London Calling
Part One
Damn was it hot! We were sitting under a tree eating lunch in the middle of a very hot summer’s day. But that’s normal for Brisbane. My friends and I have sat under this tree every lunch time since the start of year eight.
I am Sally Pritchard. I’m 14 years of age and I go to your average crappy private school. I have a good group of friends there and I do all the subjects I want. My family is good. Dad has a high-class job where he travels a lot overseas. Mum is our stay at home Mum. I have a little brother and a big sister who get all the attention at home.
The home bell rang and I said goodbye to my friends and made my way to Mum’s car. Yeah, unlike most of my friends I get picked up by Mum every afternoon. We went to the senior school to pick up my self-obsessed sister who takes forever to get out of school and then we went to the primary school where we picked up my endless, stupid chattering little brother.
We got home and I ran upstairs saying a quick ‘Hi’ to my Dad before escaping my family till dinner. My room was covered in posters of The Ramones, The Clash, The Network, Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Tokio Hotel and many, many more. My floor was covered in clothes and the desk you couldn’t see either. The bed hadn’t been made in weeks and neither had my curtains been opened. I sat down on my bed and looked at the Billie-Joe Armstrong poster on the ceiling. He was my hero. Green Day had saved my life on countless occasions. Man - life was perfect right now! It was damn good. But one thought erupted into my brain. ‘Why the hell was Dad home early?’ Suddenly I was worried of what bombshell Dad would drop on us at dinner time. Last time Dad was home early it was because Mum was pregnant with Brendan, my little brother.
Mum was the last thing that interrupted my thoughts. She called me downstairs to have dinner. Mum and Dad did the usual ‘How was your day?’ stuff then finally Dad dropped the bombshell that would turn my world upside down. He cleared his throat and said,
“So kids, work has been going well lately, really well in fact, and the firm wants me to go overseas. Actually they want me to move to London.”
That’s it, that’s when my fork dropped, my sister choked and also my brother’s jaw decided to drop a million miles to the ground. The split second of silence following Dad’s announcement was broken by an outbreak of questions from my siblings and I. Suddenly I couldn’t take it anymore. I ran out of the room and up to my bedroom. I put my Kerplunk! CD into my stereo and started to blast ‘Christie Road.’ Many thoughts were going through my mind at that time. I was wondering
‘What about school? What about our house and my friends?’,
and all the rest of the things we had to think about. I am so shocked and confused right now.
I am Sally Pritchard. I’m 14 years of age and I go to your average crappy private school. I have a good group of friends there and I do all the subjects I want. My family is good. Dad has a high-class job where he travels a lot overseas. Mum is our stay at home Mum. I have a little brother and a big sister who get all the attention at home.
The home bell rang and I said goodbye to my friends and made my way to Mum’s car. Yeah, unlike most of my friends I get picked up by Mum every afternoon. We went to the senior school to pick up my self-obsessed sister who takes forever to get out of school and then we went to the primary school where we picked up my endless, stupid chattering little brother.
We got home and I ran upstairs saying a quick ‘Hi’ to my Dad before escaping my family till dinner. My room was covered in posters of The Ramones, The Clash, The Network, Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Tokio Hotel and many, many more. My floor was covered in clothes and the desk you couldn’t see either. The bed hadn’t been made in weeks and neither had my curtains been opened. I sat down on my bed and looked at the Billie-Joe Armstrong poster on the ceiling. He was my hero. Green Day had saved my life on countless occasions. Man - life was perfect right now! It was damn good. But one thought erupted into my brain. ‘Why the hell was Dad home early?’ Suddenly I was worried of what bombshell Dad would drop on us at dinner time. Last time Dad was home early it was because Mum was pregnant with Brendan, my little brother.
Mum was the last thing that interrupted my thoughts. She called me downstairs to have dinner. Mum and Dad did the usual ‘How was your day?’ stuff then finally Dad dropped the bombshell that would turn my world upside down. He cleared his throat and said,
“So kids, work has been going well lately, really well in fact, and the firm wants me to go overseas. Actually they want me to move to London.”
That’s it, that’s when my fork dropped, my sister choked and also my brother’s jaw decided to drop a million miles to the ground. The split second of silence following Dad’s announcement was broken by an outbreak of questions from my siblings and I. Suddenly I couldn’t take it anymore. I ran out of the room and up to my bedroom. I put my Kerplunk! CD into my stereo and started to blast ‘Christie Road.’ Many thoughts were going through my mind at that time. I was wondering
‘What about school? What about our house and my friends?’,
and all the rest of the things we had to think about. I am so shocked and confused right now.