Paul Jennings' Trickiest Stories by Paul Jennings

Author:Paul Jennings [Jennings, Paul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781742282237
Publisher: Penguin Group Australia
Published: 2008-04-30T18:30:00+00:00

3

That night I lay alone in my room on the verandah and listened to the sounds of the forest. The air was warm and only a fly-screen protected me from the dark outside. I left the light on – it made me feel a little safer.

The ceiling had paintings of small green lizards scattered across it. I wondered if Dad had put them there especially for me. It looked like wallpaper.

In the darkness of the rainforest the sounds outside seemed incredibly loud. I was used to trams rumbling down Barkers Road in Melbourne. At night in the city I would never even notice the sounds of squealing brakes and blaring police sirens. But here in this wild and lonely country every rustle seemed to hold a threat.

Suddenly, the wallpaper lizards began to walk. I screamed. They were real and walking upside down on the ceiling, clinging to the paint with little suction cups on the ends of their spidery toes.

Dad raced into the room and then began to laugh. ‘You are a city boy for sure,’ he said. ‘They are geckos. They can’t hurt you. They are lovely creatures.’

Dad turned off the light. ‘It attracts the mossies,’ he told me as he gently closed the door.

Mum’s hat dangled from the bedpost. I could see its dark outline in the glow of the huge, soft moon. A tear ran down my cheek and soaked into the pillow. ‘Mum,’ I moaned to myself. ‘Please come back.’

I grabbed her hat and pulled it down over my face to keep out the silent dangers of the night. The hat still smelt of Mum. Even its soaking in the ocean hadn’t been able to take that away. No one would ever get that hat away from me. I would go to my grave before I would part with it.

Those and other sad thoughts circled in my head until finally I fell into a deep sleep.

Blam.

I sat upright in terror. What was that noise? Like the slamming of a million doors at the same time. Like the snapping of a giant tree.

I heard the sounds of a struggle and scrabbling feet. Then again.

Blam.

Now I recognised the sound. Even though I had never heard it before. Not in real life anyway. A shot-gun. Someone had fired in the middle of the night. Footsteps approached.

‘Sorry, Jason,’ said Dad’s voice. ‘A ruddy feral pig. But it’s okay. I got it.’

I shoved on my shoes and staggered outside. Underneath a curtain of hanging vines lay a huge black pig. Its body still steamed with the warmth of its lost life. I gave a shudder.

This place was so brutal. On the one side there was the love of bilbies and crocodiles because they belonged here. And on the other side a scorn for pigs and rats because they didn’t.

‘I’m feral too,’ I said. ‘I don’t belong here either.’

‘No you’re not,’ said Dad. ‘Feral animals are killers. You and me – we are protectors of the weak.’

Dad put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.