The Year My Voice Broke

It was our secret place when we were five and six.

Willy Hill, she used to call it.

You could crouch down, shelter under the overhanging rock if it rained.

We kept a blanket there

and sometimes had feasts of chocolates and lollies.

But she'd still go there, even when she was 16.

It was still her special place.

When night was falling,

it was like... you were on a ship

and the hill sailed on through the night,

with the land and the sky lapping past.

Every tree and rock,

to her, was almost like they were living things.

We'd always been close.

Always been really sweet and gentle with each other.

What are you doing shooting again? I thought I told you no shooting!

If that gun had been loaded, it could've gone off.

We'd have both been killed!

You shouldn't have had it in the first place!

Stop pressing against me! I'm not!

I know what you're doing. I can feel you!

Arrgh!

Agh, that's not fair! Right, no more shooting.

I wasn't gonna shoot anything anyway.

I was just getting some rabbits for the old man's dog!

Promise! Ow! Alright! Promise!

That hurt. Serves you right.

What were you doing, jumping on me like that?

'Cause I felt like it.

God, you're juvenile.

Oh, sorry, you're so mature for your age.

I bags red!

It's slippery!

1-0.

Your gran been fed yet?

It's Gail's turn.

I took it in half an hour ago.

Haven't you got any homework?

Yes, Nils.

Don't be cheeky.

I'm just going down the road.

Gee, that's unusual.

If I see you playing that thing once more, I'll throw it out!

I'll be back in a couple of hours.

I won then. 3-2.

3-3.

Fair go!

Alright, 3-2. You can win. You always have to win, don't you?

What's wrong with Nils? I don't know.

It's 'cause hardly anyone's come in all day.

I don't blame them either.

Who'd wanna come to a dump like this?

It's the highway, isn't it, Mrs Olson?

Everyone takes the shortcut.

They weren't thinking about us when they built it, that's for sure.

We're gonna go broke, aren't we?

- We'll all starve like the Africans. - You shouldn't say that!

Has Gran had dinner? I told you!

I took it in half an hour ago.

Did you help her eat it? No, I had to do the washing up!

You've gotta help her with it now. She'll get it all over herself!

I put a towel around her neck! You two, shut up!

One of you see if your gran's alright.

OK. See you later.

11:30? Yeah.

Come on, you haven't had much of your dinner yet.

You like egg custard, don't you? It's your favourite.

Did I tell you what we were doing at school today?

We were learning about Europe, so I spoke about Norway.

You remember when you told me about Norway?

Hey, Martin!

Any chance of getting 'The Forbidden Planet' again?

You've seen it three times.

Yeah, it's got a lot to it.

Last time you were the only one in the audience!

I don't run this place just for your benefit, you know.

Any other space stuff coming up?

Not on the list.

Any, uh... Brigitte Bardot?

Not that you'd be allowed into.

This your gun, is it, Bandy?

What's he been shooting?

Is it loaded?

Give us it, Pierdon. Make me.

I'll shoot you.

Yeah, bandicoots are vermin, aren't they?

Pierdon...

He'll start bawling in a minute.

Aw. You gonna bawl are you, Bandy?

Aw, Bandy.

Come on.

Wanna be careful, but, wandering around at night, Danny.

Someone could mistake you for a bandicoot.

Please, God,

let something terrible happen to Pierdon and Malseed.

I don't know what.

Maybe a disease, like leprosy.

Maybe they could be taken away

by flying saucers

for experimentation.

The Lord Palmerston was the best hotel in town.

Sell, it was the only hotel in town.

My parents ran it and we lived upstairs.

The cockatoo lived out the back near the gents toilets,

which gave him a pretty... interesting repertoire.

You hung-over too, are you?

Blurgggh!

Hello, Danny. G'day, Keith.

Hello, Danny.

No, what we need's another Rising Fast.

No - Major Tulloch. - Mr Consistency.

Hey, er, my brother-in-law's got a promising horse at the moment.

Made it's first start a couple of months ago

and then it got sink-shore... er... er, shin-sore.

But it was showing us a lot at the track.

He gives you the inside information, does he, Nils?

Oh, yeah.

L-let us know when it's gonna win - that's for sure.

He's had a couple of other horses, hasn't he,

this brother-in-law of yours.

Oh, yeah, yeah, he's a, you know... he's got a real eye for the...

They broke down too, didn't they?

Yeah, wasn't there one running at Randwick?

We all backed it and it got scratched?

Er, yeah. Er...

A bit of a problem with the float.

Jesus, mate, he can pick 'em, your brother-in-law.

If they don't get shin-sore, they'll brain themselves in the horse float.

I first heard about mental telepathy

from this bloke Jonah who worked on the railways.

And the best thing about it was Freya being interested too,

'cause whatever she was interested in, I was.

Look at that! What?

Well, I've drawn a star, and the sun's pretty close to a star.

Actually, it is a star.

I s'pose.

I can't tell what I'm picking up telepathically

and what's just my own mind.

Or your mind.

What else were you getting?

I don't know. Stuff.

What?

Nothing clear.

Why? Thinking dirty thoughts, were you?

I was concentrating on the diagram. Sure.

Funny thing about Jonah...

... he won the pub raffle every year.

So he had this endless supply of whisky, which Freya loved,

and I was trying to like it at least a little bit myself.

Finished.

Completely?

Chapter 12.

Time to celebrate.

You've been on chapter 12 since last year.

A lot of distractions.

Trains, mainly.

Never get a job with clocks.

You can hear your life ticking away.

You ever been in there?

The ghost house? No way.

Are you chicken? Would you go in there at night?

How much for?

10 quid.

Pathetic. You wouldn't pay up anyway.

I take Gidget for a walk down there sometimes.

She won't go near the place.

Dogs can tell when people die, can't they?

Yeah,

so they reckon.

Corinna, Corinna

Da, da, da, da

Corinna, Corinna

Da-da, da-da, da-da, da

Corinna, Corinna

Da-da, da-da, da...

I've, er, got a book on hypnotism now.

Oh, yeah?

Need someone to try it out on.

You want me to be your victim?

Yeah.

See you later.

Where have you been?

Out.

Please, God.

I'm sorry for this.

I promise I'll give it up by my next birthday

if you help her not to telepathically pick up that I'm out here.

Please, God,

help her not to draw the curtains.

I meant the blinds as well.

I was so stuck on Frey.

I couldn't think of anything else.

I used to try sending her thought messages

about what a fascinating and desirable person I was.

I'd send them so hard that I'd have to stop

in case I short-circuited my brain and became a moron.

Every year we used to earn pocket money

helping with the hay baling at some of the nearby properties.

That's when Freya got to know Trevor Leishman for the first time.

He was a full-back in the school football team.