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Writer:- Christine Johnson, ASA (Associate), Writing NSW
New South Wales
THE ACCIDENTAL MAN
Phil knelt on all fours. He waited, the sun warming his back, happy to let Daisy take charge. She was his eldest, born to lead and dream.
Today they shifted sand under her instruction to sculpt a trench. It twisted its way towards the sea. Lily, Phil’s serious second who insisted on answers, wanted to know why. Daisy paused. She squinted at her sister from under her wide-brimmed hat.
‘It’s a magic sea snake,’ she made up.
‘What?’
‘At the sea, we make a head with a hole.’
‘Why?’
‘So it drinks the sea, getting full of water.’
‘Why?’
‘To come alive and make magic.’
Daisy went back to work. Lily, concentrating hard, stood hunched over, watching her.
So simple and yet so great, Phil thought. Here he was with his daughters enjoying a perfect afternoon on the beach. Between him and his children the air vibrated with a love without bounds. He recalled how as a boy he’d yearned for this kind of warmth to surround him. It was something so missing in his childhood.
His mother, married to a violent husband, soon packed a bag and escaped. The father, turning his wrath upon his son, forced the boy to endure a brutal and sarcastic world ruled by him. It was a masculine world Phil came to understand he’d never inhabit or survive.
Later Phil moved from one job to the next, into one communal household of chance people after another. Withdrawn, he never risked true sharing. One so-called mate gave advice.
‘Get yourself a girlfriend.’
The nudge and wink that followed plunged Phil back into the mannish maelstrom he sought to avoid. He’d never dated a girl in his life. Blood, breasts and babies blurred the thought of approaching one. Experience showed gaining anybody’s affection only ended in ridicule. His life so far was one long string of mishaps. Best he accepted that, expecting little else.
If it hadn’t been for an accident, he might never have shared his life with anyone. Phil and Sonia met when he rode his bicycle down steps, lost control and fell off. He hit his head. A pedestrian found him unconscious and called an ambulance. Waking in hospital Phil’s first thought was that this was the way things happened to him. No planning but always leading to damage or upset. His head ached.
An attractive young woman approached.
‘I’m Dr Irvine. How are you?’
‘Okay.’
He felt feeble, saying he’d fallen off his bike. Yet to this day he remembered how her smile brought his fidgeting thoughts to a halt. Straightforward as today’s sunshine on the beach, her careful attention shone into his lifetime’s longing and chased away shadows.
It was Sonia who pursued him. She listened. Let Phil shake out his life until all unhappiness vanished. Two daughters later, Phil was a dedicated househusband.
‘My accidental man,’ Sonia teased him.
He liked that.
‘Look Daddy,’ said Daisy, ‘our snake’s drinking!’
Lily nodded. They searched his eyes for agreement
‘S’magic,’ Phil said.