The Turning Page #2

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at his funeral.

Meg won't show.

I'll grow up

and have a family of my own

and see Briony Nevis,

Tired and lined

in a supermarket queue

and wonder

what all the fuss was about.

All of it unimaginable.

Right now, standing with Biggie

on the salt lake at sunset,

I don't care what happens

beyond this moment.

In the hot, northern dusk,

the world

suddenly gets big around us,

so big we just give in and...

...watch.

Eeniee, meenie, minie...

..moe.

Arggh!

Oh, argh.

..was not presented

by the May 31st deadline,

then more industrial action

will be taken.

Now in a bit of the macabre,

in the seaside town of Angelus,

a gruesome discovery

was made this afternoon.

Just behind the sand dunes

in Angelus' Madison Gully,

two boys playing at the site

of a new housing development

on reclaimed swampland

made the grisly discovery

of human bones.

So far, two femurs

and a skull have been recovered.

Police have

cordoned off the site

and a broad search is under way

throughout the area.

Police are yet to make

identification of the bones

but believe

they are the remains of a child.

At the third stroke,

it will be 8:
22 and 20 seconds.

At the third stroke,

it will be 8:
22 and 30 seconds.

Hey, look.

Hey! Wait up!

Hey, guys, look at that.

Oh, sweet!

Wicked!

Not bad!

Oh, look at this!

Think it could float?

OK!

Yes, this is perfect.

Reckon it'll float'?

- Oh, give it a crack.

- Yeah? Sweet.

Hey, help me

get around this log.

Oi, just over there

near the bushes.

Where do you think you're goin'?

What have you got there?

Tadpoles?

Stay down.

Here we go again.

I've had enough of this!

I'm getting outta here.

Come on.

Help me with this thing.

Gotta go to school.

- Oi! Where are you going?!

- School!

My husband

had a thing about this girl

with a birthmark.

It began when he was 16

and went on and on.

Like a fever

that wouldn't break.

It's a story he used to

tell against himself.

His crush on Strawberry Alison.

It was one of the things that

charmed me about him.

Eh, Vic?

See the new form-six chick?

What do you reckon? Spunk?

Yeah. Pretty good.

One, two - Pigeons!

Sucked in!

Oh, my God. What a shocker.

Oi, she's got a face

like a half-sucked Redskin.

Strawberry Alison wasn't

the only damaged specimen

to capture his imagination.

His first love was a farm girl

whose ring finger

ended at the first joint,

ripped off in a hay baler.

That was over in a night.

A teenage kiss.

Not like Alison.

Alison!

I always assumed

the whole thing

was just a mortifying memory.

Later, I started

thinking about that.

You know I've been

trying to get more poetry

into the school paper.

Yeah, but I didn't really

mean for everyone to see this.

OK.

Well, I just think it'd be great

experience for you as a writer,

baring your soul.

Well...

...you think about it, OK?

What you doing, d*ckhead?

OK.

Let's go.

"Incandescent.

"They say that

when you're there, you'll know.

"That when it's happening,

you'll see.

"And it'll all be right.

"But it's not that way, is it?

"You say it's not

what they think.

"You say to show them

your face...

"..to not be afraid

of the burning girl.

"It's something else

folded within itself.

"My burning girl."

Alison.

I loved your poem.

I thought...

I thought it was really great.

$0?

I think you're great.

Oh! Where do you think

you're going?

I was just gonna...

Why don't you just

leave her the f*** alone?

Time heals all wounds, right?

And a lot of time's passed.

Alright.

But then just last week,

I caught him

poring over something.

This damn box.

Crying.

Oh, he didn't want to

talk about it, he said.

So we didn't.

Hi, guys.

Hey.

- Hi.

- Hi.

You alright?

Good. Just... you know.

Watching the fire.

I'm starting uni in a few weeks.

We're driving to Perth tomorrow,

me and Roberta.

Right.

I guess I'll see you later.

I still love your poem.

I still love you for loving it.

Ali'?

Sometimes

I felt like a biographer...

...searching around for

the one, final, telling detail

at the centre

of my husband's life.

Then I think

of Strawberry Alison

and the way my husband

was drawn to her.

To the pain he thought he saw.

All very endearing

until you think of it

turned your way.

That your husband's love

might have been

another act of kindness.

As if you too might have been

some kind of damaged goods.

What were you looking at?

Uh, the... sheep ships.

They've got the smell

and everything.

- You looking forward to this?

- Mm-hm.

Yeah? Bit excited?

Bloody smell.

Here we are.

Get 'em in, eh?

Why are you doing that?

Never liked this wall.

You want to have a go?

I can't even lift it.

Just trying to get out of

a hard day's work.

Look out.

Wasn't it boring here

when you were a kid?

No.

My memory's a bit shot, mate.

I don't think there's much

I could remember

that'd impress you.

You're kidding.

Jesus wept.

Come here, for the love of God.

Lord, it's good to see you.

- G'day, Peter.

- Don.

- This must be Ricky, then.

- Oh, g'day, Ricky.

Ooh!

He's got some muscles.

You don't have to tell me

anything, Peter.

We've heard.

Oh.

This is our Sky.

Hey, Sky.

She's Fay's, of course.

Fay's... uh... not around?

She'll be back any day.

So she tells us.

Maybe you could catch up

with her.

Oh, Don. I'm not really

in a good place to...

In our mind, you're family.

We always...

We've got our Sky.

She's put us

through bloody hell.

We're grateful

for small mercies.

We need a break, mate.

Tell us you'll think about it.

Come on, sleepy sheets.

Alright. Come here.

Have a good day.

OK. Bye. Love you.

- Love you too, mate.

- OK.

Careful crossing the road.

Careful, mate.

Ricky, thank Christ.

Sorry, mate.

I am really, really sorry.

Fay.

I, um... I, um...

...slept.

Jesus. Uh, thanks.

Should have heard the row

I had with Dad

to get him to let me

pick Sky up on my own

and there she was

with your little guy.

Mate, are you gonna give Sky

one of your jackets?

She's freezing.

I am too.

There you go. Get in there.

Mum told me about your wife.

Se...

...did she tell you about me?

Uh, not really.

And look, I'm not that stable

myself, so...

I'm supposed to seek out

good people.

Alright. Don't worry about it.

I'll leave you alone, then.

Thanks again for Ricky.

Couldn't have my folks thinking

you'd left your kid

out in the rain, could we?

You're still their golden boy.

Looks like I'm trouble

around here still.

For you, at least.

Not having much luck, are we?

Come on.

You'll like this.

I swear.

Chuck your bucket down.

Lie down.

OK.

- Can you see up through there?

- Yep.

Alright.

Perfect.

Now just... just wait.

It's coming.

It's coming. Here it comes.

Come here.

Please.

You're a mess.

You owe me a cuppa.

All daylong I've had to listen

to stories about you

and all your virtues.

There's a bottle of red open

if you want to...

Jesus, Peter. You don't know

much about all this, do you?

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