A Picture Says 1000 Good Old-Fashioned Words

Hey folks.

Once upon a time, at our school, not too long ago . . . our English class was ‘gifted’ with a relief teacher, who the entire class liked because he didn’t really expect anyone to do any work, instead he just spent the lesson answering every personal question about his age and hygiene products that the giggling girls of the class could throw at him. Gawd, get a grip girls, he’s young alright, not that young . . . disturbing.

Anyways, one of the tasks he gave us, which everyone didn’t really do except me, was to choose a picture and write  up a story about it, I chose

this picture here, because it reminded me of photos that I’ve seen of my grandparents in their childhood, the stories that they’ve told me about their childhood, along with the old flickering home videos of a time that will no longer be. A place that seems just so happy, it’s a pity that it’s been taken away by bogans, smog and untrustworthy twits. The world that you could leave your door unlocked as you popped down the shop, has turned into the world where you have to have the door locked at all times, even when you’re at home. Or is it just some myth, like most myths are, about a happy beginning that turned bad because of our actions… sound familiar?

So, I chose the photo of the family in front of the house and following the instructions, imaginatively we had to come up with Who is in the photo, What is in the photo, What happened before and what happened after the photo was taken. I came up with this.

Who?

• A Family of 5
  • Albert Donnovin
  • Christine Donnovin
  • Maggie Donnovin
  • Matthew Donnovin
  • James Donnovin

What?

• The Donnovin Family is standing outside their new house; it’s a house in the suburban town of Coldwood, a completely different scene to the countryside of Whitewater of which they came from.

What happened before?

• Before the photo was taken Albert Donnovin, (the man) pulled the “For Sale” sign out of the crisp front lawn, he walked over to his car, pushed a silver button centered on the boot of his smooth dark car, after placing the sign in the boot, he closed it, smiling over at the rest of his family. “I’ll be back in 5 minutes, just have to drop this sign back off to the relaters,” he said, grinning at Maggie, then nodding at Christine (the woman).
• Maggie, the little girl on the right, smiled at Albert and exclaimed, “Bye, bye daddy! You be back now!” as the old-fashioned car pulled away from the footpath and drove off with a gritty purr. Maggie turned around and hugged Christine’s leg, holding on tightly like monkey clinging to a branch.

Shortly After, Albert returned to the house, he nearly hit his head on the roof as he exited the car. But he had better things to think about, he smiled whilst gazing across to the new arrivals which were pulling up along the footpath further down the street. Aunty Mary and Uncle “Speed-runner” Robin (the nickname “Speed-runner” was given to him last Christmas camping trip, where while doing his business in the bushes, swore he saw a Tasmanian Tiger running towards him. With his pants half down he bolted back to the campsite, it turned out it was their dog Trixy who had gone for a little walk earlier that night on the hunt for possums,) got out of their convertible and walked over to the Donnovins outside their new house. After catching up with all the info on the new house, and hearing about journey from Whitewater, the Donnovin family all stood in front of the camera as Aunty Mary called out some smile triggering phrases with an especially high-pitched voice to get the attention of the youngest Donnovin, Maggie.

What happened after?

• The moment the flash went off, Maggie started crying because the bright light from the camera startled her. Where as everyone else melted away from their photogenic posture as if they were wax sitting under the hot sun. Aunty Mary soon came over to comfort Maggie, apologising and saying, “Oh it’s alright, it’s only the camera. Are your eyes okay?”

That’s what I came up with in the 50 minute lesson. What do you think? Should I continue the Donnovin story?

It just makes you think of that time, I wasn’t even born then, I’ve just come up with my perception, my version from all the stories and pictures that I’ve been shown. Is what I think the world was, just an empty echo? Something that never was?

*Sigh*

Well, That’s me for another post, catch you later people!

Thanks,

Ben.