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The Hairyman grabbed my sister Sue
One night, we were chasing through the house. Sue thought she'd scare us, so she hid in the darkest room and was very quiet. None of us could find her then we heard her screaming her lungs out. We raced to see what had happened she was screaming with her hands rubbing around her neck. With her screaming and us running the Hairyman took off but we knew he'd be back. -
I wet my bed!
I know i'm to old go wet the bed but there is no way i'm going outside to go to the gulmra, the dunny. Not down the hall, through the kitchen and all the way out the back. Not with the Hairyman in our house. It's dark out there. -
I can't sleep!!
I can't go to sleep. The music is turned up and the arguments have started. There is something funny about the night that makes grown ups go stupid ans call each other names. Maybe its their way of scaring of the Hairyman or maybe its the grog in them. -
Meeting my Girragundji
There it is. Shhhkkk... creak.. Shhhkkk....creak....I watch the handle move. Honest, truth and hope to die, the handle is moving the door is opening. I can't breathe. The heat won't leave me alone. I try and scream, I can't. Plop! Something lands on me. Help! My voice gets stuck, he's got me he's really got me this time. I can feel his hands around my throat. Let go! I go to grab his hands, get off me! Hang on, there my hands around my neck. Plop! It hopped again. Nooo.... it's...a....frog? -
Sharyn smiles at me!
I dawdle down our steamy street to school. I don't reckon you need to rush, but. It's not like schools going to run away on you. I'm in front of Sharyn's house! She's there hanging off her front fence. She's watching me go past. She's giving me that smile, that mango-mouth one. I look across at her in class, I try to smile back but I go all, fizzy inside like I've eaten a bucket full of sherbet. -
Stacy Straun the Puffed-Up, Freckle Face, Migaloo Bully-Boy
He comes up behind me on the verandah and bangs me with his school bag. "Yuck" he says. No I'll have to get my mum to scrub it clean. I'm not angry I just want to bust him up real bad. I get ready to nuckle up, shaping up to that big, fat pig. -
I get in trouble
That night i go to bed with a busted lip and a thumping head. The busted lip i can wear, but when your mum clips you over the ear for getting in a fight, and when your dad gets stuck into you for losing, that hurts. -
Big Cousin Kev
"Eh, look out, you big sook! Watch out for Gundji, you idiot." says Kev. "Stuff your frog, the...Hairyman...he...was breathin' down m' neck!" Even big Kev's scared, I know I'm stretching it now, but I tell him, "Lay down her then, Gundji'll keep us safe". -
I dream.....
I dream, I'm crocodile-sliding down the soft, sandy bank and into the cool water. I dream of curling up with a belly full of mud crab and wirrell beside our camp fire. I dream you never want the dawn to chase away. -
The old people sent my gudji!
I know those old people sent her to protect my spirit. They do that sort of thing. She came to me just when i needed her. She stays with me all through the dark nights. I don't have to worry about squishing her in the bed 'cause she knows which way i'm gonna roll even before i do. -
Footy
My cousin Kevin is staying at our place. He's tough, he reckons only kids are scared of Quinkins, I agree. He's good at footy, too. He teaches me a lot. He reckons when you play footy, it dosen't matter if you're one of them or one of us, it's how high you can jump or how long you can kick. I can kick a long way when I'm fired up. They reckon I'll play in the big league one day, I could, plenty do. -
I'm brave enough to go outside to the dunny
It's the middle of the night and i'm busting. Gundji's there, I get up, It's not so dark. I walk out into the night. She's on my shoulder. I'm walking down the hall, through the kitchen, out the back and into the gulmra, the dunny, all the way in the dark, with her right there. What a relief. She looks across at me. Right into my eyes. 'Aren't you finished yet?' I give it a shake, the hold her in my hands and take off back to bed. I lay there with my heart racing. I did it, he didn't get me. -
OUR TRIP STARTS !
Dad's down packing the ute. The sun isen't even up yet i lov ewhen you get a head start on the day were going down the bohle to our special place where the river meets the sea i hope the car starts -
Popeye Smoking
Everyone reckons we'll have to get Popeye, that's my grandad, over to do the smoking. He knows all our language and the right way to do these things. He was taught by the old people.Uncle Shorty tells us stories, I can't wait till Popeye comes. The fire stings my eyes . I close them and lie back and let the talk and singing of the old songs soak in.