Slim Farrell sat down upon the big and comfortable leather lounge suite. He had on his long legged,thin material, stripey pajama pants..... a relatively new dark blue Bonds T-shirt..... an old white pair of socks .... and his ten year old pair of rubber walking flip flap thongs. Slim was feeling very.........tranquil. He and Sweet-Pea had enjoyed a quiet Christmas together, just the two of them, all by themselves, in the city Melbourne. They stayed at the Park Hyatt in the eastern side of the city. It was a beautiful and elegant building situated in a green and leafy environment. Calming.Relaxing. The two middle aged delinquents had pre booked Christmas lunch, right there in the Hotel. They sat across from each other and lovingly looked into each others eyes as they talked and laughed about all sorts of things. They prayed quietly as they leaned across the table to hold each others hands. Their prayer was one of gratitude and thanks for their circumstances... and of hope and charity on behalf of the many who required it. Before long the big galoot was up and galloping about the place in his usual clownish attempts to make others laugh. In no time at all, many others at their own tables were all shaking hands and hugging each other in a festive spirit of good will and love for one another. It seemed that strangers could indeed choose to love each other without too much prompting or cajoling at all. Hope reigns eternal. Some hours later...... and with a big full tummy of Christmas fare...... the big bald headed brute and his beautiful little wife rode the elevator back up to the eleventh floor and opened the door to suite 64. Old baldy lay down on the bed and instantly fell fast asleep. The next day they caught a taxi back to the airport and flew back home to Sydney. It was now a few days later. Slim was starting work at the Furniture store tomorrow. Since buying the place, only a few days before Christmas...... hed hardly been in there at all. Tomorrow.......for sure. Although........tomorrow was also a special day for Slim. He didnt talk about it much.....although he occasionally did. Tomorrow...Monday the 29th of December....... was the twenty fifth anniversary of the quake. Slim had been living in the city of Newcastle in New South Wales. The earthquake hit without warning. Having always had the habit of being in the right or wrong place at either the right or wrong time...... depending on how you choose to look at it........... Slim found himself in the company of two heroic firemen and another brave souled citizen........... as the first rescue party of four to enter the collapsed shell of the Workers Club Building. Slim recalled people yelling...... dont go in there...the electricity and the gas could cause an explosion. Slim had never been very good at taking good advice..... so he just ignored them. One of the firemen passed Slim some sort of a cylinder and said.... if youre game mate....lets go in. The air inside the ruined building was thick with dust. It was eerily silent. There were mountains of bricks piled loosely upon each other everywhere. It was dark......and hard to breathe. As Slim scrambled over the bricks he heard the pained and anguished cry of someone underneath him.......trapped beneath the bricks. Startled by the cry.....and deeply concerned that his own body weight might be now crushing someone................... Slim swung the torch he held in a wide arc to locate the point of where the screams were coming from. Immediately in front of him....but not the source of the anguished scream.. was the completely broken body of some poor unfortunate soul who had fallen from the three or four levels of the interior above... and who had been crushed by the debris. That was the first dead person that Slim had ever seen. Regaining his composure...... the big galoot began to try and dig through the bricks with his bare hands. He had to be careful not to dislodge the wrong pile and inadvertently cause a further collapse. Suddenly the strange quiet...... a common occurrence after such disasters Im told........ dissipated into a low choir of moaning and sobbing and cries for help. There were many people trapped in there. A beam of light hit Slim in the face..... it was the fireman hed come in with.....attracting his attention with his torch. Slim scrambled down the hill of bricks and made his way in the dust and dark to the beckon call of light. There was a middle aged woman....... whom the fireman was attending to. She seemed alright and incredibly calm. If you boys could just lift this table off me...I think I can get myself out... its just that my right leg is trapped. Slim and the fireman both took hold of the heavy weight which seemed to pin the woman. As they strained to lift it off her........ it became obvious to them..... that the womans leg was not pinned........... but that it had instead been completely sheered off a few inches below her knee. The Firemen instantly cast Slim a look that said dont say anything. The boys slowly replaced the weight as the fireman said.... ohhh Im sorry love but youve got all wire wrapped around your leg... its gonna take a little while to untangle....but youre okay...you just stay calm here for a few more minutes...okay . Before long......the other proper authorities and rescue teams arrived on the scene. Slim felt as though he was probably more in the way.... than anything else......... so he just carefully climbed back out of the dark and terrible place..... and emerged back out in the bright sunlight. Then he just went home......... a bit like......... nothing had really happened. Twenty five years had now passed since that terrible day. Nine people lost their lives in that dark and dusty place...... with another three souls perishing elsewhere. Suddenly......still on the lounge....... and still in his pajamas and socks and thongs......... the big galoot........... felt.................. well he didnt really know how he felt..... his eyes were watery but he wasnt crying.... he was just ummmmmmm......... anyway..... it was time to have something to eat.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 01:05:46 +0000