Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The First Last Day
The First Last Day
The First Last Day
Gunter O. Swoboda
P.O Box 655
Mona Vale NSW 2103
+61299990429
0412 371 503
gswoboda@mac.com
Registered WGA
A laser-like beam of sunlight cut through the only crack in the blind. It’s unsuspecting target
was Sean’s peaceful, sleeping face. When the light found the hooded eyes, the young boy squinted
and then peered out seeking to source where the offending light had come from. Yawning, Sean
stretched his lanky body out, his arms reaching over his head while his feet protruded beyond the
bottom edge of his doona, making the covering appear much too short.
He looked around his room and then cleared his throat. ‘Computer, what time is it?’
A disembodied female voice replied in those seductive dulcet tones that were suggestive of
some X-rated video boys Sean’s age were not supposed to have access to, but somehow always
managed to get a hold of and watch repeatedly under the cover of secrecy.
‘It’s six o’clock, Sean. It is the first day of your summer holidays.’
Instantly Sean’s languid reclining frame sprang into life and, like an uncoiling spring, he
leapt out of bed and landed nimbly on the floor. Well, that is what would have been the case had
Sean taken the time to clean his room and move a pile of discarded books, clothes, and other odds
and ends.
‘Shit!’ he exclaimed under his breath as his right foot hit the hard corner of an ancient
history text. It had dug into the vulnerable arch of his foot and sent unrelenting signals of pain
searing up his leg. Between the stuff on the floor and holding onto his foot, he was barely able to
The blind retracted languidly, allowing the morning sun to slowly illuminate the rest of the
room in a glorious yellow. Sean looked outside where he was quickly seduced by that unmistakable
feel of a new summer. He instinctively sniffed the air which brought with it all the promise it could
hold for a kid about to head off on a break from the drudgery of school; freshly mown grass, the
distinct odour of suntan lotion and the hint of frangipani. All of it signaling fun in the sun.
Sean leant against the window sill, rubbed his still aching foot while looking down onto the
driveway where his father, Mike, was busy packing the family RV. Mike was a fit looking man in
his late thirties with a broad muscular frame and a shock of black curly hair framing an open and
friendly face. His tanned skin and the deep lines around his eyes, radiating out towards the his
temples, suggested he had spent a lot of time in the sun. He looked up towards Sean’s bedroom
A painful hollow in the middle of his body reminded Sean that packing was not going to be
‘You can have breakfast with me once the car’s packed.’ Mike shook his head knowingly
Sean was easily bribed. He knew that breakfast with his father meant a mountain of bacon
and eggs, a huge pot of freshly roasted coffee, and stacks of pancakes. It was an indulgence his
mother rarely provided, for the simple reason that it allowed breakfast with Mike to become a
Sean turned around and skipped cautiously across the floor. In the middle of the room he
stopped and, bending over, extracted a lighting blue pair of board shorts and a grey T-shirt from the
unruly pile on the floor. He quickly slipped the shirt on and then stepped into the shorts, running his
Stepping over the stack of stuff, Sean leapt into the hallway and took off down the stairs,
past his mother, Jo, a petite woman with a cheeky blond bob and sparkling blue eyes.
‘Good Morning, Mum.’ Jo’s somewhat sarcastic greeting reminded Sean that a little
politeness would be in order. He slid to a stop, turned and pecked her on the cheek.
‘Morning, Mum.’
‘That’s better. Now go and give your father a hand.’ Jo gave Sean a loving pat on the
Alongside the RV was a pile of luggage, camping equipment, and sport gear of all sorts all
waiting to be stored in the RV, while on the roof Mike had already secured several longboards and
‘Well, you know the drill. The sooner we can get this packed, the sooner we can have brekky
Mike lifted another bag off the ground and handed it to Sean who stowed it carefully into the
He patted the bags while shifting another slightly closer to the inside wall of the vehicle. At
that moment Sara, Sean’s ten year old sister struggled into view, carrying another bag. She could
barely keep from dragging the piece of luggage on the ground and from time to time one end of the
Sara breathed an obvious sigh of relief as her brother took the heavy bag from her and
‘Thanks! It was ripping my arms off,’ she said, rubbing her right elbow. She turned and
‘I thought we’d head straight to Crescent Head. We’ll have had a good breakfast. No need to
Sean nodded. The drive usually only took them three and a half hours and he had collected a
bit of a stash of goodies to tie him over till they got to their destination. A few choc bars, a bottle of
drink, some chips. Sean’s stomach growled at the thought of the food.
‘The latest is that by the time we get there, a three to four foot swell will be wrapping
around the point, with a nice offshore breeze.’ Mike grinned at Sean. ‘Just enough to feather the
lip.’
They laughed and picked up the pace loading the RV and in no time they were heading back
inside where Mike got busy preparing their generous breakfast. As they sat around the large family
table, the light hearted banter fuelled the excitement of spending the next month simply enjoying
A little later the whole family was sitting comfortably in the RV. The automatic pilot had
engaged the very moment the vehicle had hit the express way, slotting the RV into the remotely
regulated traffic system that maintained their vehicle at an appropriate distance from the rest of the
traffic. At an average speed of two hundred kilometers an hour Crescent Head was within easy
reach for a normal weekend away and Mike and Jo loved the surf break enough not to feel the need
While the kids sat in the back amidst a host of things to occupy them on the drive, Mike and
Jo sat quietly up front each taking in the scenery as it flashed past them. A forceful ping from the
‘There’s been a cancellation at the camping ground.’ He paused and looked inquiringly at Jo.
‘The cabin closest to the point is now available and they’ve just offered it to us. Do you want to
take it? It’ll be a couple of hundred credits more for the holiday.’
‘Sure, why not.’ She grinned. ’Then we’ll be even closer to the surf than before and if the
Mike didn’t respond to her light-hearted banter but simply nodded, tapped out a reply and
clipped it back into its dashboard fitting. He sat back and continued to peruse the passing scenery.
It was as if a sudden, dark cloud seemed to manifest in the cabin of the car.
He spoke, softly, almost to himself. ‘The warming seems to be accelerating. The reactors
aren't doing the job we’d hoped for.’ Mike paused. ‘We tried to tell them but no, they had to have
their way.’
Jo looked across at Mike. She frowned at her husband, her concerns etched deeply into her
forehead. ‘Mike, you did the best you could. All of you did.’ She paused for a second, an invisible
hand wiping the frown from her face. ‘Now, no more work, ok? We’re here to have a good time
Mike tore himself away from his intense scrutiny of the landscape. He looked at Jo and his
face, too, relaxed. ‘Promise.’ He sighed and shifted his weight in his seat, which in turn reclined as
if responding to some unspoken command. Slowly he closed his eyes to drift off into a well-
deserved sleep.
***
As they took the freeway exit at Kempsey, the RV switched to driving mode and Jo
confidently took charge of the vehicle, negotiating the winding road that would lead them to their
destination. Coming into the camping area, Jo slowed the vehicle down to walking pace, conscious
Some of the crowd were heading along the path towards the point, most were carrying
surfboards of one description or another. All of them sported the different coloured armbands that
signified their turn in the water. Reds would surf with reds, blues with blues and so on. Mike
watched them from the car, a wry smile curling the corner of his mouth. He had read about the days
before the licensing and armband system had been introduced sixty years ago at all the major surf-
breaks. It worked, in a way, although there were the mavericks who still refused to comply. They
risked banishment from the beach but most were too skilled in evading detection and arrest. These
‘break rats’ were a nomadic bunch that would turn up at a beach or point-break, surf for as long as
they could without a hassle and then disappear only to turn up at another beach somewhere to flaunt
As Jo pulled the RV into the carport of their cabin the back of the vehicle erupted with Sean
‘Can we go out for a surf straight away? We can unpack later, Mum!’ She quickly jabbed
Sean in the ribs who winced in mock pain. ‘Check out that wave, Sean!’
Sean pushed his sister into the corner of her seat, laughing. ‘Yeah, Dad! Let’s go now. We
As the back of the car broke down into playful chaos, Jo took charge of the mayhem and
‘HEY, KIDS!’ The din in the back stopped and she dropped the volume of her voice. ‘Slow
down. We need to unpack some of the things because we need to get to some of the gear.’
Sean and Sara were about to protest when Jo raised her hand, pulling them firmly into line.
‘We don’t have to do the lot, but some of it needs to be done now, OK?’
Sara wanted to continue to argue but Sean wrapped his hand gently around her mouth,
The two kids eagerly jumped from the car and ran to the back. The tail gate opened
smoothly and the two started to quickly unload the back while Mike unhooked the boards from the
roof frame and placed them on the patch of green lawn in front of their cabin. He turned and took
the two steps up to the front porch of the hut in one stride.
The auto-security system of the cabin obliged, obediently allowing the front door to slide
***
Twenty minutes later the Turner family was lined up on the concrete platform that jutted out
across the rounded stones that lined the edge of the point. Once, long ago, surfers would stagger
perilously across the different shaped stones that lined the edge of the shore, intently watching the
sets of waves washing across towards land. Choosing the right moment, they would then launch
themselves into the break between the sets and paddle out. Someone, eventually, had decided to
build a concrete platform from which to step out from, making the whole thing safer and more
regimented.
The queue of surfers the Turners had joined wound its way beck to the grassy slope and
along the path. A siren suddenly sounded out, signaling the green’s to catch their last wave for their
set and to return to the beach while on the concrete platform all the surfers with orange bands
shuffled excitedly towards the end of the pier, ready to leap into the surf to take their turn at scoring
The siren cut through the air again and one by one, the orange banded surfers launched into
the ocean like a row of penguins. Sara turned and looked her mother who gave her a reassuring
look.
Sara smiled back, turned and launched herself into the ocean. As she and her board hit the
frothing, white water she started to paddle furiously towards the back of the take off point, eager not
to get caught in the relentless churning sea crashing along the rocky shore.
Sean meanwhile slipped into the water like a sleek otter. A fast and powerful paddler, he
reached the take off zone at the same time as his sister. Both sat up and surveyed the horizon,
They didn’t have long to wait. Sitting deeper than anyone else, Sean quickly turned his
board and paddled into the swell. He easily got to his feet and as the board picked up speed along
the green wall. He faded left and then brought the longboard in a smooth arc to the right, releasing it
to accelerate once more. He then let the board drop down the face a little and, with a slight shifting
of his weight, stalled it. Two quicks steps forward and he was riding the nose. Elated by the feeling
of hanging at the end of the board, Sean continued to trim it, he finalised his choreography with a
Back to lying prone on the board and paddling out to the point, he watched his mother
position herself on a wave. She elegantly trimmed the board into the curl, her hand hand reaching
out, caressing the white foam bubbling at the edge off the clear, green water. Sean smiled and
At that instant Sara picked her wave. She paddled hard but as she was just about to get to her
feet the wave pitched mercilessly forward and she was buried under the white water. Seconds later
‘Bad luck!’ Sean called out to her. Irritated Sara poked her tongue out at her brother who in
‘Don’t be a smart ass, Sean! You know she hates that.’ Busy teasing his sister, Sean was
Moments later Mike punched in for a late take off. He took the drop and smoothly trimmed
the board along the clean wall. Arcing high across onto the wave, Mike set up an elegant drop knee
turn into the foam and then seamlessly swung the board back along the face of the wave.
Just behind his father, Sean took off on the wave behind. As he set up the drop for a long
bottom hand turn, Sean suddenly got caught by the lip. Churned by the white water Sean shuts his
***
‘Sean, it’s me, Jenny.’ The mellow, melodious sound of Jenny’s voice penetrated the
darkness in Sean’s head. With some effort, he squinted into the cold light of the lab.
‘Come on,’ the technician continued, ‘you’ve got another session tomorrow.’
Reluctantly Sean opened his eyes fully to the harsh glare. It took a few seconds before he
could focus on his surroundings. When he did, the first thing he saw was Jenny’s ample cleavage
with the word ‘HypnotechSolutions’ beaming from the fabric of her white blouse.
Sean looked around the room. The white walls were lined with similar modular recliner
units, all shaped like half-pods, some of them occupied with children and teenagers who appeared
asleep. Above each unit a screen lit with a series of lights gave the technicians like Jenny immediate
feedback on the occupant of the pod. At the other end of the room the stark emptiness of a blank
‘Up you get.’ Jenny was persistent and Sean knew that there was no point dragging this out
any longer.
‘OK, OK!’
He sat up, hanging his lanky frame from the edge of the bed and running his hand through
‘Good.’ Jenny smiled approvingly at Sean. ‘I’ll be next door.’ She affectionately tussled his
While Sean got up, Jenny turned into the room next door. A sliding door hissed behind her,
sealing her off from the corridor. A relatively young man in a white coat, Dr. Johnson, stood in front
of a one-way glass wall allowing him to look into the lab where Sean was getting to his feet.
Without turning to look at Jenny he asked, ‘What do you think?’ Despite his matter of fact
‘He’s been through a lot,’ Jenny paused, frowning. ‘The evacuation process of most of the
children was tough, but with the virtual programme ... I think he’ll adjust.’ She stopped, swallowing
hard, suppressing the rising emotion. ‘He... They’ve lost everything; parents; home; a whole
planet.’
***
Sean walked slowly across the room to the empty wall. He stepped up to it, reached out and,
almost hesitantly, touched it. The surface of the wall suddenly rippled like the surface of a milky
pond. A second later a breathtaking view manifested across the screen. He drew a sharp breath and
The characteristic red, dusty surface of Mars sprawled out in front of him towards a distant
horizon. A deep valley cut across the vast plain below. Far in the distance he could see a huge dome
suspended over the landscape while in the ochre sky tiny-looking aircraft and a huge, incoming
Sean raised his hand and waived it from left to right. The screen changed instantly, revealing
the face of an attractive newsreader who’s modulated voice read the latest reports. Graphic images
of tidal waves, shattered buildings and massive storms flashed before Sean. He watched with a
blank stare.
‘Wednesday, 8th of August, 2188. Continuing earthquakes and extreme tidal waves continue
to devastate vast tracks of Earth. The eight super-reactors designed to stabilise global warming
more than a century ago have proven an ongoing liability. As Earth’s climate degradation
accelerated in the past fifty years, rising sea levels and geological disturbances have continued to
wreak havoc and several of the reactors have now been completely compromised.’
As Sean watched scenes of devastation flash before him, the newsreader suddenly paused.
She put her hand to her ear, tilted her head and listened intently.
‘In devastating news just to hand the super-reactor on the Australian continent has exceeded
critical limits and has gone into meltdown. Federation leaders have now come to the most difficult
of all decisions. Final evacuations of the children of Earth to Moon and Mars bases and cities have
been initiated. Sadly there are currently no reports of survivors from any of the major population
centres in Oceania.’ The newsreader paused. ‘ This ends our current news bulletin for the Eighth of
August. We now return you to our scheduled programme but will continue to keep you breast of any
further news.’
Sean, tears streaming down his face, continued to stare silently at the disappearing image.
His hand, levitated towards the screen in a slow arc and as his finger tips touched the screen, his lips
THE END