Caravellum

“…and they always start with that low echoing noise, you know? That dry little koo-koo. Then, like they’re kickstarting a motor, they hit you with that raw explosion of a koo-kaa! Like they’re saying ‘bet you weren’t expecting this!’ before they go wild into that whooping kaa-kaa-kaa! That’s what’s so special about the kookaburra, right? It’s like they can’t control it. Like they got so much life in them that it just kind of comes out. Here, chuck on the cans and have a listen, you’ll see what I mean. Come on, you got time. Not much else to do here but listen to her sleep. 

It’s a bit of a hunk of junk but this heavy thing’s all that’ll play Joy’s old tapes. She recorded them when we were still down in Augusta. The friendly little fellas would perch up on the railings and holler in the sunrise. She would sit out there all morning, balancing the microphone across her knees as she sipped her cuppa. If you listen real careful, you can hear the sound of her breathing all quiet-like. And that little sigh she lets out when she knows she got a good one. Listen, and you’ll hear it.

She always loved the kookaburras. She was a bit like them too. She’d laugh like she wasn’t gonna stop, and the whole room would fill with her and you’d all be laughing along because what else are you gonna do? God, that brings me back. Those were some good years. That was what it was all for, you know? All that work. We had been saying we wanted to build a house out in the bush since we were in uni. It wasn’t glamorous, that’s for sure. Had cold dinners for a month or two while we laid the kitchen floor, not that we minded. That was why we were out there after all. To properly start living; where we wanted to be, not just where we had to be.

Of course, that was before all this bad business. Before we had to sell it all and come back to the city. She didn’t cry when we signed the papers, that’s just how she was, never weak. Didn’t even wanna tell the kids, said it wasn’t worth fussing them over. As if they ever would have forgiven me for that. Just a couple months, she told me, then we’ll be back home, amongst the birds and the gums.

Now, take a look out those blinds and tell me what you see? All those billboards and big cars. Busy people doing their busy business. But not a damn bird in sight, right? It’s enough to make a man cry, that’s for sure. But I won’t, coz I know that she wouldn’t. Sure, I’ll cry when she’s gone, but as long as she’s still here, I won’t. Nah, crying ain’t gonna change a thing. Not a thing. Now, all we can do is laugh.”