Free Another Night in Mullet Town by Steven Herrick Page A

school day of every year.’
    I notice a cat sleeping in a lounge chair
    as I stand in the centre of the room
    wondering whether I should sit down
    or run out the front door
    as fast as I can
    in fear of what may
    or may not happen next.
    â€˜Jonah stands nervously,’ says Ella,
    barely able to hide a smile.
    â€˜Emphasis on the adverb,’ I say.
    Ella walks towards me.
    I wrap my arms around her
    and we kiss.
    The cat jumps down from the chair
    and pads into the kitchen
    as if it’s embarrassed
    to watch the groping of such an amateur.
    I close my eyes
    and kiss Ella again.
    And again.
    And again.
    We decide the more practice,
    the better.

Every little thing
    Ella leads me down a hallway
    of cream carpet
    past the bathroom with white tiles,
    a shower curtain of bright sunflowers
    and a set of scales near the vanity;
    past her parents’ bedroom
    with a jumble of shoes
    scattered across the carpet
    and a pair of blue trackpants
    hanging on an open wardrobe door;
    past the spare room
    with boxes stacked high in one corner
    and an old computer on a desk
    half-covered in a white cloth;
    past the hallway cupboards
    one door slightly open
    an electrical lead trailing from a shelf;
    and past a hallstand with a wedding photo
    and a vase of plastic flowers.
    All the while
    I’m holding onto Ella’s hand,
    trying to control my breathing
    and noticing every little thing
    except the open door
    to her bedroom
    at the end of the hall.

Only one of us
    I couldn’t tell anyone what we did.
    It wouldn’t be right.
    But now I know
    that Ella’s single bed
    is covered in a tartan doona
    and she has lots of pillows to share.
    Although my arm tingled with pins and needles
    as it stretched under her head,
    I couldn’t move for hours
    as I watched Ella sleep,
    a fine wisp of hair
    across her face,
    and a faint vein in her neck
    pumping a silent rhythm.
    I think of the hours
    before she slept
    and what we did,
    from awkward to blushing
    and back again.
    Ella told me
    she always slept with the window open,
    listening to the hum of the ocean.
    We both closed our eyes …
    but only one of us slept.

That frozen moment
    In the early morning,
    Ella still sleeps beside me.
    As my hand rests on the soft skin
    of her stomach,
    I feel the steady rise and fall of her breathing.
    My heart is pounding,
    yet my world has slowed.
    At ten years old
    I was obsessed with my BMX
    and the time it took me
    to bounce down the track
    from the museum to the blackberry bush.
    Manx borrowed some of his dad’s house paint
    and splashed a start line in the dirt,
    and we hunted around in Mum’s wardrobe
    until I found a bright orange ribbon,
    which we strung between two blackberry bushes
    as a finish line.
    For all of summer
    we raced down the embankment
    and cut across the paddock,
    taking it in turns.
    And every afternoon
    we celebrated with hot chips
    and a can of Coke from Batley’s.
    In all of my life
    I never thought there would be anything
    that would come close
    to breasting that ribbon
    and waiting for Manx to call out my time.
    Ella rolls on her side
    and puts her arm around me.
    She’s still asleep.
    I close my eyes
    and go back to riding downhill
    as fast as I dared,
    leaping over the dirt mound
    my fingers tight on the handlebars
    that frozen moment before landing.

For the better
    Too early
    or too late
    we hear the four-wheel drive
    barge onto the driveway.
    Ella’s dad!
    I scramble out of bed,
    hands shaking uncontrollably,
    and put on my t-shirt inside out.
    Ella jumps out of bed
    and wriggles into her dress,
    fumbling with the zipper.
    I fall over as I pull on my jeans,
    while she looks out the window
    and waves a frantic hand
    towards the back door.
    I’m about to run
    when
    I take a deep breath
    and remember where I am.
    I walk towards Ella.
    She smiles
    and, for one moment,
    we both think of last night
    and what it means.
    She kisses me on the lips
    before I race to the kitchen
    past