Uptown.
The situation in Desperance might appear bad on the surface but the law did not fall into tatters just because a Southern Queensland Valley cop could not fill the shoes of the old sergeant when Jay Smith passed away. A good man Jay, who had spent sixty-one years one month dedicated to the police service without missing a single day’s work until, after having apologised, he dropped dead. What a resignation. Everyone talked about it. Now, the numerous dynasties of Smith families kept lips zipped about the town’s sins. The town had ways and means to deal with pub brawls, rape, robbery, assaults, family violence and fraud among themselves. So, up until now, with it being obvious to everyone that Libby was doing such a balls-up of a job, Truthful was free to stand about, looking on with the rest of the crowd gathered around the man on the beach.
You could see how oblivious he was when the glaring started and the whispering began . A plethora of worries! A deluge of ill fate! There was no joy to be had in not having a proper policeman, and the algae man was still lying on the beach, and all of that hot sun was making people think weak thoughts and voices were raised. Well! Now everyone up the beach from the Pricklebush in the long grass could hear the consternation of Uptown and how they could go on.
What if the man is dangerous, contagious, riddled with all kinds of incurable diseases, a violent maverick, or a murderer or a foreigner trying to gain illegal entry?
What if he is a maniac and a menace?
What if he is a spy collecting data on our confidential capacities to defend ourselves?
What if he is an alien?
Uptown was running on hot air because everywhere else on earth was sweet: they were changing guards at Buckingham Palace but nobody in the world cared what happened to Desperance. Nobody could laugh at these things because aliens were a serious consideration and the town had stories about these aliens that could send a cold shiver down your spine. There were real people who could tell you the stories of how they had been taken away for weeks on metallic-disc spacecraft with red lights flashing across the sky, and who knows, they said when they came back, if aliens were invading the whole countryside. There was so much space in the Gulf, no one would ever know. Those stolen people who acted very sane when they spoke about their adventures, acted like a rabid dog the next.
It was hard to get your mind together when anything could land on the flat lands of the claypan country, and why not? The world was turning upside down, everything was coming apart when you expect to see red days, boatloads of illegal people, sea angels, unhappy spirits of dead people, stinking dead whales, even truckloads of contaminated fish, turning up on the foreshore of Desperance. Now, a man had walked in from the sea.
The man on the beach took on the appearance of the surreal. The sun had dried the mud on his skin until it curled into creamy milk-chocolate-coloured flakes. The layers of seaweed and algae flapped with the slightest breeze. Little sea mites crawled through the litter and into the blisters, fêting on his raw skin. The big-eared children listening to the adults talking about aliens were shooed off right back to the school ground. Fetch the water bag , they were told. Which water bag? the kids screamed back, stalling, trying to be clever . The bloody water bag hanging on the school verandah. They were told to bring it back immediately with threatening gestures, And bring sandwiches for the man, too.
Get it yourself , the little bullies answered back at their parents, who seemed to have forgotten it was a school holiday. They were reluctant to go in case they missed out on anything. They were ordered off again very smartly with Git, by fathers known to wallop a good punch. Off they went, racing each other back to town, collected food and water, and were back within minutes.
The semi-conscious man’s skin oozed with
The situation in Desperance might appear bad on the surface but the law did not fall into tatters just because a Southern Queensland Valley cop could not fill the shoes of the old sergeant when Jay Smith passed away. A good man Jay, who had spent sixty-one years one month dedicated to the police service without missing a single day’s work until, after having apologised, he dropped dead. What a resignation. Everyone talked about it. Now, the numerous dynasties of Smith families kept lips zipped about the town’s sins. The town had ways and means to deal with pub brawls, rape, robbery, assaults, family violence and fraud among themselves. So, up until now, with it being obvious to everyone that Libby was doing such a balls-up of a job, Truthful was free to stand about, looking on with the rest of the crowd gathered around the man on the beach.
You could see how oblivious he was when the glaring started and the whispering began . A plethora of worries! A deluge of ill fate! There was no joy to be had in not having a proper policeman, and the algae man was still lying on the beach, and all of that hot sun was making people think weak thoughts and voices were raised. Well! Now everyone up the beach from the Pricklebush in the long grass could hear the consternation of Uptown and how they could go on.
What if the man is dangerous, contagious, riddled with all kinds of incurable diseases, a violent maverick, or a murderer or a foreigner trying to gain illegal entry?
What if he is a maniac and a menace?
What if he is a spy collecting data on our confidential capacities to defend ourselves?
What if he is an alien?
Uptown was running on hot air because everywhere else on earth was sweet: they were changing guards at Buckingham Palace but nobody in the world cared what happened to Desperance. Nobody could laugh at these things because aliens were a serious consideration and the town had stories about these aliens that could send a cold shiver down your spine. There were real people who could tell you the stories of how they had been taken away for weeks on metallic-disc spacecraft with red lights flashing across the sky, and who knows, they said when they came back, if aliens were invading the whole countryside. There was so much space in the Gulf, no one would ever know. Those stolen people who acted very sane when they spoke about their adventures, acted like a rabid dog the next.
It was hard to get your mind together when anything could land on the flat lands of the claypan country, and why not? The world was turning upside down, everything was coming apart when you expect to see red days, boatloads of illegal people, sea angels, unhappy spirits of dead people, stinking dead whales, even truckloads of contaminated fish, turning up on the foreshore of Desperance. Now, a man had walked in from the sea.
The man on the beach took on the appearance of the surreal. The sun had dried the mud on his skin until it curled into creamy milk-chocolate-coloured flakes. The layers of seaweed and algae flapped with the slightest breeze. Little sea mites crawled through the litter and into the blisters, fêting on his raw skin. The big-eared children listening to the adults talking about aliens were shooed off right back to the school ground. Fetch the water bag , they were told. Which water bag? the kids screamed back, stalling, trying to be clever . The bloody water bag hanging on the school verandah. They were told to bring it back immediately with threatening gestures, And bring sandwiches for the man, too.
Get it yourself , the little bullies answered back at their parents, who seemed to have forgotten it was a school holiday. They were reluctant to go in case they missed out on anything. They were ordered off again very smartly with Git, by fathers known to wallop a good punch. Off they went, racing each other back to town, collected food and water, and were back within minutes.
The semi-conscious man’s skin oozed with
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