it again,
Lee laughing as I explained about vagina’ing a bottle off the shelf.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“So that’s it? You just twatted the bottle” he said
comfortably.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I did”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“And she thought you were talking about vagina’s?” he closed
the magazine and Angela swiped at his leg. “’The fuck is her problem?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Lee, don’t say vagina” Evidently fuck was fine.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I nodded. “And now she thinks I am a predator, which I’m
guessing is why she has given you <i>permission</i>
to be here.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He frowned at me in a <i>smoke
there’s fire</i> way. “I asked Angela about you being sexually threatening and
she laughed so I guess there’s no worry. I guess.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I blushed as Lee stood up and kissed Angela goodbye. He
nodded at me and said “Later mate.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Angela and I chatted as normal that night but there was an
awkward feeling in the air. I sold beer, clearing out all of the <i>on special</i> Stella in one evening and
wondering why I was bothering. End of the night we cashed up and I cycled home.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Would anyone like to offer an explanation?” She looked from
one to other of us, holding her gaze on me for the longest time. None of us
said a word and she stood up to leave. “I think some of us need to seriously
consider their future with this company. Theft will not be tolerated.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sue shook her head. “I don’t believe any of us have stolen
any money.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The manager scowled. “Well I’m afraid I do believe someone has
stolen the money” adding with Agatha Christie panache “Someone in this room.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Angela gasped and held her hand to her mouth. Becca,
brilliantly, was touching up her lip gloss. Sue looked simply livid and I guess
I looked guilty. The manager stormed out and we sat in awkward silence. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Angela left with Lee shortly after, Lee slapping me on the
back and saying “Mate.” Sue stayed and shook her head while Becca rolled up. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Man she hates you” Becca said, passing me the joint.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Well he did vagina a bottle to death.” Sue took the joint from
me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I will never use the word twat again. I’m done with the
word.” I thought for a moment and added “But I may blog about it in 2014.” They
looked at me confused as this was 1998 and blogging wasn’t really a thing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After Sue left Becca and I got happily stoned. I sold a
stack of Guinness and, after a challenge by Becca, I convinced a customer to
buy a bottle of Advocaat. The guy left with his bottle of lurid yellow goop and
a smile on his face and Becca shook her head.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://cdn3.sbnation.com/imported_assets/451265/advocaat_20www_medium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cdn3.sbnation.com/imported_assets/451265/advocaat_20www_medium.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Can you sell anything?” she asked and I said no, I could
only sell alcohol. I believed at the time that everyone, deep down, wanted to
be drunk. Now I realise it is more likely just me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As we cashed up I noticed something sticking out from under
the wine racks. “Is that what I think it is?” I asked and she looked down.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yeah mon” she said in an awful imitation of a Caribbean
accent, pulling out a crumpled £10 note.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Fuck” I said, suddenly furious. “She dropped it?” Becca
nodded and collapsed into more giggles as I put the note on the desk.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Take it” she said and I shook my head. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I’m not a theif.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“If you hand it in, she’ll think you did it. If I hand it
in, she’ll think you did it. If she finds it on the floor, she’ll think you put
it there for her to find. So fuck it, take it.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Is this entrapment?” I asked and she stubbed out her joint.
“Nah mon” she said, sweeping the butts into a plastic bag she had with her. She
pulled her purse from her bag and yanked out a £5 and handed it to me, putting
the £10
in her purse. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Partners” she said and we locked up for the night £5
richer. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This was 1998. £5 could buy a Cornish Pastie and a bag
of Nic Nacs (with change) from the 24 hour service station. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And it did.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><u>Epilogue</u></b> - The manager left soon after as was replaced by a
new lady who on her first day told me she knew Farley Jack Master Funk and modelled
for him. She showed me a photo of herself wearing a fox fur scarf from a shoot for
the cover of a single that Mr Jack Master Funk had coming out soon. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Don’t look at my eyes” she said. “I was twatted that day.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://assets.boomkat.com/images/269283/333.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://assets.boomkat.com/images/269283/333.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><u>Epilogue II</u></b> - for the first time ever I have realised I have
lied in this story. I am frequently accused of lying in these but can honestly say
I never have. This time I have, but I didn’t mean to. I’m too amused by the slip
up to correct it though. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Once upon a time, for reasons I’m not going into, a man was
paid to beat me up. I lived in Bedford, a town of hangovers and accidents, and
would catch sight of my would be assailant driving his 3 wheel car as he followed
me around.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.tamworth.biz/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/000-Reliant-Robin.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.tamworth.biz/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/000-Reliant-Robin.png" height="142" width="320" /></a></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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After work each day I had an evening job in a bottle shop. I
spent my nights playing Leonard Cohen and The Prodigy while convincing people
to buy more alcohol than they needed. I ate very little, smoked in the office
and stole past sell by date beer, returning the empties as evidence that I
had poured the beer down the sink as per policy. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This pre-Christmas night a man came in with a PlayStation
bundled loosely with wires and asked to exchange it for 4 cans of Guinness. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I can’t mate,” I said and he immediately started to cry. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://drinkstoyourdoor.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Guinness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://drinkstoyourdoor.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Guinness.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Please?” He was clutching the PlayStation with shaking
hands.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Sorry, I really can’t.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The year before he'd come home from work to find his
mother dead in the armchair, remote in hand and the TV blaring static. He’d
spent several days at home with her body drinking everything in the house and had
stayed drunk ever since. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Seeing my refusal was categorical he became belligerent. He
kicked the counter and swore as he had done before when he had tried to
exchange Steven Segal DVD’s for Gin. He spun on his heels and stared at the cruel sight of the alcohol that filled the
shop, the back of his neck beading with sweat. I knew he was thinking of
lashing out, knocking things over and sending cheap wine flooding towards the
door. As he tensed up I let my fingers drop to the police alarm under the desk.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Before he could do anything the door chimed and two giggling
girls came in stumbling on high heels and throwing cigarettes back out of the
door. He stamped away and I sold yet another bottle of Lambrusco as I saw him
pick up a lipstick stained cigarette end and suck it back to life. He scowled
through the window at me as I was wished a Merry Christmas in a chorus of
perfume.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Later I pulled down the security shutters and wheeled my bicycle
towards the road. I heard a cough and thought the angry alcoholic had returned and
figured I would give him some of the stolen beer in my bag. I turned to see two
headlights flare, pinched close like pigs eyes, and I recognised the
unmistakable grill of a Robin Reliant 3 wheeler. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://calitreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/christine2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://calitreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/christine2.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I started peddling as I heard the car swing onto the road. I
figured there was no way he was going to run me over so he would have to block
my way. I also knew he had terrible acceleration and that the first sprint was
up hill so I was in with a chance of out pacing him. In my head I heard soft
rock anthems and I started peddling with feet of fury, clicking through the
gears as parked cars started flashing past. I heard his engine whine and saw
the splash of his headlights on the tarmac around me and as I pushed harder the
light fell back. The crest of the hill was approaching as the sound of his
engine grew smaller and I knew if I could crest the hill well ahead I might be
able to jog onto the path by the river bridge without him seeing me. By the
time I hit the peak I was in a high gear and with the change to downhill I was
on a highway to …well away from… the danger zone.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I did the one and only bunny hop of my life up the kerb and
sped to the dark of the path, leaving the road behind. I pulled to a halt and
glanced back, seeing the 3 wheeler come over the rise. Moments later it sped
around the corner and I knew I’d lost him. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mentally high fiving myself for living the Dukes of Hazard
dream I started peddling towards the river. Approaching the footbridge I
stopped suddenly as a colossal dark skinned man with dreadlocks leapt in front
of me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Stop man” he shouted and having no choice I swung into a
bush and slipped from the bike. He was fast approaching so as I struggled
upright I put the bike between us.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“What?” I asked, concerned that I’d dodged a three wheel
marauder only to be mugged by a huge Rastafarian. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Ya can’t go on” he told me and waved me back with his palms
open. His eyes were wide and red rimmed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“What’s wrong?” I asked and he suddenly dropped to the wet
path and hung his head.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I killed ‘im” he said and gestured to the path. I looked
towards the shadows and tried to see who it was he had killed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I didn’t mean to, dancing to tunes, I stamp ‘pon ‘im.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I stepped forward and saw a frog, legs splayed wide and body
squashed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“He a dead frog” he said and lit a huge joint before starting
to gently cry.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://weednomo.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/big-joint.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://weednomo.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/big-joint.jpg" height="230" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I said I was sorry and when he held the joint out to me I
had a puff or two to be polite. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Can’t you do anything?” he asked me and I wondered what he
meant. I looked back at the frog and heard the man sob.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You know what?” He looked up, accepting his joint back.
“Frogs are like mice, they have flexible rib cages. Like concertinas. They pop
back into shape. It’s more than likely just in shock and in a while it’ll hop
off. I wouldn’t worry.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
By the light of the glowing cherry he stared at me. “F’real?”
I nodded and we both looked at the frog. Above us the stars of Christmas peered
through the Bedford cloud cover. The wind died down and the only sound we could
hear was the river shushing along as it raced to leave town.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“C’mon froggy” he said and accepting another hit from his
joint I agreed, “C’mon Frog.” For half a minute we repeated the chant and suddenly
the frog inflated, chest rising and head shaking. It rolled back onto its feet
and without a glance at us it hopped away.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I laughed and turned to say goodbye to the man but he was
now staring at me. He dropped the joint and it hissed on the wet wood.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You witch” he shouted, pointing at me with a long wide
finger.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I swung onto my bike and he jumped forward, stopping inches
from me. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“How you do that? What powers you have man?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“None mate, the frog was just in shock. Look I gotta go
now.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“HOW YOU DO THAT?” I flinched back. I could see his teeth biting
the words.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I gotta go mate, the frogs ok.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He stared at me and stepped back a pace. “You witch” he
whispered and I rolled forward saying nothing. His eyes stayed on me as I retreated
and after a few seconds I started peddling. By the time I reached the
footbridge I was weaving badly. I heard the thunder of steps behind me and
groaned, picking up my pace as much as I could.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Witch” he shouted from the start of the bridge, “Witch man!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I glanced back and saw him waving. “Happy fucking Christmas
witch” he shouted and pumped his fist, turning away and running back to the
darkness. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At home I pulled some stolen beer from my backpack and
settled on the sofa. There was a new
pornographic magazine from my housemate on the carpet and a pool of cat vomit
by the television. I considered both before finishing several beers and passing
out in my clothes. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61eGwTrHx1L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61eGwTrHx1L.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo9jyZftqxN3ZEs-BhyphenhypheniyeS6CIYBT2NMsd04KnG7P2EocLPSx-Uo2iVOG44LrqKnlFnQ1KWPVbvUgbl1vTAsUSB82tJJIi3NRWYwy-bXhpdnu3v5RHf2xLRxXw8ZUA8n3W1JNr-PvMdeg/s1600/cat+sick.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo9jyZftqxN3ZEs-BhyphenhypheniyeS6CIYBT2NMsd04KnG7P2EocLPSx-Uo2iVOG44LrqKnlFnQ1KWPVbvUgbl1vTAsUSB82tJJIi3NRWYwy-bXhpdnu3v5RHf2xLRxXw8ZUA8n3W1JNr-PvMdeg/s200/cat+sick.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Somewhere else a Robin Reliant sat silent, unwilling to be
bargained with or reasoned with. It didn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And
it absolutely would not stop, ever, it caught up with me. It never did. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Somewhere else a fantastically stoned Rastafarian sat
staring at nothing as he worried about the Christmas Witch from the River Ooze.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">As for the frog, he lives now, only in my memories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Happy Christmas. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2598166057200681836.post-21134364231264538962013-10-15T01:13:00.001-07:002013-10-15T01:20:23.345-07:00Diseases of Venus<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:DocumentProperties> <o:Revision>0</o:Revision> <o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:Pages>1</o:Pages> <o:Words>818</o:Words> <o:Characters>4668</o:Characters> <o:Company>UNSW</o:Company> <o:Lines>38</o:Lines> <o:Paragraphs>10</o:Paragraphs> <o:CharactersWithSpaces>5476</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:Version>14.0</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-AU</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<i>“Civilization and syphilization have advanced together“</i> - Van Helsing</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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In our Sixth Form year we were given a slide show on Venereal Disease as a result of a condom eruption. Several sixth form girls had acquired condoms, inflated them and distributed them around school and the boys were blamed. We were held back after assembly and when no one came forward to accept the blame the Head of Year dismissed us with a shout that we should grow up. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Two weeks later boys and girls alike sat in this <i>special assembly</i> noting the huge screen and the projector. One of the Religious Education teachers took the podium and smiled before she started telling us that pornography could be beautiful. She told us about a wonderful film she had seen set on a beach. It showed the magnificence of love instead of the dehumanising mechanics that made up pornography nowadays. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Every boy had multiple unfastened bra’s in their future, along with edible undergarments (which rumour had it were chocolate flavour) and a certainty that peanut butter could be involved in the bedroom. Everything was brightly possible but right now belonged to the dark side of teenage kicks. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>“Venereal disease is something you’ve likely not considered, you know about AIDS but there is much more you need to be aware of.”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5170/5337021822_53d299541f_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5170/5337021822_53d299541f_b.jpg" width="200" /></a>What could they tell us that we didn’t already know from Clive Barker novels? One of my friends had a copy of Emmanuel IV and we had skipped school to watch it at my house. We knew sex sounded like saxophones, that women needed oil on their chests and we discovered that watching pornography with 4 male teenage friends was uncomfortable and involved a lot of coughing. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The slide machine clicked and the screen filled with a suppurating black penis hanging from a hairless pink body. Several slides were devoted to this man and his <b><span style="color: red;">“<i>extreme genital warts</i>”</span></b>. The words <span style="color: red;"><b>Genital</b></span> and <b><span style="color: red;">Warts</span></b> etched into our minds.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://chinabevnews.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/mcdonalds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="http://chinabevnews.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/mcdonalds.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/E_coli_at_10000x,_original.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="145" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/E_coli_at_10000x,_original.jpg" width="200" /></a>The slide show was akin to someone who had never had a cheeseburger being taken to McDonalds and shown the bright red décor and the menu then just as they are about to order they are shown footage of unwashed abattoirs and the effects of e-coli.</div>
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Every girl in the room was a petri dish of disease. Every boy felt warts pressing through their skin waiting to turn their genitals dark and crusty. The screen smeared with <b><span style="color: red;">Thrush</span></b>, glowed with gluey <b><span style="color: red;">Gonorrhea</span></b>, scabbed over with <b><span style="color: red;">Scabies</span></b> and sprayed syphilitic symptoms towards us. Phallus’s decayed and vaginas were riven with discharge. A single picture of crushed looking testicles made me think “well, that’s an image I’ll never forget.”<br />
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In each case we were deluged with how these diseases could be caught and the throwaway line “<i>Scabies can be transmitted through something as simple as brushing past one another, the bug burrows into the skin and makes tunnels along the body</i>” caused the entire room to start scratching.<o:p></o:p></div>
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After 50 minutes of destroyed groins and vivid sores the Religious Instructor took the stage and reminded us of the beautiful film she had seen, the beach, the magnificence, the purity and the cleanliness. She assured us sex could, and should, be an enriching experience while behind her a man’s stomach crisscrossed with Scabies faded away as the projector powered off. We filed out of the room nauseated as the teachers behind us laughed into their Nescafe and went for a smoke break.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://junkee.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/moustache-660x440.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="133" src="http://junkee.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/moustache-660x440.jpg" title="" width="200" /></a>We never saw the beach based film but once I moved in with other guys we amassed a great deal of pornography. A friend bought round a German film that he proclaimed brilliant and we watched it drunk. Somehow we managed to decipher the dialogue which seemed to run along the lines of <b><span style="color: red;">“</span></b><i><b><span style="color: red;">Hi, you have breasts, show them to me and my moustache”</span></b> </i>before becoming 2 hours of men peeing in plant pots and topless girls drinking the urine. Just as it got boring though they upped the game with the men taking bowel movements on white bread and….</div>
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Anyway life rolled on and 20 years later I was at a dinner. I asked a dad friend if he was thinking about a vasectomy given we were at the age where we’d been neutered by life and wife with no use left for our little astronauts. He said he was seriously considering it and I suggested we could go together, see if there was a 2 for 1 deal and “make a day of it.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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My mind flickered on the crushed testes on screen years before and I wondered, obsessed with time travel as I am, if perhaps I had been the only one to see that image. Had that picture been a warning sent by my future post operation self to the teenage trench coat pony tail version of myself? <o:p></o:p></div>
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Did time travel hinge on vasectomies? <b><span style="color: red;">Are there wormholes in urethras?</span></b> Paradoxes within prostrates? Singularities within spermatozoa?<o:p></o:p></div>
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During the midnight walk home with my wife I considered my lower parts and their relationship with the tangles of time. As life churned around us, blossoming in back packer bedrooms, tumbling drunkenly on wet beach sands as waves surged and gushed like - [<b><span style="color: red;">I am at a loss for a simile</span></b>] - I heard a voice.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>“Hey</i>,” it said with scientific certainty. I made a one handed man-justment and listened as it continued, seemingly speaking from my boxer shorts. <b><span style="color: #cccccc;"><i>“Hey,</i> <i>when this baby hits eighty-eight miles per hour you're going to see some serious shit.</i></span></b> <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.xszcxy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/DTLA-NISSAN-2-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="http://www.xszcxy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/DTLA-NISSAN-2-4.jpg" width="200" /></a>I pictured my manhood, sleek and silver and surrounded by blue lightning, uncrushed and alive. Chrome and steel and acceleration baby!</div>
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I jogged to catch up with my wife, who for tonight only would be called Jennifer.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101214135759/bttf/images/6/65/Jennifer-02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101214135759/bttf/images/6/65/Jennifer-02.jpg" width="145" /></a><a href="http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101214135759/bttf/images/6/65/Jennifer-02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101214135759/bttf/images/6/65/Jennifer-02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">If you liked it, share it.</a></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2598166057200681836.post-38900970246557437322013-09-05T22:44:00.001-07:002013-09-05T22:45:55.262-07:00The Crew <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:DocumentProperties> <o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template> <o:Revision>0</o:Revision> <o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:Pages>1</o:Pages> <o:Words>1037</o:Words> <o:Characters>5916</o:Characters> <o:Company>University of New South Wales</o:Company> <o:Lines>49</o:Lines> <o:Paragraphs>11</o:Paragraphs> <o:CharactersWithSpaces>7265</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:Version>12.0</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">The same thing happens nigh on every day. I get on the bus and sit with my book and the bus then winds its way along, slowly filling to the point where people start begrudgingly taking the aisle seats and sitting beside the person in the window seat. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I glance up and see three or four seats left including the one beside me. I glance up again a few stops later and see every seat on the bus taken except the one beside me, there are people standing, there are people muttering, and an empty seat beside me. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.statetransit.info/global_images/bus_fleet/B12BLECC001.jpg/image_preview" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://www.statetransit.info/global_images/bus_fleet/B12BLECC001.jpg/image_preview" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Sooner or later one lone traveller will shuffle and “excuse me” their way up and take the seat beside me and I find myself wondering what exactly it is that keeps these people at bay? I have my shirt and tie on, my hair neatly gelled , my Kindle doesn’t reveal that I am reading anything disturbing, I even have a nice lemony Armani scent, so why does no one want to sit by me?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I have come to the conclusion that, despite what my daughter tells me, I am simply not cool. I drag down the bus vibe of undercut hair, too tight trousers and iPhones. I sour their Vitamin and Nutrient Water with my grey-flecked beard and crows feet. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This baffled me as I was cool once, I was on the edge, I was at the height of a movement before it was even a movement. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I was in a Breakdance Crew.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">(Wavy lines and a tumbling sensation, oh yeah, we are going down the flash back tunnel again).</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Break dance was phenomenon in the early 1980’s and during the school holidays of '82 I had visions of myself with mismatched fluoro socks, stubble on my face and the attitude in my eye of Turbo and O-Zone. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI2abRNJk-6k1YzyH4olk52y3eFgcEQZFt_xAcVbQtFUpM6KLmU7-6Vs64UGMeHioOZhwtIHaqCpy5Pst79ylXwnl0JmtfQYNnUuzLEES3jlTbCsGlZnFNeJ3c74Kbj83vJ_j-GDnJYb52/s400/2062509.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI2abRNJk-6k1YzyH4olk52y3eFgcEQZFt_xAcVbQtFUpM6KLmU7-6Vs64UGMeHioOZhwtIHaqCpy5Pst79ylXwnl0JmtfQYNnUuzLEES3jlTbCsGlZnFNeJ3c74Kbj83vJ_j-GDnJYb52/s320/2062509.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I devoted very small amounts of time to trying to body pop, focussing on certain show stopping moves. In my 8 year old mind I was approaching event horizon of being able to break dance by simply thinking about break dancing now and then. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">One of my neighbours, Karl, was a confirmed break-dancer. He had a shark tooth ear ring, muscle t shirt and a small cassette player with 3 break-dance tunes recorded five or six times. He had moves and skills and as such a “crew” naturally formed around him, especially also as he was ten and we were eight. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Being in his crew meant we followed him wherever he went and heckled anyone foolish enough to start a “beef” with him. We were fiercely territorial so the crew from the neighbouring street were our sworn enemies. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Karl would show his moves in the playing field and the crew from the next street would appear on the (ungraffiti’d) walls were they sat cat calling. As was our job we heckled back, declaring their dancer rubbish and we traded insults long enough that they demanded a “burn out.” This was a mythical concept; two dancers facing off until one broke from the inability to complete a special move. To loose a burn out could lead to tears, limbs could break from over extension and hospitalisation could very well follow. So saying, none of us had been to one though Karl had recounted a victory he had had in a burn out in a neighbouring and rougher town as the sun glinted on his sharks tooth ear ring. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Given the escalating drama of the moment nothing could happen there and then, Karl could not immediately break into a carefully choreographed routine. A time and place had to be determined. It couldn’t be in the park; parents may see and interrupt the precision dancing with shouts of dinner time. It had to be somewhere we weren’t supposed to be, and it had to be in the evening. We opted for the car park in the market square of town because it had a dumpster and that gave it an urban vibe and we chose 6pm because the street lights would be on. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1187/816747329_d1aafaf0dd_m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1187/816747329_d1aafaf0dd_m.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It was on, word went out about the burn out, people would come and witness this and I would be ring-side as part of Karl’s Crew.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We rushed back to Karl’s place to help him work out what to wear and spent the afternoon listening to the same tunes while Karl got dressed (tennis headband, ear ring, white trainers, baggy trousers and t shirt) and his mum bought us Lemon cordial and ginger biscuits.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We managed to convince our parents to let us out after dinner on the strict understanding we would be home for 7pm. With stomach battle ready and filled with fish fingers or frozen beef burgers we regrouped and ducked and dodged our way to town. Karl planted his cassette player down and we scowled and sneered. In my memory of this I am chewing on a matchstick though I doubt that was genuinely the case. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Karl broke into an epileptic warm up of half moves that suggested the raw talent he was just barely holding back and we all felt the electricity of the impending burn out. There was danger and music in the air, and our parents would never understand the necessity of this moment, the vital territorial tribal ritual that was about to be performed to Chaka Khan and the Rock Steady Crew. Adults just wouldn’t or couldn’t understand…and evidently neither did the other crew as they never turned up. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">By 6.20pm we knew they weren’t coming. Karl was still windmilling his arms and checking his ear ring but by 6.30pm the manager of the chemist came out and told us to move on in and in a precursor to the Criminal Justice Act he told us we should turn that music off. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Not down, off. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">We took the long way home, strutted through the neighbouring street looking for trouble, armed with imagined flick knives and broken bottles. No trouble came, though one of us did step in dog mess. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Back at our street with 20 minutes before curfew Karl pressed play on his cassette deck and Chaka Khan started singing at a sensibly low volume. He did a few moves and then spent a while psyching himself up to do a swan dive and lead into a caterpillar. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Having spent a good 12 minutes that summer practising I had a belief that I could do each move. Karl completed the swan dive caterpillar combo while the other kids twitched and jerked. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://content5.videojug.com/5b/5bfe8d48-6792-0f65-d293-ff0008ce586b/how-to-do-the-worm-dance.WidePlayer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://content5.videojug.com/5b/5bfe8d48-6792-0f65-d293-ff0008ce586b/how-to-do-the-worm-dance.WidePlayer.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Figuring this was my moment I launched into a graceful swan dive and encountered the terrible moment where ambition collides with inability. My arms buckled and my face planted firmly on the concrete and my legs went over my head as I crumpled. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I stood and wiped a small trickle of blood from my cheek as sniggers started but Karl silenced them with one clenched 10 year old fist. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">“Least he tried” he said and as my heart swelled as he added an uncertain “Yo!”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">One by one they launched into swan dives and crumpled until ten minutes later they were all wincing and rubbing sore points on their faces. Karl executed one more perfect dive and the front doors started opening on our street as our parents called us home. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I ran indoors and my mum asked how I had scratched my face, had I been fighting? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">“Nah Mum, dancing” I said, leaving my street persona at the door as I raced upstairs for a Sunday night Matey Bubble Bath. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Under my beard a small scar from my dance days likely remains. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And in my heart still burns the unchecked heat of the burn out. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">If no one sits next to me on my next commute I am going to stand and scream out “Hey, you, the bus commute crew, show me what you do make a break make a move” and then I’ll caterpillar my way up the aisle and do the robot all the way to work. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">‘Cause I could you know.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Cool is in my blood. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Yo</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Breakdance-oldschool.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Breakdance-oldschool.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2598166057200681836.post-71601550333404874112013-05-29T02:29:00.002-07:002013-05-29T02:41:38.380-07:00How I Died<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US">How
did I die?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZPuPZWGcVBw6fR0PtY4XiORJPv3du_aQVzzfGXziU4cPJofnuAA001bgKbUyRcjWCL555SicRPWuGHbPI3wPHcyhqHQc3okJ8r0KhhKgV1gEjvZCIQPWWwDq5oUzturrD76SchSjyio8/s1600/coffin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZPuPZWGcVBw6fR0PtY4XiORJPv3du_aQVzzfGXziU4cPJofnuAA001bgKbUyRcjWCL555SicRPWuGHbPI3wPHcyhqHQc3okJ8r0KhhKgV1gEjvZCIQPWWwDq5oUzturrD76SchSjyio8/s320/coffin.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">2011 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Bear
- Dad<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Me - Yes
mate?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Bear
- If I am ever a lifeguard, and you aren't already dead, I’ll try and pull you
out of the water. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">My daughter predicts my death several times
a week. She comes to our room at 1am and either taps me on the head until I
wake up or opens my eyelids with her fingers and stares at me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">A small child standing by your bed in the
midnight hours is always terrifying and most nights I wake with a jolt and see
the dark shadow of my daughter standing breathing beside me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">What
is it?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">I had
a nightmare.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Just try
and go back to sleep darlin’<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">No
Dad, I dreamt you died.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">She then makes upset noises and I reassure
her I am alive. I pull her into bed for a hug, she curls in and falls straight
back to sleep. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Then without fail she kicks me in the
groin. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">In the morning I ask – <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">So
how did I die last night darlin’?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">She grins from the breakfast table and
gives me my latest death. The list is now lengthy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">You were eaten by a crocodile<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">You were shot by a gun<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">You were stabbed in the face<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">You were hit by a car / bus / horse<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">You were eaten by an angry shark<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">You were sick<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">You were on the toilet<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">You ate too much beans.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">You were hit by a dog<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">You were old<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">You just didn’t get up any more<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">A snake killed you<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">You exploded<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">You caught fire and then exploded<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Dad, you just died, don’t you know? I am watching Tinkerbell.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">With each scenario she mentions I make a
mental note to be cautious just in case she is a five-year-old soothsayer.
Should we go to the Reptile Park I keep a close watch on the crocodile
enclosure in case it should break and the overly large child killing crocodile come
rampaging towards me while my daughter giggles. I watch the ocean for sharks like
Chief Brody and stay firmly on the sand while she throws sand bombs at me. I am
careful crossing the road, I try not to catch fire or explode, I stay well away
from snakes and exercise caution when on the toilet. Should I see a dog that
looks likely to hit me I give it a wide berth. As for being shot, well there is
only so much I can do to avoid that other than stay away from Nakatomi Plaza.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">My sons’ death fixation does not relate to
me dying, but is specifically related to the undead. He begs for details on
zombies. Can zombies survive fire? Can zombies eat dogs? Do zombies ever catch
the bus? Would a zombie swim or walk under water? Can Batman beat a zombie? I
answer each question as best I can, prefacing it with “well, zombies don’t
exist….but” and then launching into a lengthy scenario about Batman and a
zombie having a tussle in Gotham City. The last zombie question I had from him
was “Dad, can a zombie eat itself, what would happen when it swallowed the last
bite?” I am still working on this one.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I took the kids to the local cemetery when
Bear was 3 and Toes around the one-year mark. Bear had been asking to go for
ages, pointing to it and telling me he wanted to see where the dead lived. We
were short of anything to do that day I hiked them up the hill, Bear on my
shoulders and Toes in the pram. It was a blistering Australian day and by the
time we reached the gates I was dripping sweat and breathless. Bear ran
gleefully towards the graves, Toes bumbled along. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.walksydneystreets.net/photos/south-coogee-cemetery-e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://www.walksydneystreets.net/photos/south-coogee-cemetery-e.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Bear stopped suddenly and turned to me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Dad</span></i><span lang="EN-US">?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Yes
mate?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Where
are the dead people?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Underground,
they are buried.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">He frowned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Dad?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Yes
mate?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Can
we go and get a shovel?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">On that same trip he asked me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Dad,
why do people die?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I took a deep breath and gave it my best
shot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">People
get old. Once they have done everything, eaten every meal, had every beer, seen
every movie and read every book they die. They fall asleep and don't wake up.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Like
Da?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Yes
mate, like Da</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">.</span></i><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Da was my wife’s grandfather; he died when Bear
was two. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Da
was old.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Yes
mate, he was very old. But he was in hospital where they care for people, he was
comfortable and you gave him a kiss goodbye.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Da
died. He’s dead like fish.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Fish was Bears very originally named pet
fish. The fish died, most likely of over feeding. He has a new fish now, when
he first got it he wanted to call it Fishy. It’s a fighting fish so the name
was toughened up to Demon-Fish.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Yes
mate, Da is dead like Fish.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Bear gave the beach a distant look, like
Heathcliffe on the moors. He seemed to weigh up mans mortality, to consider the
brief shining life we lead before we wink out and leave only love and memories.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">He turned back at me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Can I
have an ice cream?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Toes has seen her pet mouse die, she’s
fascinated by deceased pigeons on the side or the road and she giggled when she
saw a fish chopped into pieces by a fisherman and thrown back into the water,
mouth gasping on its severed head. .<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">She tells me there is a ghost of an old
lady in her room who hates her. This gives me chills. Sometimes she points to
the corner of the room and assures me someone is standing there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.gercsa.com/images/GhostWoman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="259" src="http://www.gercsa.com/images/GhostWoman.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I tucked her in the other night, sung her a
lullaby, kissed her and asked her to try not to dream my death tonight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN-US">Ok
Dad, I’ll just dream you get hurt.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I know I am reaping what I have sewn, having raised two happy little goth kids and I love my demon kids. So saying, it would be nice to live through the night for a change.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">1997<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">An ex girlfriend, before she was an ex, asked
me– <i>If you died, would you mind if I
dated your housemate?</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2598166057200681836.post-42753030076735646772013-03-02T01:59:00.000-08:002013-03-02T01:59:31.202-08:00The Dry Hump Instructor<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
David and I became friends through geography. The move to
Upper School was daunting and on the last day of our Middle School David
stopped me in the corridor and said we should walk together on the first day.
He asked if I would knock for him, I
said I would, and that was the last we saw of each other all summer until the new
term. I knocked, his mum answered, and we were almost late due to David
fumbling with his tie, worrying at his shoelaces, and stuffing marmalade toast
in his mouth.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We walked to school and back every day and by daily exposure
we fell into being friends of a sort. On the walks to school we would talk
about his favourite things – guns, grenades, and Rambo, or my favourite things,
Stephen King novels, Stephen King movies, and Rambo.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One Friday night, half way into term, David’s parents were going
out and they suggested David rent a few movies and have me over for frozen pizza.
He rented Fletch and Better of Dead, we watched the latter movie (and I
immediately developed a hope to one day have a French girl kiss me and compliment
me on my <i>Language Lessons –</i> it never
happened but damn I still think she's lovely). <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://img003.lazygirls.info/people/diane_franklin/diane_franklin_better_off_dead__EYLlj7a.sized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://img003.lazygirls.info/people/diane_franklin/diane_franklin_better_off_dead__EYLlj7a.sized.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Before we put Fletch on talk shifted to a school disco that
was coming soon. <i>I’m gonna dance with
Jodi</i> – David was confident with girls. I’d seen that at middle school, he’d
follow them around the dance floor relentlessly until they let him dance beside
them. As soon as a slow song came on he’d launch like a hormonal St Bernard, mouth
wide and tongue flailing. There’d be confusion, saliva and sometimes a slap. Inevitably
he’d walk away puffed up and on a countdown to referring to the girl as a slag
but assuring anyone who was listening that he’d <i>tongued her.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Who you going to dance
with?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Girls were still an alien and hostile species to me, Stephen
King was safer. I knew they were there, I knew they could be spoken to and
potentially convinced to remove their tops, but at the time I had a misguided certainty
that Chinese food was involved and any conversation with a girl would lead to
the purchase of fried rice and sweet and sour pork. I had no money so could not
afford Chinese food. David was deeper in the hormone swamp and wasn’t shy of
pocket money. He was hairier, he was sweatier, and he was fixated.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Uhm, no one. There’s
no one I want to dance with.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Have you ever danced
with a girl? </i>David was grinning. I admitted that I had not.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>It’s easy. </i>He leapt
from his chair and ran to the kitchen, coming back with a mop with a long red
handle and a white head. He turned the mop upside down and held it in front of
him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdQlXk3o77Q0rnJdqGGf1qBGMnBMQLuHLbIRJ7cWQyfLua42BkJndq1dpqR-3FteXCPOD1uvwSJK-8Mlz8OpjuiNreqGptOXs6Q8h4mwl_mGSU0leTJJ-WJrac3axmA4XtH7X9dGYVCI8/s1600/ViledaSupermocioFloorMopCloseUp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdQlXk3o77Q0rnJdqGGf1qBGMnBMQLuHLbIRJ7cWQyfLua42BkJndq1dpqR-3FteXCPOD1uvwSJK-8Mlz8OpjuiNreqGptOXs6Q8h4mwl_mGSU0leTJJ-WJrac3axmA4XtH7X9dGYVCI8/s320/ViledaSupermocioFloorMopCloseUp.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>You just go up to the
girl and say – Hey. </i>He stared at the mop, smiled his Kiefer Sutherland
smile, and said – <i>Hey Jodi, d’you wanna
dance? </i>The Jodi-mop apparently wanted to dance. Soon he was circling with
the mop and I was laughing. He guided me on small talk whilst humming <i>Take my Breath Away</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Your hair looks nice</i>
– he said, flicking his fingers through the mop head before turning to me – <i>Say something nice to them, girls love their
hair</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>You smell nice</i> –
he said, sniffing the mop. <i>Girls love it
if you tell them they smell nice, even though they all smell of Avon soap. </i>I
had no idea what Avon soap smelt like but made a mental note to find out. He
carried on circling with the mop, guiding it around the lounge, eyes fixed
firmly on it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Ask them about school
stuff, but nothing too much. Tell them that homework sucks and French is
pointless, except kissing.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He cackled at his own joke and I flashed on the girl from
Better Off Dead and her <i>Language Lessons</i>
again.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>You only have about 3
minutes so don’t talk much. You need to be kissing them by the last minute of
the song.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He started bobbing his head back and forth, making
lip-smacking sounds. His hips swayed and he seemed to peck at the mop head.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then he said - <i>D’you
want to lick peanut butter off of my dick?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was laughing so hard that it almost passed me by. There
was a legend in school about a girl the year above us. She’d been at home with
her boyfriend and had gone to get drinks from the kitchen. She’d come back into
the room and he’d been nude with peanut butter spread on himself. The legend
went no further than this but David was obsessed with it. Any time he saw the
girl he would shout as <i>PEANUT BUTTER</i> as
loud he could before running, red faced, in the opposite direction. The girl
looked baffled each time, and I slowly realised that the legend wasn’t actually
a legend but was a creation of David’s imagination. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He was still dancing with the mop but his disco chat was
becoming darker. <i>You like peanut butter
don’t you? You want peanut butter? </i>The mop didn’t respond that I could
hear. <i>How many times have you had peanut
butter? </i>The mop continued being a mop, unaware of David multiple meanings
for peanut butter. It was swaying from side to side as David manoeuvred it. I
was still laughing, but slightly less comfortably. David seemed to have
forgotten I was there. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>You and me – and
peanut butter</i>. He pulled the mop closer. <i>Yeah. </i>He was whispering now as he pulled the mop closer and wrapped
one leg around it. <i>And</i> – <i>and – you and me and – <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He pushed the mop against the back of the sofa and kicked
the bottom towards him. He pressed himself to it and began to grind. I sat,
uncertain what the best thing to do was, as David bore down on his mothers
kitchen mop and kept calling it Jodi. The air was thick with the smell of
detergent and David’s sweat. He buried his face in the strands. His ears were
scarlet, his body wrapped tightly around the handle. There was a practiced
intent in his movements; seemingly this was not the first time he and Jodi had
danced. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With a sudden shout of <i>Bitch</i>
he stopped moving. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I slipped out of the room and ducked into the kitchen. I ran
the cold tap and filled a glass with water, not wanting it but wanting to appear
busy. I heard him walk out of the lounge room and into the downstairs toilet. I
went back to the lounge and saw the mop, laying discarded on the floor now. I
heard the toilet flush and David run upstairs. He came down a few minutes later
in different trousers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Before he came in the lounge I heard him in the kitchen,
raiding the cupboard. He appeared with cigarettes and held it out to me. I
declined and he lit one himself, sinking into the armchair and hitting play on
the remote to start Fletch. He said nothing for the first half of the movie and
I just about managed to forget about the sexually abused mop, which still lay
on the floor behind me. <i><o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The following week, walking to school, David told me that
he’d pulled 4 legs from a spider and put it in his underpants at the weekend.
He told me he’d stolen his neighbour Sally’s bra and asked me if I wanted to
come and see it, I pictured it limp on the floor, as abused as his mothers mop.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then he became fixated on the fact that farmers had sex with
their sheep and started telling me where he knew there were sheep and a few
goats. He had a plan he said, he’d made a list of what they would need. I knew
somewhere on the list would be peanut butter.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The last day I walked in with him I knocked on his door and
his mother answered as ever. She smiled at me and invited me in. She told me
David would be down in a moment and went back to the kitchen where she was
mopping the floor. She swished the mop from side to side, dunking it in the
bucket and back to the floor again. I watched the mop move across the kitchen
and heard Take My Breath Away in the back of my mind. I started wondering,
could you, should you, with a mop? Would it, could it, be good?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
David hammered down the stairs and as we left I said I think
we should stop walking in together. He asked why and I made something up about
homework and wanting to get into school earlier. Truth was I knew if I kept
hanging around with him I’d be stuffing amputated spiders down my pants and
mounting my mothers vacuum cleaner within the month. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He shrugged and said So what and for the rest of the walk we
didn’t say a word and I tried not to think about his mop.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2598166057200681836.post-84843879604143021342013-02-19T23:19:00.001-08:002013-02-19T23:19:26.463-08:00Paying for it in the mail room
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I was 11 Roland gave me one pound. Unlike mine,
Roland’s school shoes were shiny and were replaced during the school term. His
school bag was leather, his uniform pressed and his packed lunch was not made
from Sandwich Spread. He had a fist full of coins and dished them out to five
of us in the playground.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I had 20 pence a day to buy a bag of sugar – Rainbow Dust
(brightly coloured sherbet) or Pineapple Chunks (bright yellow cubes of fruit
flavoured sweets) - from the newsagents. There was a tuck shop where Currency =
Cool, since I had no money I wasn’t cool. On this day I strode into the tuck
shop and handed over cash as though I did it all the time. I bought Orange
Fanta and a bag of crisps and still had change. I giggled a bit.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That day I rocked the free world - until my form teacher saw
me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Where’d you get that?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tuck shop<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Where’d you get the
money for that?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My poverty was known from the fact that this teacher had
given me football boots and a rugby top from lost property. Given I have an
inability to lie I said that Roland had given me a pound.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Why’d he do that?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I had no idea. Roland had given me the coin out of the blue.
The teacher did not view this as positive an occurrence as I did.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The following morning Roland and I were called in. He asked
Roland where he had gotten the money and Roland confessed to stealing it from
his dad’s wallet and started to cry. He asked why he had given the money out
and Roland had shrugged and cried some more. He asked me if I was bullying Roland
and I looked at my spaghetti arms and I said no. He asked if Roland was buying
my friendship and I said no (I had gone from bully to prostitute in 2
questions). He asked Roland to name the others he had given money to and he
sobbed and named names. A few minutes later 4 others stood with us, staring at
Sobbing Roland and SuperGrass Me. The teacher said we had to pay Roland back
and they shelled over a pound each from their pockets. I said I would have to
pay over 5 days and the teacher frowned. He itemised my Orange Fanta and Cheesy
Quavers and said - <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You’ll pay for it</i>.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Not being able to pay immediately made me the most guilty of
“The Playground 5.” I had needed that Fanta too much!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Two years later Manesh bounded over to me during break. He
gave me an iced finger bun. He had a Tupperware container full of them. I quite
liked Manesh, we weren’t close but we sat next to each other in Maths and
occasionally swapped jokes about the English, Irish and Scots. I took the bun,
I ate the bun, I enjoyed the bun and just as I was finishing it a teacher
pulled me aside.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Where’d you get the bun?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Round a mouthful of bun I said Manesh had given it to me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Why’d he do that?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I said I didn’t know. I was confident there was no way they
could make me repay a bun.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Are you bullying
Manesh?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Again I looked at my spaghetti arms.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">No.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Are you friends with
Manesh?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I said sort of, we did Maths together and before I could
tell the teacher about the racially profiled but funny English, Irish &
Scots jokes he asked - </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Are you not friends
with him because he’s black?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I didn’t know how to answer. Manesh was darker skinned but I
had never placed any importance on this. When Roland had given me the pound
there had been no mention of skin colour.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I said no - I wasn’t <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i>
friends with Manesh because he was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i>
white. The teacher frowned and told me racism was a terrible thing. I should
think long and hard about racism, if I was being racist he assured me <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You’ll pay for it. </i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I became wary of people giving me things. A redheaded girl
wanted to dance with me at a school disco. A huge African kid offered to hit
someone who’d said I had Hitler hair. I turned them both down. I was burned, I
was bitter, I was driving in the rain staring fixedly at the white lines ahead,
I was a man on the edge, fearful of generosity - and then I was no longer in
school. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was working my first job. One of my co workers was a
flamboyant male. He wore bright shirts and sang a lot. He was pretty funny and
one morning he gave me a chocolate biscuit. We sorted the post and talked about
movies, music and alcohol. The manageress wandered in and saw me chomping
chocolate digestive. She sent Stuart to the 4<sup>th</sup> floor to collect
something and once he’d gone the she turned to me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You and Stuart getting
on ok?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I nodded.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You know you need to
be careful yes?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I frowned. Careful about what?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stuart’s a Poof. Be
careful about being too friendly with him. You don’t want to end up in an
awkward situation. If you’re not careful (</i>she nodded at the melting biscuit
in my hand) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">– let’s just say you may have
to pay for his friendship.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I still had spaghetti arms and was rocking a long pony tail.
Being friendly with girls had never led to unexpected payments. I was unsure
how having a laugh with “Gay” Stuart meant I may end up Paying in the Mail
Room. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A friend’s father had been livid when a British Olympic
swimmer came out as gay. The friend related his fathers concerns as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">if
the swimmer visited our school promoting sports and health and then tried to touch
us in the changing room?</i> I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t think Gay worked that
way. I didn’t think Gay Stuart was hopping around the office touching every
male who ate a chocolate biscuit with him. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Stuart came back and the manageress left, winking at me as
though we had entered into a quiet agreement. Stuart asked what that was all
about and, unable to lie, I said – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You’re
gay and I have to be careful about awkward situations or I may end up paying.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Stuart laughed and assured me that my pony tail and
spaghetti arms were pretty ruinous. No one liked my pony tail. Then he told me
the manageress was shagging the Managing Director and it became apparent that
everyone I worked with was shagging someone else in the office bar me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The use of race or sexual preference when denouncing people
seems so ridiculous and unnecessary. I can offend folk at 50 yards without
resorting to such epithets. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We once saw two men arguing in Waitrose in the UK years
back. They were fighting about who had been first in the queue and their
argument escalated. were almost coming to blows when one of them bellowed “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you nigger bastard</i>” and the whole shop
held its breath. The lady who lives above us, arguing with her neighbour
about nothing bigger than a washing line, shouted “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Oh you black bitch</i>.” These phrases seem to still come spilling out but hopefully for no longer than another decade or so as the bigots die out one by angry one. I'm sure by the time my kids are 18 such racial vitriol will have abated and we can go about disliking each other for other things.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The same with gay marriage, which seemingly every rational person in
the world is for. By the time the kids are 18 it has to have been resolved. Now though, despite being legal, it is still bringing protest that seems to come from the most atavistic of thoughts <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">They already have
civil ceremonies, why do they need more?</i>” - which I guess shows that it’s comforting to
say we’re all equal as long as some of us are a little more equal than others.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In epilogue – </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Roland is still rich and now married with 2.4 kids and a
tractor (according to my briefly accepting a Friend Request on Facebook; I un-friended
him before he could start sending tainted money). </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Manesh I lost all contact with, but I am guessing he is
still darker skinned then me. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Stuart, his ambition was to go on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stars in Their Eyes</i> and win by singing a Morrissey song. I have no
idea if he ever managed it but in general I don’t like people who go on
television shows and I can’t stand Morrisey.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Me, I’m older than Bill Hicks was when he died. I still love
his idea of a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">People Who Hate People
Party</i> and if I didn’t dislike people so much I’d try and start one.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2598166057200681836.post-70126028204974106462013-01-02T22:07:00.000-08:002013-01-02T22:07:36.043-08:00Cut the nut
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">My wife is descended from The First Fleet - her
ancestors were amongst the first convicts from the England sent to Australia.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">They arrived in Australia, served their time, fell in
love and went about making babies. Being a First Fleeter grants you kudos over
here so one day my kids will have to dress as starving convicts and sing
Advance Australia Fair just as my wife did. The interesting part of her heritage
is that one of her ancestors was <b><i>arrested and deported for the crime of
breaking and entering at the residence of </i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">[a man with the same name as me]</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">. H</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">e stole a toolkit.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;">My first Christmas in Australia my mother in law gave me a toolkit. It’s
</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">full of screwdrivers, spanners, sticky things
and scrapping things. I heft it down from the top of the cupboard about once a
week to unscrew the battery compartments of kids’ toys or to look for the pen
knife so I can use the scissors to cut my toe nails. Invariably when I put my
hand in the toolkit I cut myself on some random sharp thing. Then I forget to
put it away and Toes empties it and runs off with screws I don’t want or items I didn’t know I owned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">When I was 19 I got my first car. I could hardly
afford to fill it up and new tyres were an impossible expense but owning it was
wonderful, I could go places, I could drive into the distance playing music and
gaze moodily toward the horizon in my leather jacket (from the front seat of a
white mini that I bought from a middle aged lady who used it for shopping).
Just after I bought it a friend and I attached a car stereo to it using duct
tape, nails, string and glue. It fell off one week later whilst playing Nirvana
and landed on my foot and I nearly crashed into a wall.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The only tool in the car was a jack for changing
the tyres and a tyre iron. I thought I should learn how to use the jack so I
practiced. I gave myself a blister and several cuts on the finger working out
which was the jack was meant to go and how the handle attached but eventually I
raised the car and feeling proud and prepared I lowered the car and put the
jack back in the boot. As I did so, unknown to me, I knocked the cover of the
car battery aside. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I drove around that afternoon feeling quite car-capable
to the point that I conjured images of myself driving international rallies in
my mini and winning at impossible odds whilst also defeating terrorists and
saving women’s volleyball teams from distress. As I turned into my home street
I could hear a bubbling sound that wasn’t related to volleyball. As I parked
and the noise grew louder and I opened the boot and saw the metal handle of my
jack stuck fast to the positive terminal of my battery. The other end of the
handle was against my petrol tank and the side of the tank was glowing red. The
bubbling sound was the petrol in the tank boiling. My battery was mostly
melted. I stood wondering how long petrol can boil for before it explodes. The
red glow faded and thick smoke wafted around me from the battery. As an adult I
understand that my petrol tank would have been full of extremely combustible
vapour but as a teenager I simply said <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Meep</i>
and ran away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Shortly afterwards I needed to change a spark
plug. I had a socket set that my dad had bought me and it was shiny and silver
and manly. New spark plugs lay before me, and old ones in the car. The new ones
would rocket charge my car. I attached the socket set, wiped oil on myself for
the rugged look, wished I had a matchstick in my mouth and a southern American
accent, and turned the spark plug….the wrong way. It sheared off and I had to
get my dad to fix it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I get blisters using screwdrivers. Building Ikea
furniture hurts my hands. My hands are soft from a life time of keyboards and
remote controls. When we bring Ikea items home Bear asks me how long it will be
before I start shouting. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">New Years Eve we needed a new toilet seat. For
months the old one had been falling off and I’d been reattaching it. Given we
were having visitors round it seemed wise to provide them somewhere to sit. We
bought the seat and I had 3 hours before they arrived. The seat promised it was
easily installed and I believed it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The old seat sat askew and I hunkered down to
start undoing the plastic nuts on the back of the seat. The bolt was rusted,
undoubtedly due to my sons’ creative aim in the bathroom. I used pliers and a
spanner and managed, over half an hour, to turn the nut roughly 6 times. The
length of the screw thread was a ridiculous 2 inches. I tried the other nut and
found it similarly rusted and unwilling to turn. Each time I put the pliers down
they vanished and I’d spend 5 minutes looking for them only to then loose the
spanner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I had 2 hours and fifteen minutes before my
guests would arrive and immediately need to defecate. I looked in my toolkit
and decided it would spray the bolts with WD40 if for no other reason than it
smelt nice. First spray I had the tin round the wrong way and sprayed myself in
the face. The nuts still would not turn. By now I was topless and perspiring
heavily so I put on gardening gloves to help me with my grip. Bright green ones
with yellow flowery patterns.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I managed to turn the nut once more and then
slipped and bent the bolt. At this point I contemplated asking our neighbour of
our visitors could use their toilet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Toes came in and informed me she needed the toilet.
I returned to find she hadn’t bothered flushing. I got back to work and managed
two more turns on one nut and then my son needed the toilet. He flushed but
left a fog in the bathroom that was thick and frightening yet made me oddly
proud.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I realised, in a moment of genius, that the nuts
were plastic and so maybe I could melt them. I hunched around the toilet I started
burning one whilst making Beavis & Butthead giggling sounds. The nut glowed
green and dripped plastic and I started tearing up from the fumes. It burnt,
but seemed to only shrink and tighten. I had made things worse rather than
better but using fire made me feel pleased so I did it again. And again until
the lighter was out of gas and I was slightly high on fumes. The nuts were now balls
of black kryptonite melted to the bolt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Thus far, aside from fire, I had used pliers, a
spanner, I’d tried to chisel them off with a hammer and flat head screw driver,
I’d shouted at them, and I’d used a small craft knife to try whittle through
them and cut my thumb twice. I had an hour before my visitors were due and
could sense their bowels expanding. I knew they would arrive experiencing gastric
distress and immediately need to sit. They’d discover a bathroom full of tools
and toxic smoke and me finger painting with my own blood. I was spending a
disturbing amount of time considering their bowels.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I had not tried secateurs yet so I grabbed them
and tried to cut the nut. Parts started breaking away from the left side bolt
and I hacked and snipped and it shattered. I slid the bolt free and whooped
with delight and did a little dance that I call the Lava Lamp. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The right hand nut was harder to reach. I
snipped and small pieces fell away. I clipped but could not get purchase to cut
the nut. I held the bolt in my hand and wondered if I could break it. How far
would I be able to bend it before the porcelain seat shattered? I bent the nut
a little and relied on 2 years of my sons creatively aimed wee having weakened
the bolt. I bent it a little more, then a little more. I bent it back again and
it immediately snapped in my hand. 2 hours and 15 minutes of pain, toxic fumes
and emotional toolkit distress and the bolt snapped in under a minute.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I attached the new seat and washed for a long
time. Both kids ran in and shouted that the new seat was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cool </i>and I did my lava dance again. I wanted my wife to come, view
the seat and smile. I was topless, sweaty, dancing with green gardening gloves covered
in WD40, sweat, grime, and what seemed to be engine oil. I apologised to my
wife for the time it had taken to do the toilet seat. She patted me and said <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It’s ok, after all you did manage to change
the seat in the end.</i> I took the comment as praise. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The toolkit is back on top of the cupboard now.
I am hoping an English person breaks in a steals it and gets deported to Skegness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2598166057200681836.post-52580546308298510532012-12-04T00:23:00.001-08:002014-11-25T17:48:51.972-08:00Anal Fish – Cautionary Camping Tales<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Camping is unnatural. It’s a fraught state of affairs. It’s
blighted and unnatural.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here’s why - and every word is true.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1998 – Cromer (a
bitterly cold pointless part of the UK)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There’s a man my age who most likely wakes up at night
wondering if a nude photo of him is about to surface on the internet. 18 years
ago he was in the shower the same campsite as me and by dint of the fact that
he had the same trainers as me he ended up with a camera jammed under the stall
door by 3 of my friends and a photo being taken from the floor up. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My friends then ran off cackling thinking they had just
snapped a shot of me nude and proceeded to bump into me moments later by our
tent. They did a double take and as they turned they saw a white faced guy dash
from the stalls, dripping wet, head whipping every which way. He fled back to
his tent and the next morning he was gone. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That night one of my friends ate a tea bag. The reason? He was 20 and someone had said “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I dare you to.</i>” During the night he threw it up in the middle of the tent.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1999 - Bournemouth (a
bitterly cold pointless part of the UK)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is a bag of white pills buried in a field. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The pills found
their way into my pocket while we were at a nightclub on way too much Red
Bull and Vodka. We were on a Stag / Bucks weekend for two grooms and we were 21
and ridiculous. We danced topless until bouncers told us to put our shirts back on. We were all freshly tattooed, pierced and long haired. Damn but we were.......twats.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At some point during the evening I felt someone bump into
me, then saw two bouncers chasing a chap with lank sweaty hair. Being drunk I thought nothing
more of it and later we staggered back to our tents ready to pass out, safe in the knowledge that being 21 hangovers were cured by a cup of tea.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the morning I woke up to find pills scattered all around the
tent. I looked down and saw them spilling out of my back pocket. Each had a
little bird logo in the middle. Loaded with red bull paranoia I gathered them
together and ran out of my tent, convinced the polite English version of the
DEA was about to appear. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I scraped a hole in the ground with bare fingers and buried the pills in their
air tight bag and went and sat in my car, ready to tear out of the campsite at
the sign of the first flashing blue light.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And the aftermath of the stag / bucks weekend? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of the 13 of
us who went 3 returned home having made the leap from heterosexual to
homosexual.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2003 - Nymboida River
in NSW (a sun blasted alien landscape)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A little jut of land, trees, cask wine and no kids yet. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The first day there and I was shown a shovel for when I
needed the toilet. Flies droned, the sun beat down, and my sister in laws dog
snuffled around at everything. I delayed the moment where I would need the
shovel for as long as I could until finally I marched off up the hill to find a
secluded spot. Every secluded spot was draped in cobwebs or sparkling with
potential snake scales. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Flies clustered on my face and t shirt, nudging at my lips
for whatever moisture they could find. Finally deciding that one blighted dead
spot of earth was as good as the next I dug a shallow hole and positioned
myself uncomfortably. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Immediately the flies became Catholic Priests and started
touching me inappropriately. The feeling of flies on your back side when you
are trying to move a motion in bowel court is not one anyone should know.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Resolving to be done as swiftly as possible I sweated, focussed
and wiped. I wondered if I could constipate myself through will alone for the
next 5 days. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Finally I went to stand and being unused to this
crouched fly blown posture I misjudged my balance – and fell backwards into my
own pit toilet.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2004 - Barrington
Tops NSW (a leafy place, almost seemed nice until…)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A lovely day reading. My wife lay on my blanket all day on
the ground; I lay uncomfortably but tried to relax. My father in law lay
unaware of rocks and stones and ants merrily reading and sipping wine. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Come tea time we needed a fire and my father in law went
crashing into the bus singing to himself, snatching wood from everywhere and
returning with a pile of the size of a shed. He called my wife over – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Can you check my beard? I think there is a
spider in it</i>. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I went into the bush myself, hoping to find at least one
piece of wood. I picked up a branch or two. A third one. I shook a spider off
of a fourth one and then gave the branch back to the spider so as not to offend
it. It watched me as I walked away and I watched it, so did not see the hole in
the ground. I stumbled into it, seeing white paper and flies. I realised very
quickly after stumbling that I had fallen into a previous campers pit toilet. So
not content with falling into a pit toilet once, I had now done of for a second
time but this time the shit was not my own.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Later we retired to bed. My wife gave me my blanket and she
shrugged into her sleeping bag and commented – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We’ll have to get you a sleeping bag one of these days</i> – and
promptly passed out. Drunk I passed out as well, and woke up shortly after
shaking violently. I was freezing cold and incoherent. I sat up and pulled my
knees to me, blowing my breath under the blanket to try and raise the
temperature. My wife snored as I drew near death and I loathed her sleeping
bag. I reached for the car keys, thinking that maybe it would be warmer in the
car. I staggered out and went to the car, as I opened the door my wedding ring
fell from my finger; I was so damn cold I was physically shrinking. I could feel
my nipples starting to snap off. My teeth were shaking loose. I was an
assortment of parts with the hinges breaking.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I sat in the car for ten minutes and started seeing wisps’
of light and hearing fairies giggling and grinding teeth at me. I went to my wife
and woke her, stammering about dying and freezing and other such melodrama. She
fetched her father - and indignity followed with him. He turned the car engine
on, ran the heater and started packing me in his clothing. He put his shirts on
my legs; he packed his trousers around my chest and then pulled two pairs of
his boxers over my head. The shivering stopped as I warmed up, he clicked the
engine off and I fell asleep, wrapped in everything my father in law owned and
still wearing his boxer shorts on my head like a hat. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If anyone else has woken in the morning with their father in
laws undies pulled down over their head and face please let me know so we can
drink together.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2008 – Hell, NSW
(Hell, hell, hell, hell)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We arrived at a place that I commented looked like The Texas
Chainsaw Massacre. Sun blasted earth, desiccated trees, dry river bed and mad
horses foaming and a feeling of abandonment, as though reason left a long time
ago and left only despair. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We pulled up to a shack and climbed from the car, we had
kids now and my son barrelled from the vehicle as I picked up my daughter. My
father in law shouted <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cooee</i> and the
ranger came into sight. He had severe facial scaring and the Texas Chainsaw
world lurched back at me. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My father in law commented that we’d like a spot by the
water and before he could finish the faceless man snapped – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I know what you want and you can’t have it.
You camp near the river and those kids’ll die. I’ve seen it happen. They’ll
die. You camp over there away from the water. If you don’t – there’ll be death.</i>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He turned away and we camped where he had pointed. All night
he played episodes of The Bill loudly from his shack of death, adding an
additional scurrility to the scene as London Police sirens wailed and taunted
me with urban murderous comfort.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Searching for firewood my then 3 year old son marched
happily and assisted in dragging back tree trunks crawling with creatures the
like of which Jules Verne could not have conceived. I carried small twigs and
was complemented for finding kindling.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After that I largely withdrew from camping. My wife took the
kids and I stayed home and wrote a book which was about living at a blighted
sun scorched place previously owned by a man with no face and destroying it,
burning it from the face of the planet. I charred away my horror and finished
the book feeling purified. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The book almost got published, 5<sup>th</sup> out of 362
entries. The publishers told me though that they found the premise and the
place slightly unbelievable. I tucked the manuscript away and hoped camping had
been contained within it never to be seen again.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2011 – The Road,
Victoria<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It hadn’t. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My wife inflicted a road trip on me Christmas last year and
we ended up at Wilsons Promontory. The part about our car dying on the 23<sup>rd</sup>
December and the Ute I was forced to drive and such like I’ll leave out.
Wilsons is stunning but I still managed to fall into a wombat hole in the pitch
darkness. I was alone in the dark stuck in a hole hoping that the wombat wasn’t
in it. I’d dropped the car keys as I fell, and my wallet, and had to find them
by touch alone. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2012 – Scrap of dirt,
NSW<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I went camping a few months back without the wife. She was
studying and there was a family meet up on a splint of land off a distant road
by a river. I drove, got lost and finally found them and pitched the tent and
lost all my tent pegs. Turns our they were under the tent I had just pitched
but I wouldn’t know that until I took the tent down. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The kids immediately settled in to camp life, stripping and
splashing in the river. I saw the shovel and knew this would be a weekend of
not only digging holes for me to use but also digging them for the kids and
crouching as they went so they didn’t fall over. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Toes found it hilarious going to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Daddy Toilet</i>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2012 – Bents Basin
NSW<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Last weekend I went camping again, sans wife. This time it
was with work mates. Leaving, I apologised to the kids in advance. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Bear – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We know Dad,
you’ll get lost and shout</i>. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Me – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I will mate</i>. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I did. But I found the site and being there first I picked a
spot under a tree and in 42 degree heat I put up the tents on my own while the
kids heckled me for swimming time. Both tents up – they weren’t beautiful but
they were up – I took the kids to the lake. They both jumped in, I waded in,
and the heat of the day leeched away and I sank down quite content. We splashed
around for an hour before heading back and finding my colleagues setting up. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I lit a fire and I had the strange moment of experiencing
someone less adept at camping than me and having to tell them how to put up a
tent. Shortly afterwards <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>there was
a cry of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yaahhhh ahhhhh oyyy shit</i> as
they saw the kind of spider I have become inured to. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I felt quite capable. I fed the kids, I had 2 tents
standing, I had a beer and all was well. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The following day Bear burst into my tent at 5am with Angry
Birds chortling on the iPad. I groaned but endured and was soon happily killing
pigs with my Luke Skywalker Bird – the middle of no where with an iPad is
easier. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The others woke up and one of my friends gave me bacon and a
fried egg cooked in fried bread (considering I can barely cook beans when
camping I found this remarkable) and I sipped tea and felt the day begin to
sting heat wise. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We went to the lake and the kids threw themselves in and
stayed there. I sat on the shore chatting and again thought maybe this isn’t so
bad. We ate lunch, we smiled, we dwelt in a nice picturesque F Scott Fitzgerald
like bubble of ‘just before’ – just before things went wrong.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="p">
Australia exists to bite you. Everything has teeth, I pointed out an
ant to my less camping experienced then me friend and he shouted <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wow oh bugger what the hell is that?</i> The
ant was about a centre metre long and had lengthy yellow teeth at the head end.
If you listened closely you could hear its footsteps. Kookaburras sat in the
trees with their meat shredding beaks. Spiders hung in the bushes with their
teeth dripping. </div>
<div class="p">
<br /></div>
<div class="p">
All of it seemed less threatening to me though as for once there was
someone there who was more intimidated than me. I even suggested we do a
weekend camp at the place with no face so I could enjoy seeing someone more
disturbed than I had been. </div>
<div class="p">
<br /></div>
<div class="p">
Post lunch we went back to the lake. The kids swam, I loosely
watched my two from behind a book, and we chatted amiably about nothing much.
In the water before us was something called a Bullrout fish. We didn’t know
this, we didn’t know it had venomous spines on its back and its anus. What kind
of creature needs anal spines?</div>
<div class="p">
<br /></div>
<div class="p">
My friend, who’d fed me bacon so who I liked even more than before,
stepped into the water and the anus of the fish stabbed her. </div>
<div class="p">
<br /></div>
<div class="p">
A Bullrout sting – and she had three though we did not know what had
stung her at that time – is <em>spectacularly painful, with the patient being
badly distressed, restless and often tearful. </em><em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The pain worsened moment by moment and her
distress grew. She said afterwards </span>There was a point where I knew I was
absolutely not OK and at that point I had to just give up and hope other people
could take care of me. I hoped I could just pass out.</em><em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> <o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<div class="p">
<em><br /></em></div>
<div class="p">
<em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Her
kids were frightened and asking if her foot would be amputated. The ambulance
took an age to make its way to us. The rangers knew of nothing in the waters
that could sting. The ambulance had no idea what it could be and the
uncertainty added to the fear given a large percentage of Australia can kill
you if you are within 1 metre of it. <o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<div class="p">
<em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></em></div>
<div class="p">
<em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Her
foot was packed in ice and pressure bandaged and we waited for the ambulance. A
local kiosk offered us free ice creams as by now we were dripping in sweat. My
camping inexperienced friend ran repeated distances to hook up with the rangers
and ambulance while his wife and I managed the six kids. Once the ambulance arrived
they were as worried about him as they were about my fish footed friend. When
it left all our mobile phones died due to low batteries and we had no way of
getting updates on her condition. After 5 hours of being away and us trying to
calm the kids and feed them she returned – </span>with pain killers I can drink
on. </em><em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<div class="p">
<em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></em></div>
<div class="p">
<em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">So we
drank.<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<div class="p">
<em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></em></div>
<div class="p">
<em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The
next morning I started packing while the kids still slept. Bear got up around
6am and I stripped his tent down. Toes slept on despite me removing the top
sheet of her tent. She looked very cute with her bare bum sticking out, but I’m
a dad therefore I am obliged to find those moments adorable.<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<div class="p">
<em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></em></div>
<div class="p">
<em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">I
made sounds about packing up being in relation to a birthday party Bear had to
get to but in reality I was fleeing. I wanted home; I wanted an indoor toilet
and refrigerator. I wanted a shop round the corner that sold Vanilla Coke. We
made our goodbyes and piled into the car. <o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<div class="p">
<em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></em></div>
<div class="p">
<em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Bear
- </span>Dad, how long until you are lost?</em><em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<div class="p">
<em><br /></em></div>
<div class="p">
<em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Me – </span>I’m
hoping not to get lost</em><em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<div class="p">
<em><br /></em></div>
<div class="p">
<em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Five
minutes later<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<div class="p">
<em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></em></div>
<div class="p">
<em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Bear
– </span>Dad</em><em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">?<o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
<div class="p">
<em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></em></div>
<div class="p">
<em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Me – </span>Yes
mate?</em><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="p">
<em><br /></em></div>
<div class="p">
Bear – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You’re lost.</i></div>
<div class="p">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></div>
<div class="p">
Me – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I am mate.</i></div>
<div class="p">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></div>
<div class="p">
Bear – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">You need the M5 Dad, to
Sydney. Remember<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="p">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></div>
<div class="p">
Me – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I do mate, I just don’t
know which direction Sydney is in.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="p">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></div>
<div class="p">
Bear – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dad, Mum doesn’t get
lost, and she is good at parking the car.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="p">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></div>
<div class="p">
Me – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I know that Bear.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="p">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></div>
<div class="p">
Toes – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yeah Dad, Mum is a
better driver than you. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="p">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></div>
<div class="p">
Me – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thank you darling.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="p">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></div>
<div class="p">
Toes – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">And she has boobies too.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="p">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></div>
<div class="p">
Both kids cackled about my wife’s boobies and I drove in circles for
ages until finally I saw a sign for Sydney and floored it. Once I was pointed
in the right direction I was home to the boobies within half an hour. </div>
<div class="p">
<br /></div>
<div class="p">
Home. </div>
<div class="p">
<br /></div>
<div class="p">
I love home</div>
<div class="p">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.6pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #474747; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br />
<br />
<br />
</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma;"><br />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="p">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2598166057200681836.post-16382670695863984032012-11-26T01:28:00.001-08:002012-11-26T01:28:57.547-08:00Oh the places you’ll go<strong><u></u></strong><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<em>Congratulations, today is your day, you're off to great places, you're off and away - Dr Suess</em></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Parenthood takes you to ridiculous places. Kids parties where you talk real estate with other dads. Dr’s surgeries where you hope your kid doesn’t vomit. Road trips where your car dies in the middle of snake country. Other road trips where one of your kids does vomit and you have to scoop it out bare handed from the backseat while you make yawping sounds. Hospitals with no nappies. Other hospitals with nurses who try and crack jokes as your daughter is taken for heart surgery. Ballet concerts where kids walk and wave and forget to do any ballet. Christmas concerts with your son dressed as a brown dancing snail. Worst of all, social events where your kids befriend other kids and expect you to like their parents. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Oh the places you’ll go, all because you got drunk on cask wine and woke up with a pregnant wife. Twice.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
So to a place I went. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I had a $45 ticket. Everyone around me seemed excited to be there while I felt hot and uncomfortable and slightly over weight. The bar was doing a swift trade in plastic champagne and water bottles and the theatre announcer was <i>bing bing bonging</i> updates on the show start time. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I showed my ticket to an usher and found my seat next to a very happy pair of grandparents whom I managed to avoid talking to. Somewhere behind the curtain was my 5 year old daughter. She’d already been there for 4 hours “<i>rehearsing</i>” and I was worried. I wanted to see her, to know she was ok, to check she’d been fed and watered, knew where to go for the toilet and had her tap shoes on. Instead I had to sit in the audience and wait for her to come on stage and dance.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The curtain came up and the show began. Other people’s kids came out in costumes kicking and dancing to badly broadcast music. The show swung from wee little kids stumbling ballet to late teenage girls in tight costumes reminding the audience they had vaginas by pointing to them. It jarred somewhat to go from a group of 6 year olds bumbling as butterflies to pseudo poll dancing without the pole but whoever planned the show didn’t seem to think so. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The opening bars of a tune I recognised came on and I sat up. I’d seen Toes rehearse to this music the week before; well I’d tried to before the teacher asked us to leave and told us we could watch through a tiny window. I saw older kids come out tappy-tapping with flashing teeth. Then younger kids tappy-stumbling with fierce concentration. And then there she was, without tap shoes. She hit her mark, paused, and then went for a little wander around stage. Then she remembered where she was, skipped back to her mark and hit the final pose and then left the stage with the other little kids. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
She’d been on for 30 seconds. $45 for my ticket, $30 for her costume, weeks of tap class and rehearsals (the previous week she’d been there for 3 hours on a Saturday afternoon and 2 hours earlier in the day). </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
30 seconds.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
And still the show went on. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Gold lame jazz pants on uncoordinated females. They did some interpretive piece centring on caring for a young girl that involved running in circles and doing windmill arms for about 7 minutes before the girl seemed to pass out and they all gathered around her and fanned her by kicking their legs. Through all of this an ominous <i>Booooooong</i> sound was played with random bell noises. Then a boy band came and shouted their name at us and told us that they knew where they were. I was relieved for them but would have preferred they were somewhere else. I found myself worrying about how low slung their trousers were. More girls, more pelvises, more pointing to vaginas. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Finally the lights went dark and I knew I could grab my daughter and get out of here.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>The intermission will be 20 minutes.</i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I’d been here for an hour and a half and the show was only half way done. They were forcing me to stay by holding my daughter hostage. I pictured her held in a room, surrounded by militant teens in leggings and headbands. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>Keep the kids safe see - don’t let their parents take them see - until the shows over see</i>. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I went and renewed my parking, bought a chocolate bar and returned to the audience. From my pocket I texted my wife the word <i>HELL</i> repeatedly. I wanted to storm the stage, rip open the curtains and howl my daughters’ name. I wanted to jump dramatically whilst shouting <i>Just stay alive and I will find you</i>.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
African music was soullessly danced to by white kids with blazing teeth. Another boy band shouted at me, this time about their granddads having style with girls behind them pointing at their nipples and smiling as they did so. There was a dance tribute to the Olympics that ended with someone shouting <i>SYDNEY</i> and a large chunk of the dinky di audience cheering - <i>best Olympics ever - Steve Irwin died that we might live. </i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Girls were thrown through the air and caught by boys. Microphones crackled and died as late teens tried to sing about being there for each other while pointing at their vaginas. 12 kids ran amuck on the stage completely out of synch with the music and threw clothing everywhere to rapturous applause…and the show seemed to end. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
People started bowing and the entire cast of confusion flooded the stage line by line still dancing and I thought about <i>They Shoot Horses Don’t They</i>….I wondered if these kids had to dance, if there was some dire consequence if they stopped toe tapping and glad clapping and pointing at their genitals every 6 beats. </div>
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And there was my daughter lined up, smiling, and taking a bow. </div>
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And I teared up. </div>
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And she looked beautiful. </div>
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And I applauded and cheered and hoped she could see me.</div>
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After I’d found her and kissed her and told her how much I’d really enjoyed the show I asked - <i>Do you want to do tap again?</i></div>
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<i>NO, I hate tap</i></div>
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I was delighted</div>
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<i>But I like shows. I want to do shows. So I’ll do tap.</i></div>
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I was crushed. </div>
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And still going to the places I go - Bear see’s an Occupational Therapist once a week to work on speech and reading issues. I took him on Saturday and Toes came too. I read her <i>The Little Mermaid</i> and played games with her while Bear was in his session with her. Toes went to the bathroom and shouted about how funny it was that she’d done a green poo. Unfortunately I could remember the last time I’d done a green poo myself, which is something I never did before I had kids.</div>
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At the end of Bears session the therapist was explaining Silent E’s in spelling and speech that we needed to work on with him. How we need to emphasises the silent letters so we catch them when we spell them.</div>
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<i>Words like Tongue, and Come. Come, Tongue – can you see? Come, Tongue, Tongue, Tongue, Come, Come.</i></div>
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I left the building deeply suspicious. My wife called me an idiot when I relayed this too her. </div>
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I drank the pain away.</div>
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<em>So...be your name Bauxbaum or Bixby or Bray</em></div>
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<em>or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea</em></div>
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<em>you're off to Great Places!</em></div>
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<em>Today is your day</em></div>
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<em>Your mountain is waiting</em></div>
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<em>So - get on your way - or drink the pain away.</em></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2598166057200681836.post-59013983605504092242012-11-14T01:29:00.001-08:002012-11-14T01:29:43.443-08:00The Opposite
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<u><b>The Opposite</b></u></div>
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<b>SCENE 1</b><i> </i></div>
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<i>Interior of a busy bus, Dad is sat at the back trying to read. His greying beard sparkles in the sunlight. He looks slightly angst ridden, almost as though he is HYPOGLYCAEMIC and his blood sugar is plummeting which would be leading to his thoughts becoming scatter logical and paranoid. He looks out the window and sees a leaf spiralling across the road. It’s torn on one side.</i></div>
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<b>INTERNAL MONOLOGUE (IM) </b></div>
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What tore the leaf? Was it a kid? A ladybird? Man that must have been one hungry ladybird. Maybe a bird? Maybe a bird chasing a ladybird, the bird swoops as the ladybirds snacking and pecks at the leaf, misses the ladybird. Maybe he didn’t miss; maybe the leaf is a death site. Bits of broken dead ladybird smeared onto it, the rest of the ladybird digesting through bird guts and soon to be shat onto a windscreen. </div>
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My foot hurts. Why does my foot hurt? It really hurts now I am thinking about it. It's these shoes, they have a hole in. I’ve needed new shoes for months now. Damn trophy wife drinking too much coffee and stopping me buying shoes. It’s like walking on peeled linoleum. </div>
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Maybe something crawled in through the hole and laid and egg in my foot. Or eggs. Foot eggs.</div>
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<i>Dad goes slightly red in the face. He stares out of the window for a moment and bends his fingers back several times. A mother and new born baby get on the bus. The baby looks 3 or 4 days old only. The baby starts whipping its head around to find something to suckle from, its mouth open and eyes unfocussed.</i></div>
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<b>IM - </b>I remember Bear doing the same thing the minute he woke, the minute he was picked up, the minute he was put down. He piled on weight so quickly. He was like a sack of sweet potatoes in no time. </div>
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Potatoes, wait was I hungry? Am I hungry? </div>
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I remember how Toes used to squawk like a pterodactyl when she was born. It was brutal sound. She never cried, just squawked. The other night she said in her sleep that <i>The Goat was coming</i>, she said she could see <i>The Goat</i>. What the fuck is The Goat?</div>
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<i>The mother is unconsciously and repeatedly kissing the babies forehead. A large man in a too tight t-shirt is staring at the baby. He's stood just behind the driver, he seems to scowl, his lips pursed and his eyes too close together, eyebrows meeting in the middle.</i></div>
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<b>IM - </b>He reminds me of a line from <i>A Company of Wolves</i> - women should beware a man whose<i> </i>eyebrows meet in the middle. He looks angry. His forehead is folding like a tea towel; his teeth keep nipping at his bottom lip. Is he flexing his fists? </div>
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I wonder if he eats boiled sweets. One of my first teachers ate loads of boiled sweets; she stank of cough candy and cigarettes. She was either cracking a cough candy between her teeth or lighting up in class, blowing smoke on us as we read our Reading Scheme books. </div>
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<i>White vans and grey cars flicker past outside.</i></div>
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<b>IM - </b>I’m sure that this chap is one of the thousands of random psychopaths that my wife mocks me for believing roam the streets. I think he might be related to Mrs McAndrews. He has the same scowl though he is a lot fatter. She was just straight lines, snapping arms and legs, head hung low on her neck like a spiders egg on a web thread. </div>
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Shit why do I keep thinking of eggs. Are there eggs in my feet? </div>
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I hated Mrs McAndrews. She was only happy if a kid cried in class. I hate this man. He hates the baby. </div>
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Why does he hate the baby?</div>
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He’s going to do something. I know it. He’s going to dash the child from the woman’s arms and run from the bus cackling and spitting</div>
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<i>A crisp packet blows past on the path </i></div>
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<b>IM - </b>I am about to see something horrendous from the back of the bus. I know it. I should do something, I should - </div>
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<i>The man steps forward and - suddenly and hands the woman a blanket that had slipped from the child’s back. He smiles a broad smile and says something we don’t hear. The mother laughs</i></div>
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<b>IM - </b>Where did the psycho go? Did he see me watching him? Did he swap personas? </div>
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<i>The bus slews to the path and he steps off.</i></div>
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<b>IM - </b>Did he just scowl at me as he walked past? Will I bump into him in Woolworths? Is he the guy who stole underpants of the washing line years back? He was a similar build. I’ve always thought I’d bump into him in Woolworths. Maybe I’ll bump into both of them, the panty thief and the baby dasher. Though the baby dasher did not dash the baby. .</div>
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Kick da Baby. Huh. I am Cornholio, I preferred Cornholio to South Park. Tee pee.</div>
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What. Where was that leaf? </div>
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Am I hungry? Man my foot hurts</div>
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<i>A mobile phone chirps Under my Umberella – ella – ella </i></div>
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<b>IM - </b>I like thinking found my kids. I wonder if all the random psychos I’ve seen in my where actually benefactors rather than beasts. Maybe I am the psycho. </div>
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The sunlight shone on that chap as he left – shone is a funny word. It’s like past past tense. It makes me think of Kim Cattrall in Porkys. She was shiny, she shone. And in Police Academy too, she had legs like cooking sausages, I like sausages. </div>
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Am I hungry?</div>
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Shit, I haven’t pressed the button to stop at Bears school</div>
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<i>The bell dings on the bus</i></div>
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<b>IM - </b>Who pressed that? No one else is moving. No one else is standing up to get off the bus. I can see Bear in the playground. We’re stopping. Who pressed it? I didn’t.</div>
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Did God press it? </div>
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Wow where did that thought come from? </div>
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Was it God? Is this a lesson? Is this my road to Damascus? First the psycho who turns out to be a nice man, then God stops the bus for me? </div>
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Wow. Shit. What if I’ve been wrong about all of this? Man that would be nuts. Wow. </div>
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Well if no one else gets off the bus then I guess there is a God. Fuck that would be just – </div>
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<i>The bus pulls up. Fade to black</i></div>
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<b>SCENE 2</b> –</div>
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<i>School Playground. Bear runs over and shouts.</i></div>
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<b>BEAR - </b>If I beat you to the school bags can I have an ice cream?</div>
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<b>DAD - </b><span style="font-weight: normal;">I</span>ce cream? What? Wait, yes I am hungry, I need to eat something</div>
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<b>BEAR - </b>Go</div>
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<i>Dad runs after him, slightly unsteady on his feet. He goes to hook left to the school bags and Bear cackles, turning right</i></div>
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<b>BEAR - </b>The bags have been moved today</div>
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<i>Bear dives for his bag and lifts it up</i></div>
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<b>BEAR - </b>ICE CREAM</div>
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<i>They walked home making fart noises and eating ice cream and Dad’s blood sugar swings back again. They chatter. </i></div>
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<i>Bear clambers onto a wall and leaps at Dad.</i></div>
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<b>BEAR - </b>DAD</div>
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<i>DAD catches him and winces.</i></div>
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<b>DAD - </b>Jesus you’re heavy</div>
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<b>BEAR - </b>Dad?</div>
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<b>DAD - </b>What mate?</div>
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<b>BEAR - </b>You said there wasn’t a Jesus.</div>
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<b>DAD - </b>I did mate</div>
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<b>BEAR - </b>Well why did you just say Jesus was heavy?</div>
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<b>DAD - </b>Because – because – well because faith is a heavy thing Bear, it’s a crazy heavy thing.</div>
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<b>BEAR - </b>Dad?</div>
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<b>DAD - </b>Yes mate?</div>
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<b>BEAR - </b>RACE</div>
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<i>Bear runs, Dad, hefting Bears school bag onto his shoulder, sprints after him</i></div>
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<b>SCENE 3 </b></div>
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<i>The bus pulls up and the doors open. Blinking, Dad steps out onto the path and looks to the bus. No one else is getting off. </i></div>
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<i>Dad looks to the sky, confused. </i></div>
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<i>The bus doors close and the bus pulls to the road - and then stops suddenly. </i></div>
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<i>The doors re-open. A woman with a cask of wine in one hand and an unlit cigarette in the other staggers from the bus.</i></div>
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<b>WOMAN - </b>YAAH FUCKER FUCKING WAIT FOR A PERSON WOULD YOUS. Fuck sake I mean Jesus fucking Christ I pressed the fucking button least yous could do is let me get the fucking fuck off the fucking bus.</div>
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<i>Discarded lottery tickets blow past the kerb stone and a car coughs oily smoke as it passes. Dad looks to Bear who’s waving from the school fence. He smiles.</i></div>
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<b>WOMAN - </b>What the fuck you grinning at? Found fucking God have you?</div>
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<b>DAD - </b>The opposite.</div>
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<b>WOMAN - </b>What the fucks that mean? </div>
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<b>DAD - </b>I think it means I am hungry</div>
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<i>Pull back.</i></div>
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<i>Camera panes to the right and shows the ocean in the distance. Two men can be seen swimming on a make shift raft of yellow barrels. They reach the shore as seagulls wheel overhead. </i></div>
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<i>Music rises and there is a sense that all is well.</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2598166057200681836.post-81589984707006868692012-10-05T23:52:00.001-07:002012-10-05T23:53:30.704-07:00Comin' right up<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;">My son was taking a poo. I was standing outside the toilet block leaning on my bike enjoying the sun and the serenity (I'm getting more Australian every day). </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Dad?</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Yes mate?</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Is this a joke?</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>What?</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>This – is it a joke?</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I had no idea what he was talking about but I know he is of the opinion that I somehow know everything. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Is what a joke mate?</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>This – this writing on the toilet door?</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I walked into the toilet block and into his cubicle and read the words he was pointing to.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Are you a fun young man? Do you want fun times? E mail me to meet - The Hairy Humungous.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>What does it say Dad?</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I told him it was grown up stuff and that he needn't worry about it. He begged to know what it said, so I read it to him and he burst out laughing.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>That's great. We're fun. Hairy Humungous is a funny name.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I didn't go into any more detail. I read the scrawl on the door one way, he took it completely differently. His way was a little less sweaty and shocking (to Daily Mail readers). </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Driving back, listening to the diabolical music that he has insisted I put on the iPod, I had a crushing flashback to English class when I was 11. When the pub conversation comes up along the lines of What was the first album you ever bought with you own money? I tend to win hands down on the terrible choice. Mine was <i>Bruce Willis – The Return of Bruno</i>. When I was 11 I was a huge <i>Moonlighting</i> fan and a huge Bruce Willis fan. As far as I was concerned he was cooler than Knight Rider and I had no other ambitions at the time beyond owning black t shirts and jeans and playing the harmonica with a smirk. When his album came out I caught the bus to the nearest record store and paid with my own money and raced home, desperate to become cool through beats and lyrics. I learnt every song by heart and when a week later my English teacher – who was starting to become fascinating with the way she would bend over the desk to see what we were doing – asked us to bring in the lyrics to our favourite song I knew instantly I would bring in a Bruce Willis song. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Like my son translating the back of the toilet door, I had no idea what the lryics I was writing down really meant. The song was called <i>Coming Right Up</i> and was about a barman who was chatting to a female customer. I transcribed it reading a happy song about a helpful man serving a pretty lady drinks. I thought there was nothing at all embarassing as I wrote - </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /><i>All alone? Don't be nervous, Bruno's here baby, I'm at<br />Your service - Tending your cup, sit down, belly up.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Nothing at all wrong with -<br /><br /><i>We toasted everything, that's worth imagining, she told<br />Me stories that would melt a stone<br />I managed to just keep a hold of myself</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Bruce, being so damn charming, gets invited back to her apartment for another drink. He rides the elevator up and chuckles as he counts floor sixty nine. I eagerly wrote it all down for my homework. As Bruce arrives at her apartment she greets him in heels and stockings and he tells her - </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>don't forget that little cherry on top!<br />Comin' right, comin' right up.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And then he promises her he'll be <i>coming right up</i>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I handed my homework in, certain my teacher - who this week was in yellow tights and a loose blouse and a lot of lipstick - would see the genius of Mr Willis. The following week she said she was going to call on members of the class to read out there songs. She called on Colin and he read out Chubby Checker & The Fat Boys Doing the Twist. She called on Sarah and she read out a Madonna song. The she covered her mouth with one hand and called out my name. I opened my book and started reading. Some of the class giggled at my declaring the song was by Bruce Willis but for the most part the double meanings in the song passed them by. It didn't pass my teacher by. She giggled, she kept her hand over her mouth and as I reached the cherry on top and the promise that I'd be coming right up she excused herself for a moment and left the class.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Driving home to Michael Jackson telling us how utterly Bad he was I remembered sitting there reading out the lyrics, but now with a 38 year old brain instead of an 11 year old one I couldn't pass the references to 69, copious references to coming, and to cherries, without blushing. It seemed ridiculous to be blushing 27 years later (man I'm getting old) but blush I did.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Once we got home my son asked me if jokes have to make sense. I tried explaining the basics of a joke – e.g. <i>What's brown and sticky? A stick.</i> He nodded and told me he understood.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Dad?</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Yes mate?</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>What's brown and sticky?</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Go on then, what is brown and sticky?</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>A potato is a cat.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">He curled up in fits of laughter.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Mate that makes no sense.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">He carried on laughing and we went home.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Dad</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Yes mate?</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>What's green and sticky?</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Go on?</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>A cat is a potato.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I laughed with him. Somewhere The Hairy Humungous is having fun with fun young men, somewhere else Bruce Willis is charmingly telling girls that their drinks will be coming right up but where I am a cat is a potato and a potato is a cat and it is the funiest thing in the world.</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2598166057200681836.post-65086217906493542672012-09-19T03:08:00.002-07:002012-09-19T03:08:57.764-07:00Making money from buttocksIn 2004 we had no money. On Saturdays we would have enough for maybe one café coffee shared between us. We’d walk slowly, scanning the pavement for gold coins. There’s a high back packer population where we life and during the start of the warm weather they would arrive in their thousands (pre GFC)…and get blind drunk. Saturday and Sunday mornings there were gold coins scattered on the pavement and beachfront so we would make like Dick Whittington and gather gold for the priorities in life – coffee.<br />
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I was yet to get Australian residancy and was on a bridging visa. This meant I was limited in the work I was allowed to do so I worked terrible jobs – packing boxes, cold calling, data loading and, finally, I worked in an Australian Bank. I worked in Accounts, opening, scanning and logging invoices. </div>
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Come Friday I had my time sheet ready, 37 hours that had each passed agonisingly slowly. There was no internet, no e mail, and very limited conversation. </div>
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My manager picked up her pen, clicked it and stood up sighing heavily.</div>
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<i>Yeah, you’ve done a good job this week.</i></div>
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<i>Thanks</i></div>
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The job wasn’t hard. </div>
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<i>No thank you, nice to have someone with a bit of a brain.</i></div>
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I tried not to look around at my co workers, one of whom was eating butter with her fingers. She opened her arms and wrapped me in a hug</div>
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<i>Thanks for your help</i></div>
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She was speaking directly into my ear now. Her hand travelled down my back and patted my left buttock. Her other hand joined it. She squeezed. She signed the time sheet after adding 5 hours on to the total and initialling the change.</div>
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<i>See you next week.</i></div>
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I told me wife that night. I'd told her about the woman who leaked as she ran screaming for the toilet with a trail of urine following her. About the women who sold her used Channel lipsticks to raise the money to have a 3<sup>rd</sup> leg amputated from her cancerous dog. About the woman who insisted any man she slept with loved Harry Potter and how she’d sob when, post infrequent sex, men would admit they hated Harry. The Filipino lady in a micro dress and top painting her toe nails awkwardly while flashing her underwear and speculating about how she could quickie divorce her husband but keep his cash. The elderly man who sucked on his lower lip and shouted <i>What What What?</i> if anyone said his name before rushing away, declaring he had to be somewhere, returning with yet another chocolate milk. My manager, a large woman with a packet of cigarettes jammed into her bra and a desk scattered with toffee wrappers who, upon finding out the bank was starting an Employee of the Month for our department bullied her team into nominating her. She shed tears of joy as they placed a tiara on her head and gave answers on leading a good team. I told her about all of these people and I told her about hours being added to my time sheet. </div>
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<i>She squeezed your backside?</i></div>
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<i>She did.</i></div>
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<i>And she gave you more hours?</i></div>
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<i>She did.</i></div>
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My wife frowned, thought, and said (and denied ever since) - <i>Well, we could do with the money.</i></div>
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The following week it happened again. And every week thereafter. One week I placed her hands directly on my backside and she added 10 hours to my timesheet. She’d gurgle breath in my ear and squeeze my cheeks. She’d go for a cigarette almost immediately afterwards.</div>
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My back side was pretty average, or averagely pretty if I am being glass half full about it. It’s still moderately hairy and soft but for 9 months it made us <i>mo’ money. </i></div>
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Currently my wife is on a placement at a local school while she trains to be a teacher. For this placement she is not being paid so we are living off of one salary. Though we are not back at the scanning the streets for gold state but a $5 bill on the path is always handy.</div>
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We are 10 years since my rear bought home the bacon. I’ve assessed it in the mirror in the mornings and wondered if anyone would pay for a squeeze but sadly, if I am honest, its money making days are past.</div>
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Boobs on the other hand, there is always money in boobs. A neighbour and my wife were drunkenly talking and the idea came up of a website featuring film clips of just their chests with various liquid or foodstuffs poured on them. People would pay to see treacle, gravy, vegetable soup, paint, jelly, even beans to be tipped on their chests. This is a fabulous idea! A guaranteed money maker. Sober my wife has distanced herself from the prospect and, just as she assures me she never said <i>Well, we could do with the money </i>she assures me she never said this website was a good idea.</div>
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Now there’s a woman in the US who hasn’t bought groceries in 2 years, she has a website where folk pay her to eat things and buy her the food. She films herself eating and they send her more food. Would anyone pay to watch a film of custard running across my buttocks? Melted chocolate? Engine oil? I am guessing not. </div>
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But boobs covered in food? There be gold in them there hills. So I’ll get the wife drunk and break out the beans and the web cam (I think that may be the greatest sentence I have ever written). <span style="color: blue;"><u><a href="http://www.beansonboobs.com/">www.beansonboobs.com</a></u></span> pay per view could be coming soon - <i>Well, we could do with the money</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2598166057200681836.post-81171483527845825112012-08-07T03:38:00.000-07:002012-08-07T03:38:05.307-07:00The Meaning of Life<div align="left">
1996 - a Bon Jovi concert that I didn’t want to attend. Jon Bon Jovi swaggered in tight trousers. He smiled at the crowd and they waved and whooped. He gave a sigh and wiped sweat from his Botox brow. His smile flashed from screens either side of the stage. <i>Thank you. It’s great to be here. Thank you. Yeah. Alright. And now – </i>he chuckled<i> – here’s one that you should know.</i></div>
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I was baffled, as I had been for most of the concert. My girlfriend had wanted to go and it became apparent that there no way out of it. Two hours into Bon Jovi I was wondering when it would end. I’d been confused and hoping no one spotted me as a fraud even though I had bought a book with me. The crowd fell silent as Jon stepped forward and took a breath. I leant over to my girlfriend and said, louder than I intended - <i>What is this song?</i></div>
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I looked around and saw 30 pairs of eyes staring and scowling at me. Fortunately before anyone could think to hairspray me to death Jon started wailing about his steel horse and I managed to shrink into the back ground. The folk in the crowd adored him, screamed for him, applauded him. One girl, draped in black and smelling of patchouli oil, screamed out – <i>This is the meaning of my life.</i></div>
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2 hours plus of poodle pop was the pinnacle of her week, possibly even life. Others seemed to agree, lighters were waved, lips were kissed, couples embraced, pendulous breasts exposed with badly drawn tattoos smudged onto them. An overwhelming scent of sweat and flatulence filled the air - this was the girl’s moment, her “<i>meaning of my life</i>.” </div>
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And that meaning, that purity, she found in Milton Keynes of all places.</div>
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Being atheist means I don’t care for a meaning of life. From my view there is no meaning, nor is there a higher purpose. You’re born, you grow, drink and eat and sleep, get older, make jokes, and see your hair turn grey. Along the way you try not to offend more than a few and come the long dark cup of camomile you try and expire before it gets cold. <span style="font-weight: normal;">But I've realised that there is a meaning to life be</span>yond my anti death penalty and ethical atheist views.</div>
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It began in 2004 with an argument with my wife. We were well into our white wines, a Killers album and a pack of Marlboro Lights. We were arguing about Prince Harry painting aboriginal art and for one of the few times in my married life I won the argument. Drunk and joyous and joyously drunk the night faded away and I passed out. The next morning I woke up unaware that my wife was now pregnant. </div>
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A week or so later she met me in a café near work and the following transpired (this is not word for word - the jokes have been changed to make me seem funnier.) </div>
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WIFE</div>
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I’m pregnant. I did the test this morning.</div>
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ME</div>
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Pregnant? Uhm - do we get you a doctors appointment? Get your uterus scanned?</div>
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WIFE</div>
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I know my body, I know I’m pregnant. Do you even know what a uterus is?</div>
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ME</div>
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I know your body; I didn’t know you were pregnant. And of course I know what a uterus is.</div>
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WIFE</div>
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Do you have anything to say?</div>
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ME <br />
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I love you?</div>
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WIFE</div>
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About me being pregnant. Since when is <i>I love you</i> a question?</div>
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ME</div>
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You’re really pregnant? This isn’t a joke? Of course it isn’t, you never tell jokes.</div>
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WIFE</div>
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I am really pregnant.</div>
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ME</div>
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Why do you never tell jokes?</div>
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WIFE</div>
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OK – joke - what happened to the couple who decided that life was going to fast and they should have a baby?</div>
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ME</div>
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They drank lots of cask wine. Cask wine arguments and a cask wine baby making. This baby will be born hung over.</div>
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WIFE</div>
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They got pregnant. With a baby.</div>
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ME</div>
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Pregnant. With a baby - pregnant. That’s not very funny.</div>
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WIFE</div>
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PREGNANT. </div>
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ME</div>
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Wow.</div>
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WIFE</div>
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What do you think a uterus does?</div>
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ME</div>
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Uhm – sucks up all the stuff, uhm? Kinda like the Alien Queen laying eggs, but backwards?</div>
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And we were pregnant - there was now a clock and it was counting down from 9 months to Birth. That night, as she slept with cells dividing and growing I lay wide awake in panic. Outside the window 2 girls were peeing -</div>
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GIRL</div>
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Stop.</div>
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GIRL 2</div>
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Why?</div>
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GIRL</div>
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I need a widdle.</div>
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I listened to the sound of water.</div>
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GIRL 2</div>
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Gross, it’s on your shoes.</div>
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We lived on a short cut between the pubs and hostels. Some nights we’d be serenaded by vomiting, others by fighting or copulating, tonight it was urinating.</div>
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GIRL – (farts wetly) <br />
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That’s better.</div>
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There were so many things we needed; things that I figured you couldn’t be a parent without. Like a car. How were we going to get to the hospital without a car? We couldn’t catch the bus to delivery ward.</div>
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We needed clothes. The last 3 pairs of jeans I’d had came from a gay friend in London who worked in fashion. They were nice but not really made for my kebab friendly physique.</div>
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We needed a bigger flat. The place we had was a cockroach nest. At night the floor was seething with six legged egg carrying insects. In the morning roaches were in our air tight muesli containers. Several times that year I chomped down on roach eggs and roach legs.</div>
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Somehow with all of this stress my wife could sleep. <span style="font-style: normal;">I churned and turned over issue after issue.</span> Beyond anything else what were we going to call it? At the time I liked Daschell. </div>
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WIFE (in her sleep)</div>
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That’s a stupid name</div>
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But Daschell was a stupid name. Who would we tell? Where would we have it? Was there a hospital nearby? I realised there must be a hospital nearby. Of course there was. We weren’t the first people to be pregnant. But what would I do if my kids bullied? I have always been crap at fighting, how was I going to beat up the scaffolding father of the kid that bullies my kid. </div>
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Parenting was going to be a nightmare. I’m speculated on karate. Something I could learn quickly. Wax on and off, paint some fences. I realised that if we had a car I could skip the karate and just drive away. Really fast. My tyres would spin and I’d race away. Hopefully without forgetting my wife and baby as the last of the V8 Interceptors headed out to the horizon.</div>
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Shortly after the long long night of the Dad to Be I got in trouble for complaining that I wasn’t threatening. We had a trainee midwife who followed us through the pregnancy, and the first time we met - </div>
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TRAINEE MIDWIFE</div>
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Thank you for doing this.</div>
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ME</div>
<div align="center">
It was a pleasure. Cask wi - </div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
WIFE</div>
<div align="center">
Will you stop calling this a cask wine baby?</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
Well, what can I call it?</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
WIFE</div>
<div align="center">
You could call HIM by HIS name</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
TRAINEE MIDWIFE</div>
<div align="center">
You know the gender? And you’ve named Baby already?</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
Boy baby. Named it after my dog.</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
TRAINEE MIDWIFE</div>
<div align="center">
Your dog? </div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
Beautiful dog. Bassett hound. </div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
TRAINEE MIDWIFE</div>
<div align="center">
I don’t think I have met anyone who named their child after their dog</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
I’ve never met a trainee midwife before. </div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
TRAINEE MIDWIFE</div>
<div align="center">
How are you finding it all so far? The appointments going as you expected?</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
Midwives are mad.</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
WIFE</div>
<div align="center">
They are not.</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
They all have these thousand yard stares. Like mannequins with rubber gloves.</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
WIFE</div>
<div align="center">
They do not.</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
They only notice women. A man walks past, not a flicker, show them a women and they light up like arcade machines.</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
WIFE</div>
<div align="center">
You think this should be about you?</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
Well I’d like a little more inclusion; make the occasional bit of eye contact. I am Dad Man Walking.</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
WIFE</div>
<div align="center">
So you want them to talk to you? Even though you hate people?</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
TRAINEE MIDWIFE</div>
<div align="center">
You hate people?</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
I don’t hate all people. Midwives are just weird, that one we saw today had Alien Queen hair.</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
TRAINEE MIDWIFE<br /> That sounds like Jess, she’s lovely.<br />
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
WIFE</div>
<div align="center">
What the hell is Alien Queen hair? I don’t even know what that means. You said my uterus was like an Alien Queen.</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
TRAINEE MIDWIFE</div>
<div align="center">
Your uterus?</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
Ignore her, she has placenta brain.</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
WIFE</div>
<div align="center">
I do not</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
She can’t remember the word for <i>window</i>.</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
TRAINEE MIDWIFE</div>
<div align="center">
That’s not unusual during pregnancy.</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
It’s great; I’m winning arguments ‘cause she can’t remember half her vocabulary.</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
TRAINEE MIDWIFE</div>
<div align="center">
This may not be the best time to be arguing.</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
But I’m winning.</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
TRAINEE MIDWIFE</div>
<div align="center">
So what is this about the midwives ignoring you?</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
Ignoring may be too strong a word, but they seem way more woman focussed then me. </div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
WIFE</div>
<div align="center">
He’s upset. When they asked me in the early meeting if he ever hit me I laughed.</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
Laughed!</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
TRAINEE MIDWIFE</div>
<div align="center">
That’s not a bad thing. That’s lovely.</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
Pregnancy is neutering enough as it is. Can’t I have a bit of threat about me?</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
TRAINEE MIDWIFE</div>
<div align="center">
Pregnancy is neutering? Surely it’s anything but?</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
Nope. Obviously it shows I <i>was</i> virile but that’s all past tense now.</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
TRAINEE MIDWIFE</div>
<div align="center">
Past tense?</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
Now I make tea and massage feet.</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
WIFE</div>
<div align="center">
When do you do that?</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
I fluff pillows and watch romantic comedies.</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
WIFE</div>
<div align="center">
You like romantic comedies. You get fuzzy over Sandra Bullock</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
I do anti-man things.</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
WIFE</div>
<div align="center">
Anti-man? Being a <i>father to be</i> is anti man?</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
I haven’t killed anything since you announced you were pregnant. No bears, no rhinos </div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
WIFE</div>
<div align="center">
What did you kill before I was pregnant?</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
It’s not what I killed; it’s that I could kill. </div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
WIFE</div>
<div align="center">
Why am I having your child?</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
Cask wine, candles and The Lost Boys soundtrack. </div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
TRAINEE MIDWIFE</div>
<div align="center">
So to get over this lack of killing you want people to think you beat your pregnant wife?</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
At least a slight concern that I may beat my pregnant wife? I have tattoos. Facial hair. Testosterone.</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
TRAINEE MIDWIFE</div>
<div align="center">
To be seen as a wife beater, let alone a pregnant wife beater, is not a good look.</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
I was a Goth once, now I’m white jumpers and home furnishings</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
WIFE</div>
<div align="center">
We do not own any white jumpers. And what home furnishings?</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
We just bought a washing machine</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
WIFE</div>
<div align="center">
You hate going to the laundrette, we’re having a baby, we need to do laundry.</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
When I was a Goth I never did laundry.</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
WIFE</div>
<div align="center">
No, your mum did it for you. You were the softest Goth I have ever heard of.</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
I’ve saw Def Leppard in concert.</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
TRAINEE MIDWIFE </div>
<div align="center">
(Laughs) That’s not heavy metal. Or Goth. Actually that’s quite sad.</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
See, even the trainee midwife thinks I’m harmless.</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
TRAINEE MIDWIFE</div>
<div align="center">
No, I just don’t think Def Leppard are heavy metal.</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
With the next baby I want to be so threatening that the midwives don’t even ask, they just place a big tick in the <i>Potential Wife Beating Bastard</i> box</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
Time contracted and me wife became huge. We stock piled nappies, we did classes on knitted uteruses and got to know other people who must have argued about Prince Harry. When my wife hit the 9 month mark we had <i>The Chat.</i> The tabletop was covered in tin foil containers. My wife was ploughing into her food, not batting an eyelid at the strength of the curry she was eating to try and scare the baby into birth. I swigged a beer in a manly style.</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
WIFE</div>
<div align="center">
I don’t think you should drink any more.</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
You don’t think me what now?</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
WIFE</div>
<div align="center">
I might go into labour any time.</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
You’re never going into labour. You’re just going to get bigger and bigger and I’m going to have to learn to cook curry to save us on take away.</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
She started crying. I looked from my beer to my wife to my beer to my wife and I realised, possibly for the first time, that she was really pregnant. </div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
And then we were there, in labour. And the cervix wasn’t ripe.</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
MIDWIFE</div>
<div align="center">
The cervix isn’t quite ripe</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
Told you so</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
WIFE</div>
<div align="center">
I – I – I - can’t.</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
D’you need more gas?</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
WIFE</div>
<div align="center">
Not working </div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
MIDWIFE</div>
<div align="center">
Breathe through it, come on.</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
TRAINEE MIDWIFE</div>
<div align="center">
You can do this.</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
She’s been awake for 2 days solid now. Do you want the epidural?</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
TRAINEE MIDWIFE</div>
<div align="center">
You can do without it .</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
WIFE</div>
<div align="center">
EPIDURAL!</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ANAESTHETIST</div>
<div align="center">
OK, I need you to understand the risks and give consent for this procedure.</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
ME <br />
<div align="center">
I do, I read up on this during the pregnancy. You don’t need to explain anything. </div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
TRAINEE MIDWIFE </div>
<div align="center">
You read up on Epidurals?</div>
<div align="left">
</div>
<div align="left">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
Nope. She’s been awake for 2 days, she’s exhausted and I wanted things to move a little quicker then your man looked like he was going to move.</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
TRAINEE MIDWIFE</div>
<div align="center">
I have no idea what to say to that.</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
Me neither. I’m fucking terrified.</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
TRAINEE MIDWIFE</div>
<div align="center">
You’re doing fine.</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
I’d be doing better if I wasn’t hung over.</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
TRAINEE MIDWIFE</div>
<div align="center">
You’re not are you?</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="center">
ME</div>
<div align="center">
Nah. But I can feel that hangover I am going to have when this is over.</div>
<div align="center">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
And then he was born – well that’s 27 hours of labour condensed into a few paragraphs but you get the idea. </div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
Our son was born. </div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
For 6 months after his birth time slowed. Every day was so detailed, so exact. He grew fat and chewy. He pee’d on the carpet. He gurgled and loved lights being turned on and off and at some point I thought of the patchouli smelling girl at Bon Jovi and hoped she had a baby, even if she called him Jon and bought him Botox for his birthday. </div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
The closest thing to a meaning of life that I have found is parenting. I know in about 4 or 5 years my son will stop letting me hug him, stop curling up on the sofa with me to watch The Iron Giant but for now he curls into me while his sister curls into the other side and for a few blissful moments they don’t fight. </div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
They are the warm centre to everything we do. We’ve taught them to swim, to ride bikes, to read and write and chew their food and wipe their behinds and laugh at farts. </div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
They’re everything. </div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
They're beautiful. </div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
They're ours. </div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
If they're not the meaning of life they certainly give life meaning. </div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2598166057200681836.post-54811848255324418662012-07-30T02:00:00.001-07:002012-07-30T13:06:52.633-07:00Hear me discourseThere weren’t any atheists parenting in 1970’s <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">England</st1:country-region></st1:place>.
The default setting was Christian and families followed that line, it was
almost like being union members, to be a non member would have sparked off
rumours about you being different and therefore a bit untrustworthy. <br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
There were Jewish and Catholic kids in my school but the
majority of us loved the nativity and the baby Jesus was a hard and fast fact,
even if some of his super powers were a little uncertain. We prayed every
morning, sang hymns about dancing with the devil on our backs and ate chocolate
eggs at Easter to celebrate dentists and agonising crucifixion. </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The local church was running the Summer School during the 6
week holiday and I went along one year. We were welcomed by beaming adults with
guitars chairs and scraping on wooden floorboards. The room was decorated with cartoon
pictures of a smiling bearded Noah and happy giraffes about to go for a jolly
bob on the ocean. </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The supervisors gave us all a picture of Jesus to colour and
we did bible stories and games. Towards the end of the day members of each
table would go to the wall to colour in the large rainbow that showed the
points we’d scored during the day for knowing about frankincense, Eden and how
5,000 hungry party attendees got fed <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">back
in da day</i> before frozen party pies.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
At the end of the rainbow was a starburst and the aim was to
be the first colour to reach the explosion. I coloured in the yellow band for
my table and thought I was having fun. </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
One of the supervisors, in a shirt and tie armed with a
clipboard and thick scent of belched Nescafe, came and knelt by me. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hey. </i>He smiled and I smiled back, Jesus
had me for a rainbow. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Having fun? </i>I
nodded. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Can you bring a Bible with you
tomorrow? </i>I said I would try. I wasn’t sure if we had one. He smiled and
burped more Nescafe.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
I went home and asked for a Bible. The only one we had
belonged to my mother and was something she had since school when she’d been
the Virgin Mary in a nativity. It was too precious for me to take to Summer
School so we dug up a book of bible stories that I had.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Next day at Summer School I sat back at the yellow table.
The supervisor came over during the good morning happy sing-along and asked us
all to get our bibles out. I pulled out my big book of bible stories and he
stopped, picking it up and looking at it. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">No
bible? </i>I said I didn’t have one. He thumbed through the book, looking at
Samson standing between the two pillars and Moses parting the <st1:place w:st="on">Red
Sea</st1:place> and he made a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tsk </i>sound.
He led me over to another table and I sat with a few other kids there. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">There’s a special job we need doing that you
guys can help us with.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
For the day we made paper chains while the kids with bibles
ran around and shouted the answers to quiz questions, guaranteeing their place
in heaven and – to my frustration – coloured in the rainbow. I really liked
colouring in, actually I still do.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
After 5 hours of making paper chain decorations we were
allowed to sit with the other kids and listened to bible stories, all of which
I knew from my bible book. Hell and damnation, pestilence and famine, drowned
animals and big boats. Then we prayed and went to get our coats to go home. The
supervisor stopped the paper chain gang and asked us again if we could bring in
a bible tomorrow, we all said we’d try.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Next day, I still had my bible stories and a note from my
mum explaining that the bible at home was a precious family object hence I
could not bring it. 2 of the 4 kids I had been making paper chains with now had
dusty old dog eared bibles they had found down the back of their families
faith. That day 3 of us made paper chains. </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
I handed in my mums note and the Supervisor read it and said
only <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A bible is a precious object indeed </i>before
walking away to the coffee.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
I watched someone colour in the rainbow and spent the day
with the taste of adhesive gum in my mouth. We joined the group for bible
stories again and we went home. I finished out the week, by the last day there
were only two of us left without bibles, and we got a special thank you on
Friday for all our hard work making paper chains. The kids clapped us and I
felt happy again until I saw each and every kid clutching their bibles had
smiling sun stickers on their t shirts. I wanted a smiling sun sticker. </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
The smiling shirt and tie with clipboard held the door and
looked forward to seeing us next week. I didn’t go back.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
In 2007 Bear and I sat on the headland watching the moon. He
was 18 months old and the moon was
turning blood red during an eclipse. He was coo-ing at the moon as I told him I
would make it change colour. People were sat around us having picnics and
sipping wine. A man in a tie with a clipboard stood and started shouting about God’s
wrath, about the end of days. He pointed skywards and then at the sea side town
I live in. He railed about the faithless and heaven. I covered Bears ears for a
moment and thought about making paper chains and watching other kids colour the
rainbow. </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mate, I have a kid
here. </i>He pointed at moon and shouted again about hell. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mate, please, take it somewhere else. </i>He promised us brimstone. </div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
A dreadlocked backpacker walked over to the devout man and
whispered in his ear. Pointed to Bear and I. Pointed to the crowd. The man took
a deep breath and opened his mouth to continue his tirade. The dreadlocked man
jolted, as though raising a fist, and the pious penitent man did verily...fuck
off. A small cheer went up amongst the godless astronomers, wine drinkers and
parents and we went back to watching the moon turn crimson as I kissed Bears
ear.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
Now I wear a tie and a shirt. I carry papers with me and
surround myself with children every Wednesday morning. I go to Bear’s school and in the
playground I feel like a Christian, like I should pull out a guitar and start
singing that <em>Jesus loves my Calf Muscles and wants me for a paper chain maker</em>. I don't sing, I teach Ethics as the alternative to
Scripture. I sit with a class of 8 and 9 year olds and chat philosophy. </div>
<br />
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I am the anti faint instructor, hear me discourse.</div>
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Share share and share again - Thanks</div>
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<br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1