napowrimo-april-19th-lightbulb-moment two

The shirt off my back?

Twas in the middle of the wet
We had just arrived in the outback
Way up North West of Australia
On an Aboriginal mission.
We were such greenhorns.
Nearest town six hours by car.
Sons and I were invited
To jump aboard a truck
With two dozen Aborigenese
For an outing up the road
Oh well maybe three hours up the road
Didn't even give it a thought
We jumped aboard.
Arrived. Met some interesting folk
But that's a another story.
Late afternoon we headed home.
Most of us standing
Hanging on to the sides
Of the tray in the back.
There was laughter and talk.
Swerving a few times
To miss creeks and puddles
Then crunch...and it stopped.
We all jumped off.
Some of the blokes lay in the mud
Inspecting the underbelly.
Broken axle.
Nobody seemed to care.
They lit a campfire.
Went looking for lizards to cook.
Others swam in the creek laughing.
I guess I panicked.
Didn't listen.
Said I would walk back.
After all was only one road.
Couldn't get lost.
Grabbing my sons we took off.
In the tropics is no twighlight.
Ten minutes later: total darkness.
Not much of a moon.
Spooky silence.
Eerie for a city girl.
What was that noise?
Cattle mooing. Big cattle. Wild cattle.
No fences up there.
We increased speed. Huddled close.
Creeks and potholes were hard to spot.
Round about then I had my "aha" moment.
The foolishness of not staying put.
I think we walked for hours.
Then we saw it.
Way way back.
A small light.
Phew...relief...help at hand?
Took forever to arrive.
Amazing how far the horizon actually is.
Creeping along slowly towards us
Truck full of Aboriginese.
Thankfully we jump aboard.
Five minutes.
Truck stops.
Couple of blokes take off their shirts.
Others cut down a small tree.
They tie it to the axle.
That was the fix.
On we go.
For the next five minutes.
Same procedure.
Soon the men were all half naked.
Eyeing off my shirt.
I hang on with both hands.
Surely a search party was on it's way?
I was lucky.
We were much closer than I realised.
The mission suddenly appeared before us.
Husband relaxed watching a movie.
After all it was the big wet.
Everyone had said... they can't get back.
Relax. They'll be in a comfy bed.
I grew up that day.
Learnt to listen
To what the locals had to say!

© Ingeborg Apfelbaum. April 2010.