Friday, January 29, 2010

29. Between the tracks


Chaos reigned as the semi-finals out at Laver Arena clashed with the Australia Day parade down Swanson Street, necessitating a mad dash through the crowds, mass sarcasm drooling. No-one messes with riled sports fans on the streets of Melbourne.

“Damn, my water has spilt and now it's all wet down there”, complained the plumpish 30-something. “Half your luck!” retorted her mate, as they both chortled.

“Have you gotcha ticket?”

“Yes, yes. I’m organised. Not that it matters. There’s always empty seats in the first coupla rows.”

“What? You wouldn’t, would you? I couldn’t. Just not right. I buy m’ticket and that is where I sit, no matter what.”

“But – some seats are empty all day ....”

“Doesn’t matter. Social order, that's what I believe in. Otherwise ... otherwise ... that is how ... something started ... trying to think of some war as an analogy.”

“With tennis ... ?”

5 comments:

diane b said...

Boy! That would annoy me. Buy a ticket and then someone else sitting in my seat. Sounds like you had a good time down south.

Vicki said...

Though not as deep as yesterday’s riff, this paints a picture more vivid than the photo. All we have is the dialogue and a snippet of description, but I can see these two women like they were right here in front of me. Excellent.

Joan Elizabeth said...

I like the way you have worked on capturing the language and spirit of the occasion.

Julie said...

This is my next big push, both language and story. I want to be able to faithfully record the way people in the street talk, both in style and content. I want the reader to be able to hear "everyman".

There is another aim too, which is to try to record humour - devilishly difficult. These two gals were very whimsical, yet totally Australian. There must be a way of bringing this out in language.

Tram trips are delightful for a people watcher - sounds and sights.

namaki said...

Oh yes !!! I can only watch it on a screen ! :-(