My feet crushed the eucalyptus leaves. The smell of oil and tannins released into the bush. The fading sun was orange, the leaves echoed against the grey blue sky. Australian colours. I was down the pub earlier today. Damo came in talking about some big flying thing. My pint of bitters was on its last dregs. The top layer of coaster underneath peeling away. He was really in a state. Sweating, pupils dilated, foam at the edge of his mouth. We all told him to fuck up, but he kept going on about how the government was launching drones. Rob told me I had to go check it out. Didn’t have anything else on in the afternoon.
Apparently it was by the old radio tower on the hill behind the aldi. On the way up I passed 3 red rooster bags full of rubbish, an old vanilla oak box and some cans of aldi brand rivet beer. I had a long neck in my backpack. It was payment from Rob for the ‘job’. All I needed to do was go to the top of the hill, have a look around and drink a beer.
The red stone path snaked its way up, as the trees grew thin. The climb was harder than I remembered, but I hadn’t been up it since I was a kid. Used to come with my Dad, get a view of the airport nearby and spot some planes. I prefered looking out towards the industrial zone in the distance. There was an ikea there, and I liked to imagine small people going in and out of the yellow blue building.
As I approached the top, the radio tower came into view. It was a small brick building with a tall white metal tower above it. Not city tall, but tall for the area.
I put my foot on the window ledge and climbed onto its flat roof. I lay on my back and stared up at the tower. The white lines intersecting, creating a canvas of the sky above. As a kid, my friends and I would climb onto the roof of a public toilet at the local park. They would spend their pocket money on a cheap 4 litre botle of cola, drink a sip of it and then pour it down the roof. The aim of the game was to get a stream going from the roof into one of the toilet bowls. I never much liked climbing on the toilet. I always struggled to climb up it, and worried about seeming unathletic to my friends. They would ascent it with grace, while I stood down the bottom. Claiming to prefer the view from below. I’m sure they knew I couldn’t get up.
Still in my thoughts and staring above, I pulled out the long neck from my bag. I thought about opening it as I lay, but the angle would have spilled everything over my face. I got up slightly and twisted the cap off. Pssh, the beer sang. It was still a little cool. I took a large sip of beer in my mouth and lay down again staring at the sky. Faint stars came into view as the blue faded away into black.
One of the stars started growing. Larger and larger. Brighter and brighter. I could tell it was coming towards me. It let out a gentle hum that vibrated through my body. I felt it from the tip of my head to the bottom of my right toe. That must be the flying thing that Damo was talking about, I thought to myself. An electric sensation pulsed through me as the spaceship hovered above the tower.
A small hatch opened on the bottom of it. A plain looking ladder came out. Alien fellows came out. They had 8 arms and octopus bodies. Big suckers for a mouth. I stood up and extended an arm. Damo’s mate?
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