I think I was around 7 or 8 and my family and I were travelling from Mount Gambier to Loxton to visit my Grandmother. My Dad was driving, my Mum probably reading and my brother and I had fallen asleep in the back of the car. I used to extend my seatbelt out to lean my head on the part of the door where the window begins, making sure I had locked it just in case it wanted to fling open while we were travelling top speed. In my deep sleep I heard a commotion, my Dad reacting startled and the car jolting in an unexpected way. I opened my eyes and lifted my head to look out of the window, directly into the gaze of an emu. We stared at eachother as it ran alongside keeping pace with the car. We were face to face and only separated by a pane of glass and as my childhood self I remember the emu being so large and unexpectedly frightening. It was probably only a few seconds but has continued into a lifelong wariness (and fascination) of these large birds.
Sera Waters
No comments:
Post a Comment