Home again........

This was to be the last of the big moves. We were living in Victoria at this point. In a mobile home. We had been here not long ago to visit my uncle and his young bride. And now suddenly we were living here. the mobile home was our home.

I remember now the day we arrived here. To see my uncle. It had been months since i'd seen him. Months since he had arrived given us a watch and a backpack between us and then departed again. He was sitting on the chair when we arrived. It wasn't "a" chair. it was definitely "the chair" and he was playing nintendo. Super mario bros 2 I remember. Watching princess peach pull the vegetables out of the ground and throw them at evil koopas.

He also had a bird on his shoulder, a pink galah aptly named Apollo. You may realise this was not the first bird to be named Apollo. it seemed to be a family tradition.

So we meet him once again and his wife and we see the nintendo, the light gun, the sega and an awful carrot cake. I was made to try some against my better wishes and it was a poor decision. I'm sure that cake was a punishment for something.

And that's all of that meeting I recall.

We lived here for a few months before returning to Queensland. We even had a xmas. My sister and I both received a VHS copy of TMNT, and 2 of the turtles each. So between us a full set. I know i had Leonardo and Michelangelo, only because I remember which ones my sister had. I also had splinter and she received shredder. These videotapes stood out because they were green. The TMNT phemonenon was in full swing. I also received a remote control truck that xmas. It was reduced to clear for being faulty, but Paul fixed it. So I now had a very expensive remote control 4x4 truck. And could finally impress other kids with something I owned rather than knew.

The trip to Queensland came out of nowhere again, I don't recall it at all. I do remember visiting my Aunt again and then suddenly we were living with them. A few key points stand out here before i started school.

• We visited the local supermarket, and i had never seen a "pick and pay" section before. hundreds of tubs of lollies, spices, ingredients, many things you could pile into bags and pay for by the kilo. No more needing $3.20 for a bag of lollies, just buy as many as you can afford. (i always wondered why bay leaves were so expensive, it's because they don't weigh much folks. You can get a LOT of Bay leaves for a kg, hence the $76 price)
• This was my first celebrated Haloween. We went trick or treating and the only thing we got were Muesli Bars and a Ferrero Rocher each. I didn't like the look of it so handed it over to my cousin. And to this day still haven't tried one.
• It was exciting to be living near the beach again. It was nothing compared to the white sands of bowen, the giant basalt cliffs or the deep rock pools. But the water was so close and there was a salt smell in the air.
• We had a paper route together. All of us kids. Each Tuesday we would deliver the local newspaper from 6am. It paid $30 a week. And $10 a week for each set of pamphlets. Pamphlets generally came in sets of 6, so we made around $100 each week. Between us, $25 a head. not bad money for 11 and 12.

Then I started school. Right around the corner. It was an exciting time as primary school was coming to an end, for the second time. This is where I think I did the first heart breaking. We all break hearts and here was where i did mine. It was a school dance, and you came in costume. I was a space man. I had a silver jacket, silver gloves, a rocket pack and silver pants. All of this had been normal clothes spraypainted by Paul. So you can imagine how itchy it was.........and rubber gloves all night? not a good idea.

So here I am sweating and itching in my silver space suit. And Danielle asks me to dance a few times. I say no. I'm a young boy, I don't dance for anyone. A few boys did, but most of us did not, stood around drinking cordial and talking.

All of a sudden Danielle leaves crying. Now I can't be entirely sure if I did start to dance with one of the twins, or if it simply got to the point where she had enough. But she left crying and days later i find out this is because of me. She wanted to dance with me more than anything, and i couldnt do it. I was too scared. So she left, upset.

This was an important lesson. I did nothing. Therefore I couldn't have done anything wrong, yet I hurt someone without intending to. How does this world work. I didn't know how she felt, but apparently I should have.

To complete the Danielle story........ I obviously lost contact with her over the years, but we started talking again not long after high school finished. She sent me a formal photo which I still have in a photo album. She was beautiful. Stunningly gorgeous. And she was so very friendly to me. I did nothing to deserve such an angel, and I hope she found someone to treat her as she deserved to be. She deserved a permanent love.

And I was only a guest.