REMEMBERING SEVEN
Pop.
Pop. Pop. Pop.
My eyes are wide
open. It’s dark. It must be the middle of the
night. Maybe three or four am. Yikes.
I look about the
window and see the street is empty.
And dark. No street lights
in Carrasco in those days. There
used to be one lonely one about two blocks away, where the beautiful, one-and-only Bowling Alley had been; but the street lamp disappeared when they cleared
away all the rubble of the Bowling Alley after someone bombed it.
Pop.
What’s that noise?
Mummy? I’m whispering in my head, I’m scared. But no Mummy comes.
I can’t go back to
sleep. I’m counting blue sheep
jumping over fences. But it’s not
working. They’re not happy. They can also hear the pop, pop, pop. They’re shivering and running
away. Wait! Come back, please,
come back.
Maybe I should go
to the bathroom? Or maybe
not. The snake might be under the
bed. For sure the snake’s under
the bed, because that’s where it lives at night. Sometimes with the crocodile. I’ve seen the crocodile creep up the stairs dragging its
long, long tail eight steps behind it.
Mummyyyy? Help me; I’m frightened of the
popping sounds.
Niggy? I call my little dog in my head,
but Niggy’s a bit deaf and quite old – he’s my age, but Mummy says in dog years,
that’s about 49. Yikes, that’s
really, really old. Although he still fights dogs, bigger dogs, all the time.
I wish I had some
chocolate. Chocolate always makes
me feel better. Chocolate makes me
smile. Chocolate. Two chocolates,
three choc…
“Noony? My Daddy’s
shaking me awake. It’s
morning. The sun is getting ready
to break in through the curtains. “Were you dreaming? You were doing something
quite funny, making a popping sound like this,” and Daddy put his finger in his
mouth and snapped it out against the tight left side of his lips. Pop. “Like that, Noony.”
“Oh.” I’m turning
scarlet, I know it, I can feel the red burning in my face and neck. “Pop?”
Daddy nods.
"Did you also hear me in the night?" I whisper into the blankets I've pulled up to my nose.
"Yes, I think I did. Come on, it's time for school."
I know it's safe to get up now, because the big black shoes have already chased away the snake and the crocodile too.
I hop out, put my finger in my mouth. Snap it out. Pop.
It worked. All day yesterday I'd practiced and it hand't worked.
Pop.
Pop.
I was good at this now.
