Visions Of Grandure .

                                Visions Of Grandure . 




Things had become pretty bad at home, my mothers drinking had become a lot worse, and at almost fourteen, I was removed from my family. A teacher had noticed the whelps across my back from the jug cord, in physical education, and he informed the welfare. I was taken from the school to the police station, and my mother was arrested and charged with neglect and abuse. When questioned by the judge about why she whipped me, she told him I kept running away from home, and was uncontrollable. I already had a criminal record, for attacking a man who killed my dog with a golf club, and the judge himself, ordered the police to take me down and charge me with uncontrollable.

Within one hour, I was in the back of a police van, on my way to a maximum security childrens jail, called Yasmar. I did not understand why I was there, all the other kids were in there for stealing cars and other crimes. One big kid with red spiky hair was in there for killing a man. I did not like these boys, and after one week I had fought most of them. Except for the big red headed killer and his crew. However, after a confrontation one afternoon, that was stopped (only because some big shot officer came through the gate) the fight, or what some considered to be my murder, was scheduled for tomorrow.

I was surprised when I was called up to the office for a visit late in the afternoon,and walking into the visiting section I saw a small red headed guy with a full beard sitting there in a Salvation Army uniform. Great I thought thats all I need right now, a bible basher come to save my soul. Sitting at the table opposite the little salvo I looked him in the eyes and said, ''What would a salvo want with me, I dont need Gods help or yours mate''. This bloke then did the strangest thing I had ever seen a man do, he cried. With tears running down his cheeks he went to take my hand (that I quickly pulled away ) as he seemed to whisper, ''Yes you do my boy, yes you do''.

I didn't believe him when he ask me if I wanted to come with him now, and appear before a judge and be released into his care. He said I could go with him to a farm where other boys, lived and work in either the dairy or the piggery. I ask him when I would go with him to this farm, and he said there was still time to get me before the judge, and released today. Thinking about my fight booked with the big red haired killers gang in the morning. He laughed as I began to tell him how good I was with animals, and had always wanted to live on a farm, and what a wonderful farmer I would make.

The judge did not hesitate to allow me to go with Peter, my new found little salvo mate. And with his wife and two younger children, we traveled about four hours drive to a huge farm near Gosford. Pete took me to a small cabin near a creek and said this was my place for as long as I liked. He showed me the community dining room, and told me the meal times. And then ask me did I want to drive an old van with the words 'Pig Power' painted in huge letters up the side, up to the piggery tomorrow morning where I would be working. Handing me a key to the pig van, he left me in my cabin, I immediatly thought, you fool, you have even given me this old van to make my escape.

I must have fallen asleep straight away, as the next thing I knew, there were half a dozen boys my own age banging on my cabin door at five in the morning, and one loud mouth in particular kept yelling "Come on mate, Pete said your driving us to work this morning, hurry up we're late." Emerging from the cabin, the loud mouth, a little guy with sandy hair named Scotty, handed me a couple of bacon sandwiches, jumped in the passenger seat of the old beat up van, and said "Let's go buddy."

Arriving at the piggery, we were greeted by Pete, who told Scotty to show me where I'd be working. He handed me a flat, bladed spade, and showing me hundreds of pig pens with concrete floors he said, "Darcey, your job to start off, will be scraping all the pig manure from the pens, until someone new comes along." I thought I will work for this little salvo for one week for all he has done, but when that week is up, all bets are off and I will escape this filthy piggery. I don't know if it was the genuine kindness Pete had showed me, or the connection that had formed between the other homeless boys and myself. But two months later, I was still shoveling pig pooh the day I was called up for a promotion.

Pete gave me a job in the birthing section, which involved long hours up at the piggery when a sow was due to give birth. My presence was required so the mother would not roll on her new born piglets and kill them. I loved this job, and fell in love with the gorgous little baby pigs that were under my care. After three months of doing this, I was again promoted to Petes off sider, building and construction of new pens and watering systems. Our first project was to mount on a concrete slab a massive iron water tank that had just been delivered.

The huge water tank when delivered, was placed on top of a hill, where it would remain for a few days until the concrete slab had set. However, for the next two days it rained and was blowing gale force winds, and when we returned early in the morning, to mount the massive tank, it was gone. I tracked the tank by following huge dig marks in the ground, down a hill where corrigated marks in the mud, beside a huge dam indicated that the huge metal water tank, had actually been blown by the gail force winds down the hill and into the dam.

"No worries Pete" I said, " I'll drive down and get the little dingy on a trailer, and we will use a long pole and find exactly where the tank has sunk". An hour later Pete, Scotty and myself were out in the middle of the huge dam in the tiny dingy, where we located the tank about forty feet down, way out in the middle of the dam. "Not a problem Pete" I said, "I'll just tie a rope round my waist, and swim down through the tank, out the small hole at the top, and we can pull the tank from the dam with the pig van."

"Don't be ridiculous Darcey" was his answer, "the water is below zero, and you couldn't see six inches in front of you." "Peter, Peter, Peter" I said " You don't know me very well do you, I'm a champion diver Peter, and have dived deeper, darker water than this." After half an hour, trying to convince Pete of my diving ability, he reluctantly agreed to let me try to retrieve the water tank.

Tying the long rope around my waist,I remember my breath being taken as soon as I dived into the freezing water.On my first attempt to swim down the forty feet to the bottom I had only gone down about twenty feet into the dark green murky depths, before I was forced to the surface gasping for air in the below freezing water. Pete and Scotty told me to get out of the water that this was a stupid idea,and we would find another way to get the tank out of the dam.Their words only made me more determined to succeed, so like a duck I dived time and time again,always only making it about twenty feet down, before I was forced to the surface again.

''Get in the boat Darcey your turning blue'', Pete screamed as I took his hand and he pulled me into the dingy, but I wasn't getting in the boat to quit, and as he went to grab a jumper for me at the rear of the boat, my intentions became clear to him. As he turned around to find me up on the bow   springing up and down as if on a spring board. He screamed''Noooooo''as I got the spring I needed and dived again into the freezing water.

Swiming down as fast as I could I knew I had made it, as I remember seeing the tank just before I crashed into the sharp rim spliting my head wide open. I don't remember much else except waking up in a hospital bed with a doctor giving me an injection. And Pete and Scotty sitting next to my bed. My teeth chattered as I shivered uncontrollably with extreme hyperthermia, as Pete told me how they pulled my unconcious body from the water after I had floated to the top.

Pete felt really bad for allowing me, to talk him into letting me dive for the tank. He said '' Darcey you see in pictures my boy,and the way you told it, you had me doing the same.'' He said,'' you saw yourself diving down in clear warm water,swimming through the tank like a fish and emerging to the surface, and saving the day."Taking my hand in his (that this time I didn't pull away) he said quietly, "You must be careful with the pictures you see Darcey, as they are not always as you see them, there is a name for what you do my boy, they are called visions of grandure."

                                                                                                         Darcey D.