July 1966 School Magazine

July, 1966

Brisbane Girls' Grammar School Magazine

Brisbane Girls' Grammar School Magazine

July, 1966

WE, THE .EXECUTIONERS The street was wide and illuminated by neon lights which clicked on and off over the dull yellow beams which peered meanly into the dark road. A warmth would have seemed to envelop the whole block, had tbe pavement not been deserted and chilly. Dead leaves were being carelessly toyed with by the crisp breeze, which seemed to resent even the rrieagre light which merely suggested warmth. - A lone form, bent and haggard, dragged himself from the darkness of an alley . Lonely .... how strange, the man looked lonely. On reaching the first warm light he cringed from its revealing brightness , but his expression remained unchanged. His eyes, the eyes of misspent youth, held a frozen, hopeless loneliness. Now in his early twenties, he was forgotten and unneeded . Sad- ness, regret and self-pity remained his only companions . He saw years of remorse and a boring routine of friendless days becoming joyless years of mental suffering. Why coµldn't the people understand and befriend him? Alone among millions -a strange paradox, but to him a pitiful reality. Th~y worried about the increasing road-toll, about the persecut~d negroes, about their own bank accounts. Such universal hypocrisy bred the turmoil in this young man's heart and mind . It made him hate as hope had been destroyed. He stooped and picked up a leaf and gazed at its faded greenness and withered life , now, like his own life, a mere play- thing of a fickle wind . He sobbed. Soon he was conscious that he was not alone in the street . An elderly couple peered carelessly at the costly articles in the · stores and gradually came nearer to him. He purposely walked towards_ them and stood at the same window. In the brightness of the light the couple noticed him but avoided meeting his eyes . The young man spoke and the couple turned in astonishment and hurriedly stepped to further windows . Only a smile or word or compassionate gesture could have filled his evening with delight but the couple moved on. ' His eyes were urbs of rage and resentment and he fiercely flung the cru?hed leaf at the two figures, but it floated gently d?wn upon his shadow. This seemed to represent something to him for he_ slunk back into a shadowy doorway and stood in a stupor, gazing at the shattered leaf. He cried to his friends by

name as their spirits returned to his memory, but they were laughing and were not even inclined to jeer at him. "Oh my God!" he whispered, and repeated it intensely. Then he leapt from the doorway and ran desperately to the solemn brick church by the river. Pounding on the door he realized it was locked, locked to stop vandals destroying and stealing. He kicked at the little statue of the Virgin cemented to the path. It shook under the impact but remained firm. Again he kicked and tore at it feverishly, but the saintly face smiled quietly up at him. As he fiercely glared into the gentle eyes his anger subsided and he touched the figure caressingly. ' The pitful figure strode sullenly across the temple lawns . There was an intent purpose in his stride and he fixed' his eyes on the waiting bridge. Spiralling gusts of wind met swirling eddies of water and a young man leapt through the icy tides to his death. Braving the fear of Hell, he leapt, hoping the cold sands of the river bed would silently entomb him, that in the thick, impenetrable dark- ness of self-desruction he would be hidden from the revenge of the Almighty and the callous intolerance of human beings.

- K. DENMAN, IVC, Gibson House.

- DIANNE, VIC, Griffith House.

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