|
4:24am Jun 5 2010
|
Normal User
Posts: 5
|
Submitted for a final *censored*essment in the CMN116 course =D I'm still awaiting my mark (I'm *censored*uming it'd be a distinction....) Read for pleasure, CnC welcome. The bitumen cut into Alex’s feet as she trudged along the widespread road, hand outstretched and thumb extended. Car after car p*censored*ed her; as usual no one stopped to ask where she was headed. The heavy tartan bag slung across Alex’s shoulders slapped against the small of her back in time to each step she took. Alex heard the crunch of tires behind her and turned to see a beaten up van pulling in beside her. Her eyes slowly flicked away from her haywire reflection in the gl*censored* as the window slid down. A heavily moustached man leant his face towards her, ‘Need a ride?’Alex glanced over her shoulder and leant against the car, ‘Are you heading to Niagara?’‘Yeah, suppose. I’ll be stoppin’ at Kookynie though.’Alex nodded and the man twitched his moustache and sniffed, ‘Geddin then, kid.’Alex trudged to the boot, threw her bag in and walked back to the p*censored*enger seat. The leather crinkled as she slid into the p*censored*enger seat and shut the door with a tight clunk. Moustache-face revved the engine as he pulled the van back onto the road and sped towards the small smudge in the middle of the horizon that was Kookynie. The sticky air in the van pressed against Alex’s skin and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. A thought pushed its way to the front of her mind and she opened her mouth but no words formed on her tongue, so she simply shut it again. Giving up on conversation, Alex pressed her forehead to the window and stared out at the bush as it sped by. The small town of Kookynie eventually broke into view through the trees. Moustache-face smiled proudly and said, ‘Ain’t she beautiful? Good ol’ Kookynie, the small gem of Western Australia.’Alex smiled back slightly at the man. The houses were run down, yet they held a sense of strength and mystery in their timbers. She found herself drawn to the houses, wishing to peel back the layers of dust and discover the history behind each house. The station wagon bumped over a gutter, shaking Alex out of her thoughts. Moustache-face cut the engine in the drive way and turned to face her.‘So, this is as far as I go,’ he said, leaning his elbow on the steering wheel casually. Alex looked out at the darkening sky and let out a long breath, weighing her options. She could go, but she had spent the last of her money on the hotel she had last stayed at. It would mean a night on the streets. Or she could ask Moustache-face if she could stay the night. Staying the night seemed the better option.‘Oh, okay. Cool. Can I ask - do you have a spare room?’ she said.‘Yeah. You lookin’ to stay the night?’‘If I can.’‘Sure. Get your stuff out.’Outside, the house seemed ordinary and small. It was tilted slightly and weeds sprung up around the lawn. Alex could see a cemented circle on the ground; she guessed it was an old bomb shelter. Stepping through the peeling front door, a shrill voice greeted her. The room was empty expect for a few bare pieces of furniture placed here and there. Startled, Alex looked to every corner of the room, trying to find the owner of the voice. Moustache-face chuckled behind her and pointed to a cage swinging from the ceiling. A budgie eyed her from the cage before repeating itself in a shrill voice. Uncertainty wound its way through her stomach, but she let Moustache-face show her the way to her room. Later, she sunk down into the sofa and covered herself with the blanket he had given her. It was heavy and warm. The wind rattled at the windows of the house, so Alex moved further under the blanket. It weighed her down into the sofa, soothed her tired muscles and dragged her down into sleep. Something was pulling at her, but sleep warmed and calmed her. Alex was shoved again, rougher this time. It broke through her mind numbing darkness and woke her. ‘Ged-up, ged-up, ged-up.’ The voice was slurred and anxious, pushing her to do what it said. ‘Wake up.’Alex opened her eyes to Moustache-face standing over her. His face was pale, clothes dishevelled and sweat beaded on his upper lip. She struggled to understand what was happening, but Moustache-face hauled her to her feet and stumbled over his words in a rush.‘We have to get out. We have to get in the shelter. Move. Get out,’ he said, pushing her towards the door.‘Why?’‘The plant has exploded. The nuclear plant. Here,’ said Moustache-face. He threw her a rag and covered his mouth and nose with his shirt. The rag smelled of stale fast food and engine grease, but Alex held it over her mouth regardless. Moustache-face was already out of sight, stumbling through the semi darkness towards the front door. She followed the noises he made through the house, relying on her hands to guide her past the furniture safely. The bird shrieked. One long, piercing cry before it fell silent. There, suddenly, a square of moonlight burst into the room as the front door was thrown open. She moved out into the night as quickly as her legs could take her.Orange dust streaked the darkened sky above Kookynie. It was falling slowly towards the earth, towards Alex and Moustache-face. They both scrambled towards the circle of cement Alex had spotted earlier. Moustache-face fiddled with the wheel while she watched the dust spreading and falling across the sky. There was a loud screech and she turned to see Moustache-face straining to open the lid to the shelter. She placed her hands on the wheel and pulled with him. The lid opened. Moustache-face pushed Alex down into the dark and followed behind her, shutting the lid with less effort than before. The walls echoed as they slid further down into the dark.Uncertainty travelled through Alex much like a cold, causing her stomach to turn and grumble in protest. ‘Stop. There should be a light somewhere around here, kid,’ said Moustache-face. ‘Don’t call me kid. It’s Alex,’ said Alex, crossing her arms over her chest. There was a click and then light flooded into the room. ‘It’s whatever I say it is. Kid.’Alex ignored him and spun around to face the room. It was small; smaller than the room she had slept in. One bed filled a corner of the room, a shelf full of tinned food filled a wall, and another self filled the last wall. Alex took an interest in the latter. Torches, batteries, wrenches, masks, plastic sheeting, a stray box and a plastic yellow suit were scattered across the shelf. Still staring at the plastic suit, she asked, ‘How long until it blows over?’‘I don’t know, a few weeks maybe. At least until the radiation from the fallout is out of the air. They said internal exposure could result from breathing the air or eating contaminated food even if you’re miles away from the blast site so it’s safer to stay inside,’ Moustache-face had his back to her, but she thought she could see him laughing. His shoulders were shaking and his voice broke every now and again.‘Stop laughing,’ she pushed him slightly and he turned to her. The lines on his face weren’t from laughter; they were from worry, displeasure and distress.‘Who said this to you, Mou – Mister.’‘It was on the television, with the warning.’Without warning, he started to cry. His tears slipped down his face and disappeared into his moustache. Alex felt as much pity for him as she felt for her family – none. He was simply a stranger who had wandered into her life. She sat down on the edge of the bed, stared at the wall and let him cry. Alex awoke to Moustache-face zipping on the plastic suit. It was sealed from head to foot and emitted a buzzing sound. ‘What are you doing?’ she asked, hauling herself upright. He didn’t reply. She watched him pick up the oxygen tank he had connected to the suit and start towards the exit. ‘Where are you going?’Again, he didn’t reply and Alex realised he couldn’t hear her over the buzz of the oxygen tank. She watched him leave and climb up the ladder to the cemented lid. The lid slammed shut behind him and she was alone. Thoughts began to creep into her mind. First, it was that he would die and she would be alone. She would be able to take his car. But if he had known of the risk of going outside, why would he proceed to walk out of the shelter. She should have stopped him, pushed him again like she had the night before. But then he would have spoken in his run-down-country-man accent saying, Eh, don’ push me, kid. Geddin’, Kid. Kid. Alex paced the room in frustration. She hated being called a kid when she was far into her twenties. She had told him not to and he had simply said, it’s whatever I say it is. Kid. Alex stopped pacing in shock as she realised what he said. Not what he had said, but how he had said it. He had spoken perfectly, no country accent. The accent had been faked.‘*censored*.’The room seemed to close in around Alex as she understood that the seemingly harmless countryman was suddenly not what she had thought he was. She had to get out.Alex ran over to the ladder and swung herself up until she reached the cemented lid. She placed one hand on the handle and braced herself to turn it. And then she remembered the blast. She could not go out into radiation without protection. The air felt colder near the lid. Alex jumped down and took to pacing again out of frustration. She could wait for him to come back. It might take a few days though. Maybe he might never come back. But she needed the suit to get out. Alex walked over to the closest shelf and leant against it, considering her options. She decided she would wait. Steal the suit when he wasn’t looking and run. She settled down into a corner and waited for Moustache-face to come back. He arrived back around what Alex guessed was midafternoon. She knew for sure it was daytime though, because the sun had spilled through the lid when he climbed back into the shelter. She had lain quietly in the corner with her eyes closed and waited for him to sleep. Eventually, his breathing settled into a steady rhythm and she knew now was the time to escape. She stood up slowly, being careful not to scrape her feet on the cement floor. The suit was crumpled in a heap by the ladder. Keeping her breathing slight, Alex walked calmly over to the suit and pulled it over her head. It fit loosely on her slight frame. Two last obstacles to overcome and she would be out. The zip and the lid. Alex placed her fingers on the zip and carefully pulled it to the top. The noise echoed across the room as their footsteps had when they had arrived. Looking out of the small clear window in the suit, Alex could see Moustache-face. He did not stir. Taking one last deep breath, she placed her hands and feet on the ladder and clumsily wiggled until she reached the top.There was a noise behind her, and she turned to see Moustache-face standing at the bottom of the ladder.‘Where do you think you’re going?’‘I’m leaving.’‘You’ll die without me,’ said Moustache-face as he grabbed hold of her leg and tried to pull her down from the ladder. Alex yelled, kicking her leg out. It connected with Moustache-face’s head. He crumpled to the floor. She steadied herself against the ladder and placed her forehead against the cool metal, trying to calm herself. It was time to go.She braced herself against the handle and pushed with all her strength until she heard a dull click. Alex pushed the lid open and climbed out onto the gr*censored*. The dust in the sky was still hanging over the town. Birds sat on the electrical wires, chirping to each other. She glanced around, amazed to see the wildlife still alive. Down the street, children were playing together and running along the road. They spotted her standing in the man’s yard with the yellow suit on. There was a moment of silence between Alex and the children. One began laughing in the silence and then they all began to point and laugh at the suit she was wearing.Alex tore it off and glanced at the sky before asking, ‘What is that in the sky?’One child in a green dress spoke up and said, ‘It’s a dust storm.’Alex turned back to look at the house and spotted the bird cage in the window. The bird lay still on the bottom of the cage and its head was bent out of shape; the neck had been broken. The fallout and the nuclear explosion had been quite simply a lie. With one final glance towards the house, Alex headed towards the highway, hand outstretched and thumb extended.
 |
|
10:21am Jun 13 2010
|
Normal User
Posts: 567
|
wow.that was AMAZING!
Cleeek it!
Oh, yeah. I'm Back :D |
|
2:35pm Jun 14 2010
|
Normal User
Posts: 191
|
[IMG]http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p308/westcoastplayer18/Gir.jpg[/IMG]
|
|
