Darren Smith Writing Folio KWB 101

Writing Folio Task 2 - A very short story.

Alright? So this is a bit of a story I fuggin whip out every now and then. One of
those yarns that sound pretty good after a few billies, or a coupla green cans, or
whatever. Bear in mind this is 100% dinky-di, true blue.

Me and my mate, Ben, had just moved out to this shack out on the Vic Highway
out towards Manbuloo. Ever heard of Manbuloo mangoes? Yeah, near there – about
half an hour out of a stinkhole called Katherine. Which, if you still have no idea, is in
the middle of fuckin nowhere.

To cut a long story short, on the first day at the shack, we had only so far brought
with us the bare essentials – the Playstation, some munchies, and a shitload of weed.
The shack was fully furnished. Without much ado we settled in front of the telly and
got straight to business – drilling cones of SA indoor, and an epic, seemingly never-
ending, tournament of FIFA World Cup 1998: France Vs Italy, Djorkaeff on Vieri.

So it was a pretty ordinary night, good weather, nothing really to suggest that
anything out of the ordinary was about to happen…

I can’t remember what made us turn the Playstation off and watch TV. More likely
than not, I probably cracked the shits because I was losing too much. One thing I
really need to work on – I can’t handle losing; and I always lose at games, which
makes it pretty pointless playing with me cos I inevitably end up having a sook.

Anyway, so yeah – turned on the telly in time to see Yamba go to bed for the night,
immediately flicked it to ABC and sat there making fun of the talking heads on
lateline or some shit when we noticed something that isn’t usually there. Scrolling
along the bottom of the screen:

1
Darren Smith Writing Folio KWB 101

WARNING: FLASH FLOODING WARNING FOR RESIDENTS OF KATHERINE. ALL

RESIDENTS URGED TO SEEK HIGHER GROUND

We looked at each other.

I said, “Flash Flood warning for Katherine, ay?”

Ben said, “Yep…Full on.”

“So what should we do?”

“Well we aren’t really in Katherine are we?”

I said, “Well it’s miles away really isn’t it.”

Ben said, “ I reckon we’ll be right.”

“Another Billy?”

“Game on.”

In retrospect it was probably a stupid idea – but you very rarely get a good story
from acting responsibly do you?

I remember waking up the next morning, rolling a ciggie, going outside and the
river was in our backyard. Fark. When Ben saw the river was only 15 metres away he
came to the same conclusion. Fark. So with a typical demonstration of teenage
stupidity and outright denial we went back to doing what we did best. Playstation.

It didn’t take long for the river to reach our cottage, and before we knew it the river
was up to our ankles and rising fast.

I said, “So, water and electricity hey… this might be a tad unsafe.”

Ben said, “Yeah we should probably stop playing playstation.”

2
Darren Smith Writing Folio KWB 101

“Billy?”

“Yep.”

So as we mulled up on my bed, which was now floating, and drilled our last cones,
The Katherine River slowly engulfed our cottage. That was the first and last night of
our Lease. The rest of the story is an epic battle for survival against the odds, in life
threatening situations, that will leave you jaw agape and panting for more… but that
will have to be next time.

Cheers big ears.