1 disappointment

1. The skyline. We are ambling up some narrow, winding road, typical of what you find in Paddington, Red Hill, the inner northern suburbs. We are lost in the lack of streetlights, and in the car, with the doors good and locked, we cower beneath the trees leaning in over us from both sides of the street. We are driving and arguing as you do when direction goes astray and the destination is no longer here or there but somewhere far away. And then. An opening at the end of the road, like the wide, shimmering hole of a tunnel. We see the sky brighten as the city lights project onto the black backdrop, and the buildings stretch and glisten and welcome us into the night. ‘Wow,’ I say, ‘That’s pretty.’ And for a moment we are harmonious and grateful. But before I continue to dish out the praise, we see four giant Xs flashing tediously, flashing neon red, on top of a stout orange brick box, and we are reminded that yes, we are in Brisbane, home of Australia’s worst beer, perhaps amongst other things. And so the spell is broken and so we continue to argue.