She had now only one sleep to go before driving east. After finally crawling into bed at 10 am and sleeping for a few hours, she decided to spend the remaining time, at home, with her family. That day went so fast it was like Kylie blinked and it was over.
At 6 am on Sunday morning Kylie turned over and switched off the alarm before it rang at 6.15 am. She got up and had a shower and returned to the room to pack some final things into her suitcase. She walked into the kitchen by 6.20 am. Her Mum and Dad had everything waiting for her so that they could spend as much time with each other as possible then say goodbye and let Kylie get on the road.
After breakfast Kylie packed her final bag into her little white car and stood out the front to say her final goodbyes to her family.
Everyone had lined up, like a procession, waiting for their goodbye hug and kiss. Last in the line was her Mum. Kylie and her brothers were close enough to talk about anything and both her brothers offered to continue to be her “Man sounding boards” for all matters relating to the heart from a male perspective, and anything related to general car maintenance.
Her father held both his arms out and gave her a bear hug. “Good bye my Baby. Take this little brown package and open it up when you are in an emergency okay. And take this little bag of gold A Baby, it will help pay for your pedderol and maybe an ice cream and a sandwich and a coke, if you get hungry or thirsty on the drive over,” her dad said knowing she lived by the theory of life being too short so she always liked to eat dessert first. “Now, you drive safely, and remember”, he said softly but then ramped up into over-protective mode with a stern voice, “if you’re going to go over 100 kilometres an hour, and you roll it, you probably won’t survive and they’ll airlift you back here and you’ll end up on my x-ray table and I’ll have to look at you all messed up. So if you are going to speed over 100 kilometres an hour, do it past Richmond, cause anything past Richmond gets flown to Towns-bull hospital.”
“Yes Dad, thank you. Thank you for everything you ever did for me,” she said her eyes spilling over with tears and her cheeks flooding with run off.
There, also in tears, with her hands over her mouth to hide her agony, was the last person for Kylie to hug, her Mum.
“Oh Mum,” Kylie said crying and hugging her for as long as she could.
“Oh, I’m alright, I’m just being silly,” her Mum said. “This is a great opportunity for you sweetheart and I know everything will be okay. I’m really excited for you!”
“Really? These are tears of excitement?” Kylie huffed a laugh.
“No, these are tears from having to let you go, and not to see you so often, but I knew I would have to let go of you one day sweetheart.”
“I know. And I can’t wait for you to visit me, okay. You just tell me when you want to come and visit me and I’ll always have a bed waiting for you, okay!”
“Yes love. Now, dry your eyes, you have a long drive ahead of you.”
“Yep,” Kylie said. Picking up the bottom of the T-shirt she was wearing, she dried her tears and wiped her face. She jumped up and down on the spot trying to shake the emotion she felt then splashed water from her water bottle onto her face to refresh herself. After wiping her face again her T-shirt was now very wet now but she was in a better position to drive after being able to see more clearly. Taking a deep breath, she got into her car and started it, reached over her shoulder to grab the seatbelt and then put both hands on the wheel. Her mum and dad held each other as she reversed her car out of the driveway, and her two brothers stood beside her mum. As Kylie reversed back onto the road, she looked through her passenger side door and saw her mum’s knees buckle. Her father and brothers caught her before she hit the ground. Kylie’s stomach sank and she quickly pulled back into the drive and raced towards her Mum who was now sitting on the lawn.
“I just ca-can’t seem to control my legs,” Kylie’s mum stuttered through her tears. “I’m sorry sweetheart, I didn’t mean to make it even harder for you to drive away.”
Kylie dropped down next to her mum and hugged her and they had a massive cry together. The whole family sat in a circle on the front lawn, cherishing the extra time together.
Kylie’s brother Tom piped up, “So now what do we do? Hold hands and sing Kum Bah Yah?”
Everyone laughed but they all still sat there. If it wasn’t for the automated sprinklers turning on they may have sat there for hours. When the spray hit their circle, they bolted off the lawn and quickly gathered themselves and said goodbye again.
“Crikey, it’s like déjà vu, All over again” Kylie laughed.
“Righto. Is everyone all good so we can let Kylie go?” her Dad asked.
“Yeah, buggar off!” her oldest brother Dale said. “I should be somewhere else, perving on women.”
“Yeah, on your way, it’s a long drive, you don’t want to be driving in the dark,” Tom said a little bit more compassionately.
“I’m fine now. Off you go Love. I’ll see you soon okay?” her mum said hugging her.
“Mmm,” Kylie said not convinced.
“Bye baby,” her dad said.
Holding her mum’s and dad’s hands, Kylie slowly walked back towards her car. With a last quick squeeze, she loosened her grip on her parents’ hands and slowly let go. Kylie got back into her car and started it up. Wetting the hand towel she had on the front passenger seat, she refreshed her face again. She tooted the horn and then slowly drove away, up the street. A glance in the rear vision mirror showed her family had moved onto the street and were waving and standing strong. She stuck her hand out the driver’s side window to wave goodbye just before she turned the corner and headed out towards the highway.
“Don’t cry Kylie. Don’t cry. Turn up the music, sing along, keep your eyes open, and don’t cry!” she said as she navigated the traffic and headed towards Cloncurry. Kylie pressed play on her CD Player and the song “Bye Bye” by Jo Dee Messina came on. It was a song she knew very well and could sing along to. The words seemed very real to her right now.
First Day
Kylie arrived in Townsville just on dusk with her fuel light flashing. She didn’t need any directions on how to get to her accommodation for the next six weeks as Townsville was a place she had visited every year in one of the many school holiday breaks since she was a child. Despite the familiarity, driving down Charters Towers Road seemed different this time. She was older, had no one to fall back on and was now literally, on her own.