by Pat Ritter
man to get him to give himself up. My position at the time was one street lamp post away but I could see and hear what was happening.
‘Don’t come any closer or I’ll pull the plug.’ I heard the man behind the lamp post call out.
Without blinking an eyelid Johnny said, ‘if you’ve got the guts - do it.’ There was an explosion. Money and body parts spattered everywhere. And that is how Bomber Reid got his name.
Word Count: 478.
A Long Long Time Ago.
A long, long time ago a baby was born on the 16th June 1903. Hannah Francis Gibson was her name. She was born in Cunnamulla, aboriginal name stretch of water because it was situation on the banks of the Warrego River.
This baby was the eldest child of Joe and Hannah Gibson. Joe was a shearer and in 1891 was one of the major instigators in the well known ‘shearers strike’. It was during this time Joe changed his name from Ryan to Gibson in order to continue his shearing in the area. He’d stolen the identity from the person Gibson who was employed as a shearer. How he did this, no one knows.
Joe and Hannah had another three daughters. After the birth of the final daughter, Hannah died leaving Joe to cope with raising their four daughters. Hannah Francis was ten years old when her mother passed on giving birth to her baby sister.
Joe couldn’t cope alone with his daughters, especially the recent birth and gave his daughters away to the folk of Cunnamulla ‘like a litter of pups’. Mary, the most recent baby was taken by relatives to live in Warwick. Hannah Francis would never see her sister again.
Hannah Francis went to live with a family who owned the local drapery shop and there worked from dawn until dusk, minding children, washing and ironing, looking after the shop and any other chore her fostered mother would care to give her.
When she turned fourteen years old she left Cunnamulla to work on a sheep and cattle property named ‘Wirrigin’ an out-station on the massive station, Dyvoner Downs forty kilometres west of Cunnamulla. Here she worked as a kitchen maid tirelessly scrubbed wooden floors until bleached; boiled clothes in a copper; ironed with a pots iron heated on the huge stove, provide wood for the stove and the many chores required as a kitchen maid.
When she became an adult she left ‘Wirrigin Station’ to return to Cunnamulla. World War 1 finished. She met a handsome returned soldier Daniel Thomas Wilson and after a short romance they married. Tom, as he wanted to be called was a shearer. Together they raised seven daughters. When the daughters completed school, Tom and Hannah decided to leave Cunnamulla and move to Brisbane for the sake of their children to give them a better life.
Their lives were happy until World War 11 arrived. They were living at Ascot, a suburb close to the airport of Brisbane where the Japanese planes flew over and threatened their lives.
After the war Tom contacted cancer and passed away. Hannah and Tom were married for thirty years. Hannah decided to return to the country and there fell in love and remarried. She outlived this husband after another thirty years of marriage. Hannah Francis Langley was a loving and wonderful human being, warm and considerate. I should know because I am her grandson.
Word count: 497
Waves.
What makes us as human beings excited to the point of ecstasy when endorphins rush to our brain and overfill it with joy? When I have a wager, my mind erupts into pictures of winning money. I see myself throwing my arms in the air, a huge smile on my face and a heart almost bursting from my chest. Throughout my life these waves of hope have happened each time I’ve place a bet either on a horse in a race, taking a ticket in lotto or even placing a bet with keno. My mind overflows with thoughts of what I would do with the winnings.
After a lifetime of wagering in the hope to win that BIG PRIZE, I continue to ride my waves of hope. Each week I’ve got to continue for without these waves of hope I hold no chance at all in collecting the BIG PRIZE.
Only a couple of weeks ago at the Cooyar RSL Club I placed my usual wager of six numbers on keno. Whilst sitting and watching each number light up – five of the six numbers were there. I only needed number 2 to win the huge prize of six numbers. Over and over in my mind I repeated number 2, number 2, and suddenly number 2 came up. All six numbers were there displayed on the television screen. All I could say was ‘yes’ and punched the air with my fist.
My heart pounded; my mind almost exploded when suddenly I realised I’d ridden my waves of hope and at last won a BIG PRIZE. In my excitement I instantly wanted to share my news with someone; I saw Pam playing the poker machines. ‘That’s good’, was all she replied and returned to playing her machine.
The game I play is six numbers at a cost of 10 cents per game with a keno bonus. Each game shows a bonus of either a standard game from two to a bonus of ten. This game was a bonus of two; I won twice the amount of prize money. It costs a total of $20.00 for 100 games. This win gave me a dividend of $360.00.
In this instant my waves of hope worked however in many cases it hasn’t worked. Do I give up – not on your Nellie? I’ll continue with my waves of hope and hopefully win the BIG PRIZE either in lotto or keno. You may ask why I continue to believe in my waves of hope to win the BIG PRIZE. Why not! Life is too short and I’ve been gambling using my waves of hope ever since I can remember from the age of ten years old.
In that time I’ve never won the BIG PRIZE however there are still many years left. My waves of hope will carry me through and it will come true just like the keno win.
Word count: 487
Never Give Up.
Napoleon Hill stated in his book Think and Grow Rich the words – Every adversity carries with it the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit. Many years ago I was browsing a bookshop and a title of a book flashed into my zone. This book was titled ‘Never Give Up’. I purchased it and took it home to read.
The author wrote the book to help others who wanted to give up on life. It was a strong message of hope and resilience. His story began when he was a qualified barrister practicing law in Melbourne. It was during the early 1980’s. He owned his own law practice and the lion’s share of his clients came from the Melbourne underworld. More times than not he’d win their court case and they’d be exonerated.
One thing lead onto another and he became involved in money laundering. Members of the underworld gave him money to launder through casinos. Life couldn’t have been better; he had a wife and family, a highly regarded law practice, and drove the latest BMW.
Eventually the money laundering stopped and to keep up his gambling habit, he stole money from the trust accounts of his practice. On losing the trust account money he was arrested and sentenced to seven years imprisonment. He lost his wife, children, law practice and his BMW.
Whilst in prison he was protected by prisoners whom he’d previously defended in court and made several new acquaintances. On his release on parole, he and another prisoner whilst drunk armed themselves with a firearm and robbed a liquor store. This time he received fourteen years in jail.
One evening he was lying on the bunk in his cell and thought how his life had changed over the previous decade. His thoughts told him the only person who now was in his life was his mother who had never given up on him. He’d never spoken or seen his wife and children.
He was grossly overweight; depressed and wanted to end his life. Then a flash bulb went off in his mind; a spark of hope for the future he decided at that moment to run a marathon, a distance of forty-two kilometres, in ten years.
His attitude changed. In the exercise yard of the prison, the size of a tennis court, he commenced to walk. He changed his eating habits. He read literature about exercise and healthy eating.
Over the next decade he continued his regime of exercise and diet and eventually on being released from prison completed a marathon. Not only did he complete the marathon he became an entrepreneur and invited world leaders to visit Australia and speak. His story was inspirational in that he NEVER GAVE UP until he reached his goal of what he wanted to do.
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sp; Word count: 472
The Lady Killer.
Detective Bundy Quicksilver peered at the elderly lady found dead in the hallway of her home. He absorbed each small detail to piece together the jigsaw of how this tragic homicide happened. Around her neck a thin cord, obviously used to strangle her. Congealed blood was on her right hand on the webbing in between the thumb and forefinger. Her mouth open indicted torture suffered at the hands of her killer, gasping her final breath.
Money was stolen from the cash register from the store, how much was not known, because the only person who knew was now dead. How was this killer to be found? It must be someone who knew her, or a regular customer at the store. With part of the jigsaw puzzle worked out there were many pieces yet to be discovered.
By chance, or could it have been great police work, a male person was apprehended while spending fifty cent pieces at a hotel. Detective Bundy Quicksilver commenced to question the suspect. They drove to the suspects home and there discovered a travelling bag and on searching the bag found many more fifty cent pieces and other coins.
After hours of interrogation the suspect admitted killing the woman. How he did it was another story. He admitted he went to the rear of the store and found the lady in the kitchen. She had her back to him. Silently he stole past her and