to catch a wave

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//roger has the highest whistle of all the kids in school. roger's favourite place in the world is behind the milk bar, because no-one thinks to play two square there and it's easy to refuel. roger has freckles up the inside of his arms, like he's never really known how to hold himself in relation to the sun.//

exhaust and road dust. chip crumbs and empty packets. in the front car, [[your mother]] hums a showtune out of time and thumbs the [[melway.]]

those don't exist anymore, [[do they? || ALTERNATE OPTION 1]]

this is what fish cove <<cycle "$cycleVar" autoselect>> <<option "sounds like">> <<option "sounded like">> <</cycle>>: <<cycle "$cycleVar" autoselect>><<option "two birds singing inside a heart">> <<option "a ship bellowing late a night, when no-one else could hear">> <<option "the wheels of a thousand caravans on a long road, after a long day">><<option " the jingle of an icecream van you can never really catch, but keep running for">> <<option " an orchestra of fishing thrown out into the water">><</cycle>> <<fadein 10s>><<linkappend "yes.">><</fadein>> and this is what fish cove <<cycle "$cycleVar" autoselect>> <<option "looks like">> <<option "looked like">> <</cycle>>: <<cycle "$cycleVar" autoselect>> <<option "a road curving, then sun so brilliant you have to cover your eyes">> <<option "and the outline of holiday houses through your blood-bright flesh">> <<option "an enchantment of roads and trees that go nowhere, nowhere but up">> <<option "summer-slow roads and shops from out of time">> <<option "an escape">><</cycle>> <</linkappend>> and you <<cycle "$cycleVar" autoselect>> <<option "love it">> <<option "loved it">> <</cycle>>. you <<cycle "$cycleVar" autoselect>> <<option "love it">> <<option "loved it">> <</cycle>>. you [[love it.]]

<<timed 4s>><<cycle "$cycleVar" autoselect>> <<option "you load the suitcases">> <<option "you loaded the suitcases">><</cycle>> <</timed>> <<timed 6s>><<cycle "$cycleVar" autoselect>> <<option "you pretend to pick the channel">> <<option "you pretended the channel was your choice">><</cycle>> <</timed>> <<timed 8s>><<cycle "$cycleVar" autoselect>> <<option "the radio player's broken, so you only get bursts of static">> <<option "you used to think it was fun to pretend the static was aliens buzzing in">><</cycle>> <</timed>> <<timed 16s>><<cycle "$cycleVar" autoselect>> <<option "lacey's in the back, tongue flapping">> <<option "you used to have a dog">><</cycle>> <</timed>> <<timed 18s>><<cycle "$cycleVar" autoselect>> <<option "you forgot her emotional security ball, so the drool today is like nothing else">> <<option "you used to chase her down the beach like ">><</cycle>> <</timed>> <<timed 21s>>a bottle of <<cycle "$cycleVar" autoselect>> <<option "fish scales">> <<option "radiation pills">> <</cycle>> slides under the front seat <</timed>> <<timed 26s>> //hey kids, this is the furthest we've been from our house in a year!!// <</timed>> <<timed 30s>> mum thumbs a <<linkreplace "melway.">> // ==melway==. once, they used to exist.// <</linkreplace>><</timed>> <<fadein 40s>> [[there]].<</fadein>>

maybe the reason you <<cycle "$cycleVar" autoselect>> <<option "can't">> <<option "couldn't'">> <</cycle>> anything else is that <<cycle "$cycleVar" autoselect>><<option "it's">> <<option "it was">> <</cycle>> almost summer. which means <<cycle "$cycleVar" autoselect>><<option "it's">> <<option "it was">> <</cycle>> time for you and your families annual <<cycle "$presses" once>> <<option "holiday" 0>> <<option "tradition of going" 1>> <<option "migration" 2>> <<option "age-old migration" 3>><</cycle>> to [[fish cove.]]

your parents are just inside the hallway, their heads bent together over your suitcases. they're talking quietly. you would describe the quality of their faces as pinched, or tired. ... how long do you reckon? ... report gives us five days ... but the kids love it here so much! [[it doesn't seem right to interrupt them|held hostage]]

your family's rental is a coffee-coloured flat that seems to be sinking into the ground, left corner first. this, combined with the fact that the weeds in the front lawn have been swept right by the seawinds, create the strange effect that the place/your house/this home is out of another land, another earth. but you've [[always loved it.]]

//the end for now! i'll be working on: tweaking the visibility of past/present adding some ~~magical~~ elements to the css and writing up all the endings!//

at night, you and roger <<cycle "$cycleVar" autoselect>> <<option "talk about her">> <<option "used to talk about her">> <</cycle>> and what <<cycle "$cycleVar" autoselect>> <<option "you'll do when you finally meet her">> <<option "you'd do when you finally met her">><</cycle>>. <<timed 10s>> what do you think she looks like? <</timed>> <<timed 13s>> //well i bet she's pretty.// <</timed>> <<timed 17s>> bet!<</timed>> <<timed 20s>> //but she probably eats really weird things// <</timed>> <<timed 23s>> like fish? <</timed>> <<timed 25s>>//nah that's cannibalism// <</timed>> <<timed 28s>> //i meant seaworms -// <</timed>> <<timed 30s>> do they still exist? <</timed>> <<timed 31s>> //from the bottom of the sea //<</timed>> <<timed 33s>> do you //think// she's seen the [[bottom of the sea]]? <</timed>>

//she must've// <<timed 2s>> she must've! <</timed>> <<timed 4s>> //i'm pretty sure that's where mermaids come from.// <</timed>> <<timed 6s>> what, the bottom of the sea? <</timed>> <<timed 8s>> //from the butt of the sea!// <</timed>> <<timed 9s>> ha ha ... <</timed>> <<timed 10s>> ha ha ha ha! <</timed>> <<timed 11s>> roger, you're disgusting. <</timed>> <<timed 12s>> that doesn't even make any sense. <</timed>> <<timed 12s>> //d'you reckon mermaids even// have //butts? // <</timed>> <<timed 15s>> //even if they're fishes they've still gotta go// <</timed>> <<timed 16s>> please <</timed>> <<timed 18s>> //hahaha!//<</timed>> <<timed 19s>> haha ... <</timed>> <<timed 20s>> //hey, you brought it up!//<</timed>> <<timed 22s>>//[[what do you think she'll tell us?]]// <</timed>>

[[hit the tarmac]]

this is the first draft of //to catch a wave//. it's my (very short) experiment with capturing messy, fuzzy childhood memories from a time that no longer exists. and it's a bit about climate grief/hope too. draft was produced in the toolkits: digital storytelling program. music was generated through the very cool wotja app. [[play]].

for a <<linkappend "while,">> you thought you weren't going to go. you'd come downstairs and find your parents with their heads bent low and their voices hushed, <<linkreplace "arguing">> ==arguing== talking about things you didn't understand. <</linkreplace>> <</linkappend>> <<linkreplace "(breathe.)">>you never liked to listen in.listening in felt like <<linkreplace "falling.">> ==falling== being reminded how tight your skin was. <</linkreplace>> <</linkreplace>> <<linkreplace "(breathe.)">>but then your father said he [[liked the drive]].<</linkreplace>>

to pass the time, you.

<<cycle "$cycleVar" autoselect>> <<option "this is the year you're going to see a">> <<option "there was a year you thought you'd see a">> <</cycle>> <<fadein 15s>> [[mermaid]]. <</fadein>> <<audio "theme" play>>

<<cacheaudio "theme" "music/tcaw240.mp3">> <<audio "theme" loop play>>