Story: Ending Part 4
[[Continuity Note: After everything falls apart, Alf has a D&M with Rock.]]
After speaking with Rock, Alf could only go home and deal with what had been dealt him. It was strange, how such a short amount of time having something could suddenly become such a big part of yourself. Having magic had become part of his identity.
Who was Alf Struthers before he'd become a magic user? How could he go back to being that person? And he would have to. The council had ruled that he, Damien and Rock were to be treated as though they were nons, even now while they still had magic. Supposedly it would be better in the long run, for them not to get too used to it. But Alf already had. He'd forgotten who he was.
He hadn't listened to any of his favourite rock groups since he'd found out. The Go-Betweens, The Rolling Stones, The Killers, The Church, INXS, Deep Purple, Queen... He hadn't heard a single word of them since before that fateful day when he'd left Rock stranded in a parking lot. And though it had all worked out, nothing could get him to forgive himself about that. And because of it, he'd always want to be there for Rock. But right now he couldn't. Alf berated himself. How had he managed to screw that up? The old Alf would never have done that, would he? He didn't know.
He hadn't watched a single cricket match or tennis game since he'd found out. The Ashes were on, and Alf hadn't caught a single minute. He wouldn't be able to tell you who had won. The single most important series of test matches in the Australian/English cricket calendar. The one event that you couldn't be caught dead missing if you were a cricket fan, even if you hated the Australian team at the time. The most important matches of the year, and Alf would not be able to tell you whether the convicts or the poms had won. Even if he could tell you everyone who'd ever won in the years before that. Even if he could tell you the final scores, wickets taken and runs scored by each player on both teams from each of the ten Ashes series before that.
He hadn't eaten anything strange like tacos with no filling, or asked to have cheese melted on the top of his pide from the local kebab shop. He'd eaten whatever was on his plate without pouring extra (unneeded) sauce on top of it. He'd never asked for things removed or added to his Big Mac at McDonald's. And no one had commented on it. People liked the new Alf Struthers better.
On the other hand, he could now tell you the botanical and common names of every plant in his family's garden, as well as at school. He hadn't quite gotten around to naming every single one at the Aldus house, though. Simply because they had such a wide variety.
Alf could now list the forty-eight shades of brown from Nick Earls' book since he could now name that many different brown birds.
Alf hadn't realised how different he'd become, how his habits had changed, just because he'd found out that he could use magic. He wasn't as shy as he used to be. He wasn't as keen on following the rules. He had hardly paid attention to his school work in the past few weeks of year nine.
Alf was a different person. And he was pretty sure that he couldn't go back to being the old Alf Struthers even if he tried. And he was pretty sure that he didn't want to go back to being the old Alf Struthers.
[[End 'scene']]
posted by Cedric @ 10:07 am
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