* denotes that there is a footnote of explanation at the bottom of the page
Before I begin Part VIII I would like to set everyone’s mind
at ease and tell you that Lucy and Puss saw their imaginary friend the security
blanket last night. David the Fish had borrowed the fire truck for one of his
fishy jaunts* and when he returned it, the security blanket was at the fire station.
He told them that since he had alighted from his hot air balloon from his
adventures abroad, (you didn't know he had been hot air ballooning as well as
star gazing did you?), he had found himself snowed under at work and needed to
focus on his training without distractions. If the three of them (Lucy, David
& Puss) would be patient he will be back when he has more time. Lucy is
quite used to waiting for her security blanket, after all, it takes time for a
wash and dry, as Mrs Tiggywinkle will tell you.
continuing from Part VII...
Come Christmas time it was decided that it would be best if all the patients should go home. But where was Lucy to go? She had no home. Was it possible that they would send her back into the arms of the evil witch and her father?
PART VIII Condescension
That is exactly what they tried to do. But how could poor
Lucy bare to stay in the same house as the witch who was so condescending*.
Well obviously, she couldn't, so instead she went and stayed secretly at her
father, the worm's place. The worm's place was underground (obviously worms live
underground) The address was 79½ George St, The Rocks. Which is quite odd now
I consider it in relationship to platform 9¾ and 7½ that are used by young witches and warlocks
in Harry Potter. Maybe fractions are used because they are only partly real. Or
maybe not as 79½ George Street really exists, you can go and see it for
yourself, if you are brave enough, though whenever Lucy goes back to see the old
place her companions can rarely be persuaded to go down to the cellar with her.
It is vacant now, though for a period of time after the worm was evicted it was
occupied by a magical puppet maker.
I could describe it for you in detail but I don’t want to delay
the story at this point in time, maybe later.
Lucy kept a suitcase of clothes there and was quite happy
roaming the back alleys and side streets of the Rocks, Sydney. She liked the
idea that she was the only street kid on the block, in a place that had once
been full of them. She was the last, a rare breed. The streets appeared
differently back then, not so posh and dandified as they are today, and back
then they were more swept up than they had been when the Worm had first taken
over his premises.
During the time they lived there they had seen many changes:
an old pub had been boarded up and left dusty then transformed into the police
station. A merry-go-round was installed then removed to the newly created fun
pier at wharf number 1, to leave space for the building, “the Clock Tower”. Under
the sandy lane behind the worm’s place they discovered a street paved with old cobble
stones and a new pub was created “The Orient Hotel”. Whenever they went there for
lunch upstairs, the Chinese owner, named Sam, loved to tousle* Lucy's red hair, her father told her it
was because red hair was different, in China all their hair is black. Some of
the buildings have stayed the same, the Mercantile Hotel, which Lucy would
still call home when she grew up and went to visit; the Fortune of War Hotel; The Garrison Church at Millers point, and of course the Harbour Bridge, that was
their gateway between where the witch lived and their hide out at the Rocks.
A fine new Hotel was constructed, called the Regent on
George. At night, Lucy would wander in and swing like a monkey on the scaffold.
I’m not quite sure how she got away with that, perhaps the concierge was so amazed at her acrobatic skills he
thought it would amuse the patrons. And then she would wander out again. She
used to borrow their pool and their shower, not to mention their lovely soft bath
towels. I remember once she was sun baking on a lounge by the pool when a wolf whistle
rang out from a car on the Bradfield Highway that comes off the bridge. She heard
another guest say, “She didn't blink an eye-lid.” Lucy was so cool.
Well anyway, her father the worm told her she wasn't allowed
to sleep there, so instead she used to take naps. Until…
One day when Lucy was wandering around the now vacant
offices up the 3 flights of stairs, she miraculously found a set of keys that
gave her access to all of the whole building, master key and all, all the way up
to the attic. Now she could live in style, her very own 3 story apartment, it
even came with its own cellar and attic, right in the heart of Sydney. On
New Year’s Eve she watched the fireworks and sat on her stoop (the name for the
front step). When the mounted policemen who were clearing the streets asked
her, they said she could stay as residents were allowed.
Such a fun, free life. She worked for the worm in the business he
had there. He was a printer of bills of quantity, huge volumes of print that
would go out to construction companies for them to fill in as quotes for the
construction of buildings. It is shameful to say that the most common client
was MacDonald’s, their restaurants were being built all over the place.
Unfortunately this style of printing was going out of fashion and the worm
found it hard to make ends meet (this is a double entendre*). Eventually he had
to vacate the premises too, everyone had been evicted to make way for progress.
Only Lucy was left with her set of keys, till one day they must have wised up
and changed the locks. Lucy still has that magic key, and the original door
handle, as she found it fallen on the back stoop of the cellar one day when they were doing their
renovations. Yep, she still has the key and the handle into that magical place.
Sometimes she goes there in her dreams, it really hasn't changed that much,
only it is dustier and older and less well kept. For some reason the building
stays empty. Hmmmmm I wonder if that’s because Lucy haunts it? Well it is still
one of her haunts (Hehe)
 |
| George Street The Rocks. I have put an X to mark the spot and an arrow pointing to Lucy's Attic |
Double entendre:
A phrase, saying or sentence that can be interpreted in two different ways. One of which is usually dirty. ie A worm is a hermaphrodite so technically they can go fuck themselves.
Condescending:
having or showing an attitude of patronizing superiority.
Authors note: I am not practicing condescension by posting this meaning, merely wishing to help my younger readers or anyone who needs to improve thier/their attitude (see I make mistakes with spelling too)
I found this link that may help if you find
yourself to be a condensing person
*Tousle – to ruffle her hair
*jaunt - a short excursion or journey made for pleasure
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