Feeling Sorry for Celia (6 page)

I just called Celia’s mum myself and she said everyone’s taking this way too seriously and she was only interested in yoga because of a slight twinge in her left knee.

There’s leftover frozen pizza if you’re still hungry. I’m going to bed now.

See you tomorrow.

Elizabeth

ELIZABETH!!!

THERE’S PORRIDGE ON THE STOVE FOR YOU. THERE ARE SIX MILLION WHITE SOCKS IN THE LAUNDRY BASKET IF YOU NEED THEM.

HAVE A NICE DAY.

I’M GOING TO TRY AND TALK CELIA’S MUM INTO CALLING THE POLICE TODAY.

YOUR MUM

Letter from a Complete Stranger

Dear Elizabeth,

I am not Christina. I’m Derek, her boyfriend. She says you know all about me and she says you know about my whistling talent. If you know any agents who are interested in whistling, give us a call.

She asked me to write to you and say that she’s got the flu but she hasn’t forgotten you and she’ll write soon.

Also she asked me to ask if your friend Celia showed up or not. Has she?

Plus she asked me to send you an M&M but I haven’t got any. Sorry. So I’m sending you this blade of grass instead.

BLADE OF GRASS: --

Yours faithfully,

Derek Carmichael

Mum,

I just ran around to Celia’s. Her mum is acting very strange, but she still says she won’t call the police. She is spending most of her time banging on Ben’s drums in the garden. She says it’s releasing the energy that is causing the twinge in her knee.

I’m worried about Celia.

Elizabeth

ELIZABETH,

I AM THINKING ABOUT CALLING THE POLICE MYSELF. EITHER THAT OR FAMILY SERVICES. WHAT’S WRONG WITH THAT WOMAN?

LOVE,

YOUR MUM

PS YOUR FATHER PHONED ME AT WORK YESTERDAY AND SAID
HE’S STAYING IN SYDNEY FOR THE NEXT YEAR
YOU NEVER TOLD ME THAT.

Dear Christina,

I know you won’t get this right away, if you’re not back at school, but maybe Derek will see it and take it to you? I’m really sorry you have the flu. I hope I didn’t give it to you, through my letter-writing somehow.

I know we haven’t even met each other but I kind of miss you. I don’t know what to do. I feel like I’m the only one who cares about Celia, but I don’t know what I should do about it. Where is she? What if she’s sick or lost or dead or something? What if somebody’s taken her?

I really don’t know what I’d do without her. I don’t feel like doing anything right now.

I’m sorry to go on like this. I don’t know who else to talk to.

Hope you feel better.

Love

Elizabeth

‘Byron Bay at dusk – a tropical dream!’ Photograph by Daniel L. Lewisham. Postcard produced by Geelong Graphics.

Lizzy!!!!!

Hi! Wish you were here! I’ve joined a circus !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m just sewing up the holes in the tent at the moment, but they say they’ll teach me how to be an acrobat soon. You have to come and see the show some time !!!!!!!!

Miss ya heaps.

Love,

Celia

PS If you see my mother, can you tell her where I am?

Mum,

LOOK AT THE POSTCARD ON THE FRIDGE DOOR UNDERNEATH THE PIG MAGNET.

She’s joined the circus.

I phoned Celia’s mum as soon as I got it.

She said: ‘Well, of course! The
circus
! What were we thinking?’

Like Celia had been down at the corner store the whole time and no-one had thought of looking there.

I’m taking Lochie to the park for a run.

See ya

Love,

Elizabeth

ELIZABETH!!!

OF COURSE
, THE CIRCUS!I

GUESS IT JUST SUPPED OUR MINDS. CRAZY, HUH?

I’M GLAD CELIA’S OKAY, LIZ. BUT RUNNING AWAY TO JOIN THECIRCUS? DOES SHE THINK SHE’S IN AN ENID BLYTON BOOK? MAYBE I SHOULD PHONE FAMILY SERVICES ANYWAY.

YOUR DAD PHONED ME
AGAIN
. HE SAYS HE’S GOT A PLACE IN DOUBLE BAY FOR THE NEXT YEAR, BUT HE’S NOT BRINGINGVERONICA OR HER SON. WHY ISN’T HE BRINGING THEM?

DOESN’T VERONICA WORK FOR THE SAME AIRLINE?

ANYWAY, CONGRATULATIONS ON FINDING YOUR FRIEND.

LOTS OF LOVE

YOUR MUM.

Dear Christina,

Guess what? I got a postcard from Celia. She’s ALIVE.

Sony. I hope you’re alive too. Thank you very very much for getting Derek to write to me. That was such a nice thing to do, especially when you were sick. I hope you’re better now, I mean I hope you haven’t dropped dead from the flu. It was the worst flu that I ever had. I hope it wasn’t the worst flu you ever had.

I don’t mean that I hope you’re always getting really bad flus, I just mean I hope you didn’t get it so bad.

Can you tell Derek thanks too? And I’m sending a twig for him from our apple tree. I took about three hours to choose the best one so I hope he appreciates it. And I’m sending a Smartie plus an M&M for you. You have to get someone to blindfold you and then you have to taste them and choose
which one is best. Tell me which one you choose in your next letter. Then I’ll tell you if you gave the correct answer.

Anyway, I got the postcard from Celia and I just burst into tears as soon as I saw it. I thought I was going to go crazy. It’s been like Celia was just dead in an alley somewhere and no-one gave a flying banana, except you. Sorry about saying ‘flying banana’ just then. It was an accident. My mother says it, and it’s a really stupid thing to say.

Except for the ‘flying’ part of it. There’s nothing wrong with that. FLYING. It’s a really nice word. I always wanted to be able to fly. I know everyone wants that, but I think I wanted it
especially
. I mean, like, more than other people. (My mum says she wants to win the lottery more than most other people too, so she’s shocked whenever it doesn’t happen, even when she hasn’t bought a lottery ticket.)

I don’t mean flying aeroplanes or helicopters or kites or whatever. I mean actually flying, you know just taking a step up into the sky.

Did you ever read this book about Ah-Mee and Tubby the Elephant? They make paper lanterns together. Then one day, Tubby the Elephant decides he wants to make a birthday present for Ah-Mee. So he gets a HUGE pile of paper, and an ENORMOUS pot of glue. And some kind of sticks I guess. I don’t remember. Anyway, he builds the sticks into a frame, then he covers it with paper, and he glues it all up. And he has to get some GINORMOUS pile of wax I guess, however you make candles, you know? And he builds an enormous, beautiful candle. Then he puts it inside the giant paper lantern.

Then Ah-Mee turns up and Tubby says, ‘Happy Birthday!’ and lights the candle. But it’s such a big lantern that it starts
to float upward, so Tubby holds onto it, and so does Ah-Mee and
they go flying into the sky
. Then they just fly around for a while. It’s cool.

Ever since I read that book I’ve wanted a giant paper lantern for my birthday.

Christina, I just want you to know that it’s my birthday on March the 17th, which is St Patrick’s day, so it’s easy to remember. Just watch out for people wearing green. It’s ages away so there’s plenty of time for you to start collecting paper and candle wax if for any reason you wanted to collect paper and candle wax.

I keep forgetting what I was talking about.

Oh yeah, Celia.

The postcard was from Byron Bay and YOU’RE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE WHERE SHE’S BEEN ALL THIS TIME.

You want to try and guess? I’ll give you some space to try and guess.

You can write your guesses down in that space if you want.

Maybe I should wait till the next letter and then tell you? Maybe I could make it like some TV series and show scenes from next week’s letter?

No. That’s stupid. I hate those shows.

I’ll just tell you where she’s been.

SHE JOINED THE CIRCUS.

Maybe I should give you some space to get over that information.

I hope you’re over it now.

She said that they’ve got her sewing up the holes in the tents at the moment, but they’re gonna teach her how to be an acrobat soon. I can’t believe that while I’m doing English essays, she’s sewing up holes in a circus tent.

Actually, I really can’t believe it. She failed sewing classes last year because she couldn’t even sew a button onto a piece of black cloth.

(I couldn’t do it either but I wrote a letter saying I didn’t believe that girls should have to do any sewing at all in their whole life, considering the history of discrimination against women.) (I tried doing the same thing in English the other day – our new teacher found out that we were supposed to write an essay on
To Kill a Mockingbird.
He said he didn’t see the connection between the history of discrimination
against women and writing an essay on
To Kill a Mockingbird.)

So anyway, I hope it’s not very important if the holes in the circus tent don’t get sewn up properly. I mean, I hope it doesn’t mean the lions will escape or anything.

I
can
believe that Celia’s going to learn to be an acrobat. When we were little one of her favourite games was climbing up the mulberry tree in our backyard, then running as fast as she could along the fence, jumping onto the next-door neighbour’s shed and sliding halfway across the roof. I did it in bare feet one summer day and got my feet full of splinters from the wooden fence, and huge burn blisters from the tin roof. Celia got so good at it that one time she slid right across the roof and fell off the other edge. She got a broken arm from that.

Another thing she liked to do was to stand up on the swings in her backyard, and get me to stand up on the same swing, but opposite her, so we were facing each other with our feet in a row. Then we had to swing as hard as we could, to try and get it to swing right over the top and around. Luckily, we never made it. We were trying to do that one time while Celia’s arm was still broken from falling off the tin roof. So she couldn’t really hold on properly, so she fell off and broke her other arm.

Well, I guess I should go. My dad’s living in Sydney now, he’s got a place in Double Bay so he’ll probably call soon and want to do fun father/daughter things with me.
Fabulous
.

Love,

Elizabeth

Memo From the Desk of Albert Clarry

Hey there Elizabeth!

Imagine my being able to send memos to you from my office right here in Sydney!

This is my first day and it’s exciting to be living in my home town, if only for a short time. To celebrate, perhaps I could take you to dinner this Thursday? Is a school night okay with you again? What about somewhere really snazzy? Would that be cool for you?

I’ll phone as it gets closer.

Take care,

Dad

ELIZABETH!!!

I AM TAKING CELIA’S MOTHER TO MY AROMATHERAPY MAN TONIGHT.

I SPOKE TO HER ON THE PHONE TODAY AND I THINK SHE IS SUFFERING FROM POST-STRESS SYNDROME. SHE SOUNDED COMPLETELY OUT OF HER MIND.

SHE SAID THAT CELIA’S BROTHER HAS MOVED HIS DRUMS INTO THE KITCHEN AND PLAYS THEM MOST NIGHTS AT THREE AM. AS AN INTIMATE, PERSONAL PROTEST AGAINST THE INCREASED USE OF TRUCKING HIGHWAYS BY MOTORCYCLE GANGS. I DON’T THINK THIS HELPS (EITHER THE TRUCKS OR CELIA’S MUM).

I ALSO SPOKE TO YOUR FATHER ON THE PHONE TODAY. I WAS THINKING OF WATCHING A VIDEO WITH YOU THIS THURSDAY
NIGHT BUT YOUR FATHER WANTS TO TAKE YOU OUT TO DINNER. SO TOO BAD, I GUESS.

THERE’S A FROZEN PIZZA IN THE FREEZER FOR YOUR DINNER WHILE YOU’RE DE-FROSTING IT WHY DON’T YOU THINK ABOUT PURPLE LIPSTICK? WRITE DOWN ANYTHING
GOOD
THAT YOU CAN THINK OF TO DO WITH PURPLE LIPSTICK

LOVE FROM YOUR MUM.

Mum,

There isn’t one single good thing that can be said about purple lipstick.

Love,

Elizabeth

PS I would much prefer to be watching a video with you this Thursday. But don’t you have your poetry club on Thursday nights?