Friday, January 8, 2010

8. The roar of the crowd

Circus Oz tents erected in Tumbalong Park, Darling Harbour for the 2010 Sydney Festival season

From the moment they alighted to Platform 22 at Central, the die was cast. The hole in Dave’s pocket was becoming deep enough to drown in. He usually eased this with a light ale or three, but today he was stone cold sober. His face had that granite foreboding recognisable when a life was in free-fall.

They were now waiting in the queue, with Raelene stunning as usual in the flimsy polyester print her mother created for her last summer, her peroxided hair whispy in the breeze and her Ed Hardy flip-flops looking like a million bucks.

He loved those kids, he really did. But all he had was an apprentice sparky’s wage. The back row of the circus alone was over $100, the train $22 and you could betcha there would be hot-dogs and cokes and popcorn as the afternoon wore on. So, where was the rent coming from?

2 comments:

Vicki said...

I felt that poor apprentice sparky's despair, wanted to reach out to him and his family. The mark of a true storyteller.

"His face had that granite foreboding recognisable when a life was in free-fall." What a perfect description – one I wish I had written.

Joan Elizabeth said...

The "hole in his pocket big enough to drown it" got the story off to a fine start.

Crikey do flip-flops have brand names these days?