Another brilliant piece from a GUNNAS WRITING MASTERCLASS WRITER.
Once upon a time there was a little boy who didn’t think he was so little. He had learned how to run and run really fast and when he won his race and stood on the winners podium he felt like a man. He stood silently breathing slowly while the crowd of 30 parents which seemed huge to him, made as much noise as they could on a Saturday afternoon when they really wanted to be somewhere else.
He also wanted to be somewhere else. He wanted to be back in Sudan in the country of his birth with the family he left behind so many years ago. Not all his family were left behind – his mother, one sister and he Simyn came to Australia.
His father, grandparents, 2 older brothers and numerous cousins were still there. He knew about family and he knew that distance had forced his family to be incomplete.
Everyday he did his best to fit into the Australian way of life. He got up in the morning, played Xbox, had his breakfast of weetbix, put on his backpack with school emblem, laced up his runners, popped his lunch box in his backpack and headed down the road to meet his friend on the corner. His friend had also come from the Sudan and he and his father had been taken in by a community church. They liked to walk the 3 blocks together, a mini tribe on a mission.
One day as they were walking to school they saw something happening in the opposite direction. It looked like an accident. The road looked to be taped off. There were blue lights flashing and from the distance they could see a lot of people in high vis running and waving their arms.
Because of that they became curious. They decided to be late for school and go down the road to investigate. They were nervous and their imaginations began to come alive. Was it a murder? Was it a burglar caught red handed with stolen jewels? Was it a car crash? Would there be blood? Just then the TV news crew came tearing around the corner and sped in the direction of the lights and action.
The boys didn’t really want to be on TV as they were supposed to be at school. So they tried to be as inconspicuous as possible.
And because of that they took off their backpacks and hid them behind a tree. They took off their shiny new runners with brilliant “teeth white” laces and stuffed tham into their backpacks. They knew that the instincts born within them in the Sudan would emerge.
Until finally they crept with stealth, friends with a common past and a common current purpose, along tree lined nature strips staying close to the fences. As they got closer, any alarm disappointedly dissipated. The action had a sense of curiosity about it. A frantic situation but one with little danger now that the road was closed off.
There was in fact a large proud kangaroo happily grazing on the nature strip, a couple of kilometres from his bush land home.
The boys were seen by a group of SES volunteers who asked if they had ever seen a kangaroo. They had not, and were allowed to get close and watch as a little joey poked its head from his mums pouch. The roo was a she, not a he. Family was everywhere today.
Anyone coming to hobart to get married can catch Gaileebee at www.greathobartweddings.com.au