Yellow by Megan Jacobson

Author:Megan Jacobson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781760141448
Published: 2016-01-28T05:00:00+00:00

I’ve never visited Boogie at night. Mum is passed out; I wrapped her hand in a bandage and watched the blood bloom like roses through the white gauze. She was asleep by the time I’d finished patching her up, slumped on the toilet seat where I’d perched her, head lolling back. The only sign of life was a small whistle, not quite a snore. I had to bite my fingernails, because I wanted to take her nose between my thumb and forefinger and squeeze that whistle right from her nostrils. She was too drunk, still, to be roused by the click of the front door closing behind me.

I race down the street, night cloaking the town. Even the sounds are muffled – the night birds, and frogs, and the sounds of creatures you never see because they skulk in the dark. I hold my breath when I pass the Bakers’ wire fence, but the dog stays sleeping, dreaming of tennis balls, and possums, and the taste of the slack-jawed child who taunts him with a stick. I reach the park, and the only light now is a half moon, staring sleepily down through its shadowed eyelid. I’ve always liked the moon best. Everyone else in this town worships the sun, offering themselves on the beach every day with a devotion that would rival the ancient Egyptians. With the moon, it’s more subtle, and it reminds me of myself, the way part of the moon is almost always hidden. It takes time for the moon to show herself.

My hair snags on branches as I feel my way through the bush track. I’m glad the trees here are pathetic things, so that the stars still wink every now and again through the salt-bitten canopy, and the moon still keeps me company. Finally, I reach the booth. I pick up the receiver.

‘Kirra?’

My eyes swim with tears as I loop the cord around my fingers. This is the second task I’ve failed. I really should scrap being an assistant to the undead from my list of possible future career choices, I’m obviously pretty unsuited to it. I imagine telling that to the careers counsellor the next time I see her – as though she didn’t think I was weird enough as it is. I think of the three things I’ve asked Boogie to help me with, and wonder whether he’ll help me anymore, seeing as though I really haven’t lived up to my end of the bargain. I realise that I don’t really care about number one anymore. If being popular means that I have to become like Cassie, and being unpopular means laughing so hard with Willow that I get the hiccups, I think I’ll stick with being unpopular. But number two matters.

It really matters.

I want my parents back together with such a heaviness that my soul sinks outside of myself, down to my feet, and scrapes along the ground with my shadow. Mum’s always been a drunk, but not like this.

Not like this.

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.