Their Voices Rattled on my Window Sill - Part 6

Mike and Mary: The Tower.

“Yeah, we got along well. Really well. We connected on so many things. But then she kinda fell out of love with me,” Mike answered. “Actually, I don’t even think she felt the same way I did.”

“You and her got along really well. Like, really well.”

“I guess so. I mean, yes, we did. But what good that do us? Or me? Call me selfish, but I felt I got the shit end of that stick.”

“I remember. I think so too. But you can’t always win you know? I was sad for you. You were so excited about her. “

“Yeah….enough about me though. Were you seeing anyone before this?” Mike waved his arm around when he said “before this” indicating the “now”. The current time they occupied rather than the space they occupied.

“No. It had been almost a 6 months since my last date. About 1 year before that was when I was last with your “best friend”…remember?”

“That fucking dickhead. I still can’t believe you let that piece of shit touch you, put his arms around you… what a fucking areshole.”

“I let him do a lot more than that too… ha aha. You always hated him. It’s funny how he turned out to be everything you said he was. He…”

“…wow, hang on. Now, I wasn’t right about him, I just hated him. I don’t even recall why. It so just happens that when you and he broke up, the stuff I had said to you seemed to play out in him.”

“Huh?”

“I mean, I said stuff to you, and when you saw him, my words rang in your head, and that’s what he looked like. Do you get me?”

“I think so. You’re saying my perception of him changed after the break up, and the new light that I saw him in was a reflection of your feelings towards him, and your thorough dislike for his character and nature.”

“Sure.”

“I think life is like that Seb, I mean Mike. Hind sight is a mother fucker.”

Mike laughed. Mary smiled.

“Do you want some more hot chocolate?”

“Sure.”

They had not been very diligent that evening, hardly looking out the Tower windows.

“Shall we smoke now?” Mary shrugged her shoulders, and then nodded. Mike pulled out the joint he had rolled. Unbeknownst to Ruby, he had been growing a few plants behind the shed, using seeds from a plant he discovered on his journeys.

“I can’t believe you, YOU, planted this when you did. Mr “So-Serious-Be-Prepared-For-Anything” guy. Sneaky bastard. Have you smoked some?”

“Yeah, in my old pipe. But a joint is different. More fun. More fun to share.”

Mary lit the joint using Mike’s lighter.

“Mike, why does your Zippo have Fuck Communism written on it?”

“It's from a comic book...”

“Don’t care. Shut up.” They passed the joint back and forth. Mary was conscious that she was smoking it too quickly, but she was really enjoying it. It had been years since she had last smoked.

“Wouldn’t it be fun to go on a huge fucking bender? Snort coke, take pills, do heroin?” Mary asked.

“Shit….why not? What have you….we….you got to lose.”

They sat quietly as their ears fluttered ever so lightly in the creamy marijuana smoke, keeping their heads in that lovely haze. Enjoying their high.

“Hey, I brought something.” Mary pulled out her ipod and headphones. She found the track she was after, and placed one of ear buds into Mike’s ear. She put the other in her own and pressed play.

“I would love to learn how we still have electricity.”

…this feelin’ for so long, and if you feel like I feel, baby….

Ruby and Tom: Home

Tom rolled over and opened his eyes. It was dark, probably about 3 or 4 in the morning. Ruby was asleep. He got out of bed, grabbed his clothes and went back to his room. What a great night.

He had always had a crush on her, even when he was young. They were never really that close, which was a good thing considering the current circumstances they found themselves in. He grew up watching her grow up. She was hot. Plan and simple. And she used to be such a bitch too. He thought about the things he used to fantasize about, the parts of her body he used to wank about. Her lovely legs, her white legs. He would always get caught staring at her tits. Always.

He lay on his back and replayed the more fun parts of the night.

Ruby was awake when Tom left, but didn’t stir. She didn’t really want him to stay the night anyway.

She thought about her history with Tom. Their past. She always saw him as cousin, or a brother she didn’t really like. Ruby always believes that Tom represented everything that was annoying about Mike. Lazy, annoying, stupid, revolting.

“You’re so different now to before, you know?” Tom said.

“You mean not a bitch?” Ruby laughed. Tom agreed.

“Yeah. I can’t remember a time before this that we got along…”

“Hey, no fair.” Ruby rolled over to face Tom. “I know, when I was younger, that I was a horrible bitch, but in the last year – it is so weird to say that, before our new lives started – I grew the fuck up.”

“How? Why?”

“This is a little embarrassing, but I started to be attracted to you.”

“Okay?”

“And it was weird, because my ideals were so different to what you represented. We were so different.”

“I used to stare at your tits all the time.”

“Yes, I know. And that was why I found you so repulsive. It’s stupid but I hated you. You’re leering eyes….”

“I never leered.”

“I know. I didn’t like you looking because you knew how I was without make up or nice clothes. You saw in my pyjamas for god sakes?

“So you were attracted to me and decided you needed to become a better person?”

“Not quiet. I grew up. Just like you did. Sure, I am no longer a bitch, but if you hadn’t grown up in the last few years, we wouldn’t be lying here naked right now.”

“What do you mean?”

“You were going nowhere. You did that useless Arts degree and worked a nothing job. You didn’t give a shit about your future, or anything really.”

“You like ambition?”

“Yes and no. I just pitied you. You had such a defeated outlook on life.”

“But then you changed.”

“I remember. Trauma can do that to you.”

“Look at us now.” They both smiled at this, in the dark.

“I’m much happier now.”

“Well, we are lying naked together.”

Ruby lay on her side and thought about how much fun her evening had been, and decided that sex with Tom was better than firing a machine gun, which she loved. She chuckled to herself. That was a comparison she could make now.

Tom lay on his back, with his dick in his hand. He thought of naked Ruby. Finally, I got to see that. He started to masturbate.

Come On (Heavy on Dialogue) by Seb

“Come on, we got to go. It’s about to start.”

* * *

I haven’t heard this song in a long time, I thought.

“Either have I?” someone said in my ear. I turned and nodded in recognition of the comment.

“It reminds me of when I was a kid. Younger.” she said. I nodded.

“Same, although I don’t remember when I heard it for the first time.”

She smiled, “Let’s just call it the “nineties” and leave it there.

I smiled, It’s great being 29. “Do you ever sing along, and then find yourself wondering when you learnt the lyrics? You never knew them before?”

“I don’t bother wasting seconds on something so massively unimportant.” She smirks at me. (Yes, smirks)

“Yeah. I have a lot of time on my hands.” She’s still smirking.

“And I love it. I love mouthing along silently.” She laughed. What? Said my quiz-ative look.

“That’s an odd comment, saying you love “mouthing” lyrics. Sounds gay…”

I agreed, “..When you say it like that.”

“So”, she says, “Why are you dressed up at this time of day? Unemployed? Job interview? What? Tell me?”

“I got a thing.”

“Ooooh. Wow. Fine. Fuck you.” She reached into her bag, found some smokes, grabbed them, pulled one from the pack and lit it. I watched the whole time.

“Something you don’t want to talk about obviously,” she confirmed.

“Yeah, for now.”

“What else do you do?”

I paused, breathed in (not for effect I assure you, I just needed to breathe in). “Work. Sleep. Listen to music. Masturbate.”

“Fair bit I presume?”

“Defo”. She raised her eyebrows.

“That’s better written than said out loud.”

“I realised that now. Never said it before in a non-email or non-text situation. So, what do you do?”

“Study. Work. Read. Drink.”

“I drink too.”

“Smoke. Hate on hipsters and their stupid bikes.”

“I see.”

“So stranger, your name?”

“You want to add me on Facebook?”

“Yeah. Right. No dating without thorough dissection of your online profile. What are his favourite films and what are his thought’s on Post-New Wave-Korean Hardcore cinema?”

“I love Post-New Wave-Korean Hardcore.” She laughed.

“Not the band silly.”

“You at school today?”

“Yeah, an early class and then one in the afternoon. Coffee now. It’s sunny right now, but still chilly.”

“Thanks for the weather update. Odd of train of thought. Choo Choo.”

“You’re odd.”

“Plans for tonight?”

“You asking me out?”

“Not yet.”

“Don’t know. Maybe drinks.”

“Alcohol is fucking great.”

“You allowed to swear in a suit?”

“White collar crimes were invented by the hulking, blue, illiterate proletariat to discredit the enlightened and therefore better bourgeoisie.

“Marry me.”

“After my thing,” I said.

* * *

Their Voices Rattled on my Window Sill - Part 5

Ruby checked her diary. It had been a month since she has last written anything. That was two weeks before she heard the voices. She typed in the day’s date, and the time and began typing away.

Tom was not wearing his shirt today. He was chopping wood. Not sure where he got it, or the axe. He didn’t look too good. He needs to lose weight. Still. But he enjoyed himself.

I am finding him more hot. Attractive. What the hell else am I meant to look at? Fuck, there is nothing else around. I have this evitable feeling that we will fuck. More than that. What the hell choice do I have? Where the fuck is everyone else?

Ruby slammed her laptop shout and yelled out the window, to Mike.

“When are we going to leave this fucking place!” He looked at her, and resumed whatever he was doing. That wasn’t even a question.

Life had resumed to normal for the quartet. Tom continued his frequent trips to the G-Times’ Entertainment to get more movies to watch, and games to play on his many consoles. Mike kept himself busy too. He stayed in his shed, building things. Cutting things up. Putting things back to together. Mike felt it was his duty to learn “how to be a man” as he so aptly put it.

Ruby walked outside, stormed outside, and focused her eyes on Mike.

“Well?”
“Well what?”
“When are we fucking going to find some fucking people?” Mike rolled his eyes and walked back into his shed. He had recently been putting a car engine apart and then back together – he was thinking which tools were not necessary to fix a car on a run.

Mary followed him and slammed her fist against the shed.
“WELL!?”

“Jesus Christ. Calm down. Just because you’re horny doesn’t mean you can just yell at me.”
“How did you…? It’s not about that. I’m bored.”
“Well do something then. And you’re my sister. I have lived with you for a long time. I know your “Angers”.”
“Fuck you.”
“Illegal.”
“I think I am going to seduce Tom.” Mike, who had his back to Ruby, smiled.
“That’s a fancy word for “fuck”?”
“Well, what do you want from me. I want some romance. Some sexiness.”
“What you gonna do?”
“I am not sure. Can you and Mary go on “look out” tonight please?”



Tom thought it was odd that Mary and Mike were going to the Tower that evening, and even odder that they drove.
“Tom.” He turned around, and there stood Ruby. She looked different. That is, she looked different then she normally did. She looked really pretty. It had been a long time since she’d dressed up.

“You gotta date tonight?” Sometimes even Tom could be funny.
“Hilarious. I just felt like doing something, for myself. How do I look?” Tom looked hard. Fucking bang-able.
“You look great.”

Ruby had originally decided to cook for Tom, and then seduce him with wine and candles. But the world had changed. The world was a difference place. And they lived together, Fuck all that bullshit, she thought.

“Tom, come here. We are going to make out a little, and then we are going to sleep together.”
“That’s romantic.”
Ruby sighed, “I know… what is the point of fluffing about. We live together.” Tom kept looking at her, not making a move.
Ruby walked up to Tom, grabbed his hand and kissed him. She held his kiss, and he held her’s. She turned and started pulling him to her room.

“Oh come on…”

Their Voices Rattled on My Window Sill - Part 4 by Seb

Nothing, again.

I am going to cheat here. To give you some history of the principal characters in this here text, without making any effort to include it in the story. You know what I mean? I do like seeing (and commenting on) the different devices that cinema or television or literature use to give the characters background. I’m not talking about good cinema or television here. Oh no. It’s the poor devices that I be liking.

One devise is putting the character in a compromising situation, and then depict how a past experience/s helped them through.

For example: Tom was walking about one day, when he needed to take a dump. He jumped the fence into someone’s back yard. He looked around, and saw a small vegetable patch. He decided to shit in the vegetable patch. He enjoyed his little attempt at rebel rousing. It wasn’t until he was done that he realised that he had no toilet paper. He panicked, but then remembered that once he’d been camping, and had used some leaves to wipe his arse. He looked around, saw a pumpkin, and wiped his bum with the leaf.

See, his past experience helped him not ruin his underwear. WOW!

Sometimes you get history in dialogue, for example,

“Oh man, this reminds me so much of when we were ten. You remember, when we came home from camping, and no one was around. It was like Armageddon or something. Just empty streets and shops and homes and towns. Remember that? We never found out what happened.

Sometimes, history comes in the form of a new character, one a protagonist knew in the past.

“Ruby? You have changed so much?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you used to be so shallow, and self-obsessed?”
Ruby laughed, “True, but the world has changed. All this happened so suddenly. I had never even seen a gun until a few months ago. Now look at me,” Ruby laughed again.
“Shit, I know. You wouldn’t use the same tissue twice. Jesus.”

And sometimes, you get history through a new character. You know the scene, a So how was it for you? conversation. Or, How did you make it, how did you get by? conversation.

“So, then yeah, 6 months. We have only seen a few faces in the that…”
Tom froze up, he just realised his lie had been exposed.
“Hang on,” said the new person, “I thought it was just you and your friends for the last few months?”
“We ran into some dudes from the army once. I mean, they looked like they were from the army.”
“What happened? The army guys saved us. Brought us here.”
“It, it was fucked. There were two, in a jeep. One tried to touch Ruby. She slapped him. He hit her back….”
“…”
“And then Mike snapped. Fucking snapped. He smashed the army guy in the face with the butt of his gun. I was frozen, but then one of the girls’ screams shook me awake. But before I could try and help – I’m not sure what I would have done – Mike had finished it. As quickly as anything I have ever seen. After hitting the one who hit Rube, he turned shot the first guy twice, and then turned and did the same with the one he had hit. No pause or nothing, no contemplating. Bang, bang.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah. So quick. Both dead. I have never seen him like that.”
“Take a man our of his comfort zone, and see him fall apart.”
“Perhaps. But we haven’t collapsed. We have grown stronger. We have a few skills you know? I can camp, I can cook and shit, but I couldn’t skin a pig. After a few weeks, reality set in for us, and we just fitted in nicely to our new roles.”
“What there they?”
“We thought we were the last people on earth.”

Sometimes you learn about hopes and dreams.

“I’ll never see Paris.”
“Forgot Paris Tom, Rome. Rome is amazing.”
“I’ll never fuck Sophie Howard.” They all looked at Tom. That was unlike him to say such a thing. Mary laughed, but Ruby just rolled her eyes.
“Ruby? What about you?”
“I don’t know. I guess I don’t need to move out of home and moved into a sharehouse in Collingwood and live like a pig getting drunk every night and smoking too much. I guess I will never get to be reckless.”
“That’s sad.”
“I know.”

Their Voices Rattled My Window Sill - Part 3 by Sebastien de Robillard

Mike and Ruby returned home under the cover of darkness. They ate steak with roasted vegetables that night. It was Tom’s turn to cook. He was normally pretty good with kitchen stuff. That, and he could shoot pretty damn good too.

“So nothing at all today.” Ruby’s comment hung in the air – it was an awkward tone. She sounded disappointed, but then also pleased at the same time.

You know, like when you say phew, I’m glad I didn’t have to do that, because you didn’t really want to be put into a position you’ve never experienced, but deep down, you are disappointed because you were looking forward to this new something, something you have never experienced.

Just like that.

“You sound disappointed,” Mary said, “And Tom, why don’t you try making gravy, just once? You know you would be good at it?”

“I guess I am a bit. I haven’t seen anyone in a long time. Sorry, anyone else. Plus, I want to know what is going on in the world.”

“I don’t like gravy,” said Tom. Mike nodded his head in approval.

“To be honest, I am too,” Mike said, after the head nod of approval, “I’d like to see what is happening in the world. I want to know what others are doing?”

“I guess I also want some closure.” Mike shrugged his shoulders and returned to his food.

“We all do, but what kind of closure will it be? Prison? Shot by some pissed off solider wanting revenge?” Ruby reiterated points they had all discussed before.

Mary added some brown sauce to her food. “Maybe we should check our stocks and replenish. Especially on the can foods and ammo and stuff.”

Everyone nodded their agreement.

After dinner, Mike went upstairs, to their “Home Look-Out”. He was hoping to see some lights, but knew that they would have no such luck tonight. He lit a small cigar he had in his pockets, and smoked by the open window. He heard a sound behind him, it was Mary. She walked up to Mike, sat next to him and put her head on his shoulder.

Another Ridiculous Tram Script by Seb

He wore a jumper, it was dirty, and non-descript beanie – the kind somebody leaves behind, and he just grabbed it and put it on because it kept his head warm. Not because it looked good, or matched his outfit, or showed all of us who his favourite footy team was. No, simply because it kept him warm.

He was holding a fold up pram. His wife, sitting next to him, held the rest of the pram. She didn’t look as old as him, but she had seen years too. She was pretty in a 50 something motherly way, and she held a Big W bag.

People like this make me so sad. They make me consider my life. My ridiculous hopes and dreams. My ridiculous excesses. They had built a home, and they had raised a family. They were spending the day in the city with their daughter and her 4 year old kid.

My ridiculous values and ridiculous hair. My ridiculous wants and ridiculous needs.

They were watching the passing streets with great earnest, obviously looking for their stop. I took off my headphones, but did not stop the music.

“Where are you guys getting off?” I say.

“Williams Road.” He says. They are both looking at me now.

“Well, that’s my stop, so you guys can follow me.” I make a joke about the jumper I’m wearing. He says he kept an eye out for the Shell service station.

“Yeah,” I said, “it’s a good…orientation point.” He agreed. I used the word “orientation” for the first time since year 10 camp, when it was last relevant.

He went on, nodding his head, “A good landmark.”

The tram stopped, they followed me off. I bid them farewell.

“Good night and good luck.” I turned away and put my ridiculous headphones back on. A ridiculous song continued playing on my ridiculous ipod as I started trudging back to my ridiculous apartment.

Why did I wish them good luck?

Their Voices Rattled My Window Sill - Part 2 by Sebastien de Robilalrd

Part 2

“So, they’re here to find their comrades?”
“Comrades? This isn’t Cuba, Mary.”
“You know what I mean. It’s been a while though?”
“Only about a month. What should we do? Tea anyone?”

Everyone followed Tom into the kitchen. He turned the kettle on and grabbed some milk from the fridge. Mike still complained about the UHT milk, he said it lacked flavour. Tom didn’t mind. It lasts forever right?

“Do you think we should resume the post?” Tom asked when everyone was seated around the kitchen table, hands warmed by the freshly brewed tea.

“Maybe,” said Mike, “Perhaps we should find a new place somewhere near the edge of town, perhaps near the freeway?”

“Yeah, good idea. When?”
Mary piped in, “Lets give it a full day before we all move out. How about somebody man the Tower tomorrow for the day? They can head out while it’s still dark?”

The Tower was a bistro a few kilometres away that contained an excellent, windowed tower. You could see the city pretty clearly from there.

Ruby volunteered. “Two of us should go. Mike?”
“Sure little sister. Leave at 4?”
“Sounds like a plan.”


Ruby and Mike woke up early and headed for the tower. They didn’t drive, or take their bikes. The less noise the better. They could hide better on foot. This did mean a much longer walk to the Tower. It was almost sun up by the time they reached the back entrance. They unlocked the door at the back, ducked in, and then locked the door again. It was important it looked like no one had entered the building. They climbed the stairs to the Tower. It had been several months since they had been there.

“Dusty.”
“Yeah.” They unpacked their gear; One walkie talkie, two binoculars (lenses capped) and a digital SLR with a rather large zoom. They also pulled out pistols from their holsters, and placed them next to the camera and walkie talkie.
“Coffee?”
“Yeah. Be back soon.” Mike climbed back downstairs. Ruby turned the walkie talkie on. At exactly 5 minutes past 7, she pressed down the button. Tom had the other walkie talkie on his bed side table. It hissed briefly. He got up and knocked on Mary’s door.

“Hey, they’re there.”
“Cool.”

Back in the tower, Mike and Ruby were sipping their coffees. Mike was facing south east, Ruby north west. Mike watched a lot of movies, in fact they all did. They knew that they needed to do make sure no sun reflected off any bright objects or mirrors while they were in the tower. The binoculars would only used sparingly. Mike felt he was a bit paranoid, but he was trying to be careful.

“One month? Approximately. That seems like an odd amount of time.”
“I know. You think they would have been eager to get their buddy.”

So, what happened? Why are the gang so secretive? Oh, should I ask, why are they being so careful?

Mike was never the protective older brother. That was not his thing. He would pretend to intrude now and gain, but Ruby had a good head on her shoulders, and he didn’t have to worry about her.