The Breakfast Carousel
Short Story
Every second of the countdown announced by the producer sent a shockwave through Guest #3, loosening some boulder of memory that tumbled through him with searing clarity.
5
The first time he’d ever seen a homeless person, on the backside of the train station overlooking Sydney Harbour. She reeked of body-odour and dirty grime; she held in gnarled hands a cardboard sign with neat lettering that he couldn’t read, that his father read to him instead. Upon finishing this recital, his father placed a handful of coins in the cracked plastic container in front of the woman’s crossed legs. The woman smiled up at his father first, and then at him. He smiled back at her, as the rain began to spit and fall.
4
Christmas one year, the jacaranda leaves painting the roads purple, and the pile of presents he showed off to his cousins. Prawns mounted high on a sagging trestle table in the warm backyard, alongside roast ham, turkey, various green salads and bountiful bread rolls.
3
A packet of cigarette an insatiable craving and a cold, suffering man in a dark doorway. A raspy plea for one — granted — through a sudden surge of sympathy sweeping through him. He tossed the man the whole pack and a lighter. Nicotine cravings abating into a warm glow of goodwill.
2
A soul-sucking lecture and dulled imaginings of a future of the same. A hollow emptiness that threatened to make him implode. A stupid, whimsical poster that cried ‘Do Something that Matters!’ wrapped around a light-pole on the university quadrangle.
1
One-hundred flat-pack beds, one Allen key and the scintillating sound of Led Zeppelin IV. Muted laughter and conversation twisting into invisible ropes that bound together and stretched beyond the old, dilapidated office space. An unquantifiable connection to something grander, rippling through the room, through his knotted muscles and the shimmering sweat on his brow, and into the tiny, ostensibly unimportant Allen key.
0
“Welcome back to ‘The Morning Show,’ we have a very special guest who is doing some excellent work with the homeless. The founder of some new emergency accomodation right here in the Sydney city — Doug McMahon. Doug, it’s a pleasure to have you here.”
“Thanks Rick, it’s a pleasure to be here.”
“Now, Doug, this is just some incredible work that you’re doing — really incredible — tell me, what inspired you to this calling?”
“Well, uh, there were a few things-”
“Surely there was a big calling card that made you decide to quit university and start this charity?”
“I suppose it was around the time I saw a poster taped to a light-pole after a particularly — well, let’s saying boring — lecture.”
“And what did the poster say?”
“Do Something that Matters.”
“Truly wonderful. Did you ever thank the people who made the poster for their role in lighting this humanitarian spark inside of you?”
“Ah, no. The thought never really crossed my mind. I don’t-”
“Well, I’m sure they’d like to hear about it one day. Now — the centre — what’s it called?”
“The ‘Back in Bed Emergency Accomodation.’ We’re open every night and have one-hundred beds available. First come, first served.”
“A hundred beds doesn’t seem like it would do much of a dent in the numbers sleeping on the street every night.”
“I think it has more of an impact than you think-”
“I mean, the numbers are astounding. One-hundred and sixteen thousand homeless across the country — thirty-five thousand in New South Wales alone — it’s just hard to imagine.”
“Yes — I’d say its an epidemic.”
“It sure makes those hundred beds seem very small.”
“Well it’s better than nothing, right?”
“No doubt, no doubt. Well, thank you for your great work, Doug. You should be proud of what you’re doing — we hope the whole country gets behind you and support what you’re doing to solve this problem.”
“Thank you for having me. If I can just say-”
“I’m sorry Doug, but we’re out of time. Up next on ‘The Morning Show,’ Jennifer Aniston and her new man. We’ve got all the exclusive pictures from a secretive getaway. Stay with us.”
