The girl with nine toes, Ray Wilkins [black female authors .TXT] 📗

have a drink and
cheers to that girl waiting for you on the banks of the
Murrumbidgee, and a new future for the country!„ We
clicked our glasses together, hugged each other like two
bears who had just caught and eaten a giant salmon,
proud, defiant and boys!
We walked towards my car where the driver was
leaning on the hood smoking a cigarette.The air was still
and the only sound was the chirping of the crickets and
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our footsteps on the gravel, opening the passenger door I
turned to him and said “I love you my friend!„
He said “Now don't go all gushy on me John!„ I laughed
and thought back to what he must have said a thousand
times in the past about himself “Whenever I get emotional I
make jokes.„


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Trust yourself and your world
will change


51

Chapter 12


The moment my head touched the pillow I fell
asleep and the first thing I saw was Wootara's small wiry
body crouched under the shade of a Coolibah tree.
“Turawwa there you are, we have been waiting for
you!„ Sitting beside him was a small scraggy bush dog
that looked suspiciously like a cross between a Dingo and
a Fox Terrier.
“This is Bongo he will help us today!„ With that he
jumped up, motioned for me to take the lead and off we
went into the burning country. Everything was yellow,
orange or white, broken only by the brown/black colour
caused by the shadows of a rock or a tree. The land was
flat and hot, full of dust, sand, and the occasional
Kangaroo. I soon realised that I could walk and at the
same time close my eyes and listen to my new inner voices.
You are the leader but also the healer - believing in yourself
will give you the strength to know which direction to take, your
intuition is your inner teacher.Your challenge is to bring this boy
and his friend back to his family who dwell behind the great Red
Rock - - follow the path of your heart. All of a sudden I turned
to the west and started running, looking back to make
sure Wootara and Bongo were following me.Then all I
did was to follow my intuition , turning when I knew that
it was right, slowing down or running faster or sometimes
even stopping to let the other two catch up with me.
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Every now and then I stroked Bongo’s dried up ears and
asked him if I was on the right track. If he licked my hand
I knew I was right, and I wondered if he would bite my
hand if I was wrong .
We seemed to be running for hours, when, all of a
sudden high on the horizon ,I could see a huge red rock
sitting all alone. Then I knew I was bringing my two
friends back to the right place – their home. Behind the
rock was a small camp with a few scattered bark and
wattle lean-tos, a fire, and a man sitting next to the fire
who stood up and waved his arms - it was the Feathered
Man. “Turawwa you have jumped the second stone!„ He
shouted.
As I ran up to the fire Wootara pulled on my
shirt-tail so that I had to turn around.Taking my hands
into his small boney hands, and looking deep into my
eyes he said
“Thank you for bringing me home„
“But you said you were my guide, but you and Bongo
followed me the whole time„
“We simply guided you to lead with your intuition
and you found the right path using trust.„ he answered in
his gruff, impatient voice. “Now I give you over to my
Father.„
I took a step towards the fire where Mr Feathers
clapped his hands once and I opened my eyes hearing
somewhere in the distance a dog barking.


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Have the courage to be different


54

Chapter 13


I lay still and somewhat tired on the bed, once again
remembering every second of the living dream. And
knowing deep within myself that what I was learning was
more than just learning. This was knowing. Knowing
myself, and every step I took was a step nearer to my
spirit, the part of me that I had forgotten and the part
that I remember Mary mentioning many years ago when
she said “The part of you that I love the most is your spirit and
one day you will get to know this part of you then you will know
that you are going home.„
Too many times, especially in the relationship to
Mary, I had never really said what I felt, honesty was a
rarity only to be enjoyed when I was sure that I would
not hurt anybody and also not be hurt myself. I
remember reading somewhere about the idea of Hard love,
this means saying what you think or feel even if it's going
to hurt someone. All of a sudden I had the urge to drive
down to the river, I needed to talk with that girl.


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Love is a state of reality, not a
goal


56

Chapter 14


Baldwa was waiting for me. Taking my hand he led
me down the path to the river. Looking at me with those
piercing black eyes he said “Enjoy the change!„ And, as
usual , disappeared.
“Ah Turawwa come and sit down, you have been
learning a lot, as I have heard from the dreamtime people.
Come - sit and listen - I want to talk about your next
jumping stone. This is the Stone of Love, but not as you
know love. Real love that survives is based on the belief
that the only true realationship is the realationship to
yourself. To be able to really love another person is only
possible when you first love yourself. Many people feel
weak or not whole in there lives and are always on the
hunt for someone to make them strong, to make them
whole again, and consequently always seek out those
partners who fullfill this pattern. This is not love, this is
slavery, this is dependance. When two people meet who
already feel whole and strong within themselves, and
know that they are their own leaders and decision makers
,and if these two people rise in love with each other, their
realationship is then based on freedom and independence.
This is true love. If you look at the forest you will see
many different trees living together Gum trees,
Jacarandahs, Wattle, Ironbark, Banksias and the Tea-tree.
All these trees are different and every root system is
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independant from the other roots. Every tree stands
alone, only the branches and leaves touch each other,
dancing together in the wind and enjoying the freedom of
self responsibility. So go and jump to your next stone
Turawwa and change to enjoy!„
I wanted to ask her a hundred questions but she
looked at me and with a small impatient wave of her hand
she signalled me to be on my way. I turned around and
there stood Baldwa waiting to lead me once again onto
that now familiar path up the ravine to the track going
back to where I parked the car. I drove home slowly,
taking care to stay on the main roads avoiding any
contact with people. I felt like a kid smoking his first
cigarette behind the back fence , hidden from the
windows of the homestead so my parents couldn't see
me. I know that being out alone without my bodyguards
was dangerous but at the same time I was enjoying myself
for a change. As I climbed out of the car I looked at my
watch - it was still early so I had time to sit down to
breakfast with the girls.
“Dad have you been out without the boys?„ said
Sarah with a twinkle in her eye and a smile on her face.
“Mind your own business kid!„ I returned
roughing up her pitch black hair that was shining in the
morning sun. Caroline came out of the kitchen onto the
terrace wearing jeans and a t-shirt that used to belong to
her Mother I couldn't help thinking how much she
looked like Mary, the same eyes, the same hair, the same
body build, I felt that tight feeling around my heart that I
have whenever I think about her.
“Hi Dad! Rick and Joe are really pissed off that you
went out on your own- they want you to phone them
when you get in.„
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“Yeah I'll speak to them later, but now, to get back
to you two darlings, you have to put up with me for the
whole day so what do you want to do to stop the day
being boring, go for a swim? play tennis? Go for a drive
to Mt Stromlo and see the observatory? Of course
together with my two brawny friends, or just stay here
and - how do you say it Caroline ….. uhm chill out?„
“How about we just spend a day in the past talking
about you and Mum; and what happened between you
two, and all that stuff. Lets just hang out together and
exchange war stories like you and Brian say you always
do.„
Sarah nodded her head and said.
“This is the first time in a long time that we've been
together as a family - I don't know if I can handle it.„