be bothered with this patch of carpark on this night. Maybe we should have chosen a specific god, because whichever random one got our email, completely ignored it. The soldier was on his own and obviously bored. He stopped under a light and fished out a pouch, before rolling a smoke. Just leaned against the post and blew rings into the air. Pretty cool actually. But it wasn’t tobacco. “Is he smoking d … ?” started D, before I clapped a hand over his mouth. “He’s got a gun, remember?” I mouthed in his ear. The soldier took his time. Savouring the joint. Obviously not in any hurry to get to wherever was next on his rounds. I almost felt sorry for him. I bet he wished he was back home in his country with his mates and his family, instead of … and then I stopped feeling sorry for him. No-one made him come. No-one made them come. Stuff them! They all should have stayed home. He finally finished, then he took a leak. Under the light! Maybe he was just making sure his spliff was out. Bushfire season. Then he started walking our way. I went rigid. No breath. Couldn’t move my arms. My legs. Scared stiff. That’s a real thing it turns out. D tried to drag me back further into the shadows, but I couldn’t move. I just couldn’t move. D’s pulling on my shirt and my feet are scraping against the gravel and of course he heard us. He might have been stoned but I reckon the adrenaline kicked in for him and his gun was up real quick. “Who’s there?” he shouts. From the waver in his voice, I could tell he was close to being as scared as we were. “Who’s there?!” And I said, “Nobody”. I actually said it. Aloud. Not in my head. I said, “Nobody”. All hell broke loose. All at once. In less than a second. That’s how long it takes the world to turn itself upside down and for everything you’ve ever dreamt of to disappear. 97
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