I did extension English for my senior years. Year 11 was actually fun- we had 2 classes and my class had Ms. Lidman for a teacher. She was pretty fresh- young, bubbly, keen to talk about shoes instead of the syllabus. Basically she was a great teacher. In year 12, the numbers dropped, and Ms Lidman had the English ext. 2 class (yes, a 4th unit of English, involving a deathly major work) and we were stuck with Mr. Profilio and his beloved Crime Writing.
Anyway, in year 11, English ext. was great. The assignments were actually really fun and the topics were far more interesting than regular English. We did a lot of appropriation, and one of the stories we were set had to be adapted from a poem or song. I chose Evie (all three parts, might I add) by Stevie Wright. Oddly, this was my absolute favourite song when i was in preschool, simply because my best friend was named Evie. (Incidentally, my sister's favourite song was "Cream" by Prince. I'm sure that went down well amongst The Wiggles at "bring your favourite song to preschool day") More recently, I actually listened to the lyrics and learnt what the song was about. I had always assumed that part three was about them breaking up. When I found out what the song was really about, it seemed an obvious choice to turn into a short story.
Any lines that seem just plain odd- are probably references/direct quotes from the lyrics. So I would recommend you read them first.
Anyway, in year 11, English ext. was great. The assignments were actually really fun and the topics were far more interesting than regular English. We did a lot of appropriation, and one of the stories we were set had to be adapted from a poem or song. I chose Evie (all three parts, might I add) by Stevie Wright. Oddly, this was my absolute favourite song when i was in preschool, simply because my best friend was named Evie. (Incidentally, my sister's favourite song was "Cream" by Prince. I'm sure that went down well amongst The Wiggles at "bring your favourite song to preschool day") More recently, I actually listened to the lyrics and learnt what the song was about. I had always assumed that part three was about them breaking up. When I found out what the song was really about, it seemed an obvious choice to turn into a short story.
Any lines that seem just plain odd- are probably references/direct quotes from the lyrics. So I would recommend you read them first.
Evie
She was just 17 when I met her. I couldn't believe my eyes. it was amazing how someone so beautiful and entrancing could be so young and shy. Evie barely ever spoke, and when she did, her words fell out of her mouth and got tangled in her shoelaces. I asked her to a concert. her cheeks grew flushed and she didn't look up from the floor, but she said yes. I felt if I could just take her out, then maybe I'd see the real her, the one she kept locked away from everyone else, too shy to let it out. When I picked Evie up, my car keys jangling in my hand, I couldn't stop the smile that spread across my face.
"Ready? We're gonna hear some sounds!" I asked as she opened the door. Evie flushed bright red, bit her lip and looked down again. I chose to take that as a yes. She'd worn her hair out, tumbling around her shoulders, and once again I was taken aback by her beauty, and how unaware she was. I managed to get an approximate total of 10 words out of her on the drive to the concert hall. It wasn't much, but for Evie, it meant a lot.
"Let your hair hang down," I muttered in her ear as we swung into the parking slot, ad for the first time, she truly looked at me.
When the pain gets too much I take myself back to that memory. I try to block out the rest but it seeps into my brain and replays like the chorus to that Stevie Wright song.
The day Evie told me she was pregnant was the happiest day of my life. I was so in love with her, and the thought of her carrying my child, so much a part of us that I felt complete when I didn't even realise I hadn't before. I couldn't find the words to say the things I felt, and couldn't define what made me feel the way I did.
I was the King of the World the day I took Evie to the hospital. I was longing to meet my baby, to know it it was a boy or a girl. The feeling of pride swelled in my chest and I knew that no one could feel the way I did.
Then it all went wrong.
Without warning doctors were rushing in, barking orders at each other. time passed so slow it felt like it had grounded to a halt. Everything was slipping away from me and i couldn't comprehend what was going on. Before I knew it, I was losing her. Nurses offered me reassuring words, "there's nothing you can do." But how could it have gone wrong? Something that happens every minute; every hour; every day. So many people are lucky, so why did I have to go through this? I didn't know what to do, I could barely think, and all I knew was I was losing her. I wished I believed in a god, so I could find comfort in prayer, sure that someone would help me. I couldn't carry on, and there was no one I could turn to. I would have given anything for that to have been a dream, but this nightmare was not one I would ever wake up from. And the only person who could ever fix me was gone.
I lost them both, and at that time, I knew nothing else.
-m xx
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