July 1966 School Magazine

July, 1966

Brisbane Girls' Grammar School Magazine

Brisbane Girls' Grammar School Magazine

July, 1966

PETARI The sun was blazing on the mountains of New Guinea and Petari was very troubled. His black face was puckered in a frown, and he trailed his stick slowly through the water, watching miserably while, it made little rows of excited bubbles which danced happily past him. Angrily he threw the the stick away; what use were sticks? He dislodged a sodden feather from be- tween two rocks . He fingered it , smoothing its ragged edges . Somehow it calmed him, because it reminded him of the sing- sings he loved so much when all the native tribes dressed up in decorative costumes with high feather head-dresses and hundreds of gaudily-coloured necklaces which rattled together. He re- membered the dancing and the drums which excited him to the marrow and made his blood race . His imagination made the hazy pictures of the shiny, rocking bodies vivid with colour - he could almost see his father bending and turning, making his elaborate head-dress alive with movement. He could feel the warmth of the camp-fires again, and smell the thick smoke and the hot crowded bodies . . . . Petari laughed loudly and threw his small body into the cool deep water. When he crawled out again on to his favourite rock, he discovered that his feather had washed downstream. A large fragment of his happiness broke away. Petari sighed. He re- membered that the two white men had left his village. He would have loved to be one of their carriers. They always came back with exciting stories. And the magic box! It made sounds which scared and attracted Petari, and the white man said that there was a little man inside it who obeyed him. The idea tormented Petari. He thought of it constantly. He wanted that box more than anything else in the whole world . Petari felt proud of himself and his achievements. He had graduated from Townsville University through ambitious work, and now he was on his way back to New Guinea, his homeland. How he cherished his childhood memories of it! The Educational Authorities had sent him regular messages about his family, who were living near Wau. He peered out the window of the aeroplane, and fear grasped him. The mountains, solid masses of green broken by vertical walls of rock, towered around the tiny craft which hovered in nothingness. He felt he didn't belong in this great expanse; its mystery overwhelmed him. The aeroplane landed at Wau. Almost .

self-consciously, he gathered up his paperback, transistor and over- night bag, and stepped out. He hated leaving the small customs- house where he could retain some vestige of self-assurance. He felt grossly overdressed in the dusty streets, and the other natives found him a curiosity, and yet he was one of them! This was his home! He clung to the frail words, but what is home if it doesn't welcome you as a loved member? He had booked a room at the only hotel, and he sank onto the bed, emotionally exhausted. He visited his parents, who were shy and uncertain with him. He felt ashamed, and saw that his world was tumbling down around him. He was almost glad to learn that they didn't have sing-sings any longer - his European education could not stifle all his treasured memories, but in the hot New Guinea setting, he hated this veneer which he had striven so hard for. Where was his home? Was this his country? His soul was lost between two worlds, helpless, like a ragged feather lodged between two rocks in a river, while the current surged past . * * * Petari was killed in a 'plane crash on the way back to Towns- ville. They identified his body by the name written on his transistor, which he still clutched in his charred, blackened hands. The mountains took his remains and made therµ eternal. He had returned. - INGE BUDTZ-OLSEN, VIB, Gibson House.

.l-,

- DIANNE, VIC, Griffith House.

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