Living The Simple Life

BY HAYLEY FERIGO1

Answers seem buried in her mind ....... unwilling to reveal themselves.2

Courtney lives in an empty criminal town in the outback of Australia. But her hearts desire is to be in England with her father and she will risk anything.3

Courtney struggles to survive emotionally in a dysfunctional Aboriginal foster family. When her foster brother is seen taken away by the police, Courtney decides to escape.4

Left alone in the dangerous desert, Courtney finds herself dehydrated and starving. The only motivation is the memory of her father. She has to keep believing to survive. Courtney begins to hallucinate and memory's begin to unfold, but when the shocking truth is revealed, will she loose faith and motivation which is essential to her survival? 5

Living the simple life6

Chapter 17

Expect the unexpected 8

Litter scraped along the deserted village. Everything was dull and roasting. The only sound was a fly buzzing and faint music. 9

Courtney sat on the worn seat at the bus stop, the strong heat hitting the back of her neck causing sweat to trickle. She was wearing her dusty blonde hair in plaits with her cap lowered. Her face was flustered, sore red marks on her cheeks. She wore a second hand jacket and track pants matched with worn out runners. She stared blankly down the desert road thinking about what was happening in the civil world. Her eyes were watering, the burning sun blinding her sight. She saw a figure slowly making its way along the road, nearing closer to the corner shop. It was only a shadowed outline against the back round of the burning desert. She squinted at it some more, attempting to block out some of the consistent sun. 10

The seat began to wobble as someone plunked themselves next to her, nudging her deep in the stomach. After looking in the direction of the sun so long, her eyes were blurry and colours danced. She blinked a couple of times, rubbing the dirt and oil from her face. The person nudged her again and this time they spoke in a voice that Courtney reconised. “What up?”, they asked. Their accent was strong making the question sound foreign. 11

It sounded normal to Courtney as she has lived in this small town since she was young, her accent also hard to make out to any foreigner. 12

Her eyes had now adjusted and she saw quite clearly her friend Hannah, she looked exhausted and upset. Her hair was tied back and oily, her face also sun burnt. She wore a long white shirt, stained with grease and some denim shorts, quite a common fashion in the outback. Courtney stared at her friend almost too tired to answer. She managed a short sentence, her Aussie accent sounding. “Nothing mate”. 13

There was silence as Courtney watched her friend staring at that same distant figure now quite simple to make out. “It's him, isn't it?”, asked Courtney even though she already knew the answer. Hannah stared blankly at the man, fear hidden in her eyes. He wore tight leather pants with a singlet, his arms were tattooed and his hair shaved as a mullet. But his face worst of all. His narrow cheek bones like a grey hound, eyes flashing with anger, mouth a thin line. He walked past keeping a close watch on the young girls. 14

This man as Courtney knew was Hannah's father. He used to abuse Hannah's mother. When her mother had asked for a divorce he had threatened to murder them. The police were then rung, and the father disappeared. That had been two years ago. 15

Hannah didn't say much as she went to buy some ginger beer from the small dairy. Courtney's head ached of dehydration and she sunk further down in the wooden seat. 16

There was a skidding sound as dust sprayed Courtney's face. She lifted her eyes and saw a gang of young boys on bikes. Her younger brother smirked. She looked at him for a while. His face was sweating and he looked like he had been up to something. “you've been bunking school again”, shouted Courtney. Her foster brother was only nine and he had already been in trouble with the cops twice. “Na I avant”, yelled her brother. 17

There was the sound of sirens and the first car in days drove through the empty village. Dust flew up behind as it hurtled down the country road. It was obviously the police. The young boys panicked, got on their bikes, and cycled round the corner to get back home. “What have you been up to this time?”, yelled out Courtney, but her foster brother was already gone.18

Hannah trudged back, handing Courtney her ginger beer. The girls watched as three older boys vandalised the corner shop. The guy with darkish brown hair was Hannah's boyfriend. He abused her all the time, and as Courtney said, he was like every other teenage criminal in this dump. After a while Hannah spoke. “I'm pregnant”. There was another silence. The poor child. They would grow up in poverty with a dysfunctional family. Exactly the life I've lived, thought Courtney. Except she wasn't born here, she didn't belong here. Courtney's lips were cracked and her eyes ached. She closed them, bright red marks glowing from where the sun shone on her eyelids. She could hear Hannah's feet crunching along the gravel as she walked away. Courtney sat on the seat for a very long time with her eyes closed. She felt a faint breeze drift past and the glowing in her eyes disappeared telling her it was sunset. She could still feel the heat though, it was always hot whether it was day, night, winter or summer. She opened her eyes and dreaded the thought of heading home. It's what she had been avoiding. 19

She made her way towards the corner her brother had cycled down in a hurry earlier. The houses were all shabby with graffiti scribbled on the high fences. 20

She pushed open the rusted gate and looked around the overgrown front yard. There was a police car in the driveway, her younger brother being lowered into the backseat. He glanced out of the car window at Courtney for a second, a glance of pity in Courtney's eyes, a glance of shame in her brothers. She didn't blame him for what he might have done. How could she expect him to behave when he had been dumped here? It was the example he had been given. The unwelcome police car drove out the gate leaving the dust to slowly settle to the ground after it. Courtney looked through the misty window near the lounge. She knew Amarco was in there. She wondered what she was thinking, was she worried? Probably not. She banged her fist on the front door and it pushed open. The house was filled with the stench of cigarette smoke. Courtney entered the lounge and there was Amarco sitting on a stall, smoke in mouth and clothes torn. She was in her late forty's and the skin round her face sagged, her teeth and fingers stained yellow from smoking cigars. She was an Aboriginal lady, and the foster mother of Courtney and her younger brother. She drew a long breath on her smoke, studying Courtney who stood still and serious in the door frame. “It's what the boy deserved”, she croaked “it will do him good anyway, teach him what the real world is like”. Courtney stared at the women she had as a mother. “You don't care about either of us do you? Only took us in for the money!”, she said, rage and anger in her voice. Her foster fathers head appeared from behind the couch. He was watching a trashy comedy on the television, beer clenched in his huge hands. He was also an Aboriginal man in his late forty's. “This will toughen the boy ”, he said, voice slurred from the alcohol. “See you really don't give about us at all, wouldn't care if we died”, said Courtney shaking slightly. “Show some respect!”, yelled her foster father. Courtney stared at the druggies she had as caregivers, she would do better looking after herself. She eyed her foster mother. “look at you, you're a disgrace”, She pushed over a chair and made her way down the crammed hallway. It smelt of must and there was mold growing up the walls. She strolled into her room and shut the door. She felt numb inside. Reaching under the sunken bed, she pulled out a faded album. Now she was alone, just her and her dad. The picture on the first page was her favorite. It was of her dad in England the place where she was born. He was wearing woolen clothes, holding her as a new born in his arms. She closed her eyes and tried to remember as tears spilled down her cheeks. 21

She remembered a plane taking her to a country called Australia, she wondered where her mother was. Her father assured her everything would be alright, it was just them now that mummy was gone. Nobody would find out their secret. What secret? She was so young and couldn't remember. Next moment she could feel cold hands grabbing at her clothes, people in uniform forcing her to leave her father. She hated them, wanted them to go away, but now her father was gone as well, there was no one to protect her. 22

The front door slammed and Courtney's heart skipped a beat as she awakened from the past. She could hear her foster fathers huge feet making their way down the drive, he was probably going down to the corner store for some more liquor. 23

Chapter 224

Hallucinate 25

Thirsty, rushing water flowing, with a bitter lemon to flavor. Thirsty, pelting rain pouring from the misty sky, the earth is damp and moist. Thirsty, ice cubes melting in the refrigerator, pouring chilly liquid. Dehydration.26

Courtney's shoes are heavy and sweaty on her feet. Her whole body is covered in perspiration. There is the same scenery all around her, gritty sand until it meets the rugged horizon. Her feet tread along, the pace slowing with each step. She reminds herself with each movement, not too much further. But it seems the reality is; the road never changes direction. She wouldn't be alive by that time. She would never find her family. But she couldn't give up. She was already dead in that empty town, a walking corpse. She had to keep believing, she had to survive. Memories. Her mind is mysterious. Something is becoming unburied, she almost feels she is in the past. Flooding memories.27

The monster is filled with rage. It moves around the room like a shadow, cursing and pacing. Courtney whimpers in the corner, not understanding. Somethings happened. Her mummy's not here. Whats the problem daddy? You protect me from monsters but now I'm afraid. Why daddy? Because you are the monster. Please mummy, tell me where you have gone. The monster pulls Courtney forward, yelling in her pitiful face. He wobbles her head, she becomes dizzy as stars fill her eyes. She is defenseless. The monster then clutches her head in his hands, pulling her close. He mutters words of regret, tears now spilling from his sorrowful eyes. The words he has spoken are screaming in her mind. They will never find out Courtney, never. They won't take you away, you are all I have left. I swear to god I shall never hurt you. She fails to understand. The father returns, the monster now gone. They will never find out.28

Courtney's breaths now come in gasps. She is walking directly towards the setting sun, now a great orange perched atop the mountain crests. In the gathering dusk, the cactus's fling shadows of giants across the pebbled earth. Courtney hears sounds. She thinks of rattlesnakes and scorpions. The desert seems to be a brown wasteland of prickly scrub, whose only propose is to serve as a setting for the majestic cactus's, which look like devils fingers reaching towards the sky above. She walks never ending miles, weaving around the washes and gullies, the Maricopa's looming lavender in the distance. The desert scenery is spinning. The earth is speaking to Courtney. The stars begin to whisper.29

She hears familiar voices. The voices are arguing. Mummy's eyes water, she is pleading innocent. Daddy doesn't show his usual love and affection, nor does he show sympathy. Something is growing inside him, that even he himself can't understand. Its the monster developing. Mummy screams as the monster slaps her pale cheeks. Courtney thinks Daddy should be hugging Mummy instead, but she hasn't seen the monster he is about to become. Mummy throws lamp shades and other objects around the room, admitting secrets. Words bounce around the walls, cheating, unfaithful, divorce. Something flashes in the monsters eyes. He moves closer.30

The desert is misty in the darkness. Creatures come out to hunt at this time of night. Courtney finds shelter in the distance. There is a neglected wooden hut falling apart. She shall survive the night, but tomorrow might be a different matter, she hasn't found food in two days. She follows the moonlight to the shelter, eager to rest her aching limbs. Once inside she lays herself on the sandy floor, shivering as she drifts into restless sleep. Something is stirring inside her. Something is about to reveal itself. 31

The sight is blinding her. Mummy is dragged along by the monster, she is yelping and pulling away. He moves towards the shed, a frown engraved in his face, eyebrows kitted together. Something explodes inside Courtney, she stamps her feet together, pleading at the monster to leave mummy alone. She tells him she will give him so much love he won't need mummy's anymore. He doesn't seem to believe or even hear. Courtney doesn't know whats about to happen but she screams her lungs out. Mummy's clothes are ripping apart, her face is smudged with filth, her beauty hidden by terror. Everything goes pitch black. The screams are deafening. Courtney now understood. The word echoed in her mind. Murder, murder, murder. Her daddy was a murderer. 32

Courtney awakened to the sound of vultures screeching. She lay silent. The plane going to Australia, the men in uniforms. It had been so obvious. Now that the last piece of the puzzle had been fitted into place everything made sense. She had wasted her entire life searching for something that had never existed, a loving family. Dust flew as the first car in days hurtled down the empty road. She almost felt disappointed, she was going to survive. She closed her eyes and decided to let the opportunity pass.33