Thursday, February 12, 2009

Ordered Photo of Sam – the Rescued Koala

As soon as M left for work today, I too was on my way to the Herald Sun Shop to purchase a photo of Sam, the koala who was rescued by a CFA guy. Not wishing to walk too much, I opted for the short cut via the back gate. As soon as I got to the footpath, I happened to look across the street and saw a new booth set up on one side of the driveway going into the back of the morgue (aka Coronial Services Centre & Victorian Institute of Forensic Pathology). Inside the booth sat an officer with a blue cap on. I couldn’t quite tell if he was a security officer or a policeman. To the left of the booth, I saw marquees set up on the area immediately behind the main building. The marquees were surrounded by temporary fencing and each panel was further covered with a layer of black mesh to block people walking past from looking in. So, that was the temporary morgue they set up. What a sight? I stood outside our building for a minute or two. My stomach was turned upside down – similar but less intense to how I felt when I discovered that my Guinea Pig had passed away 9 months ago. I find it very hard to accept that horrible things can happen in Melbourne or Australia. People complained about the lack of proper storage in Thailand after the Boxing Day Tsunami but it turned out that Melbourne’s morgue too is very small.

When I noticed that the officer inside the booth was looking at me, I turned to continue my journey to buy that all so touching photo. Three people were working in the shop and I was the second to be served at the time. From what I overheard, every call the three very busy people answered when I was there were enquiries to buy the photo of Sam. It turned out that they didn’t have the photos in the shop. I was required to fill in a form, pay for it and pick it up next week. I hope there are no hiccoughs. I just can’t wait to buy a frame for it and to place it next to my Guinea Pig’s photos.

According to the news, Sam has a new friend. His name is Bob. He too suffered burns. Apparently Bob would put his arm around Sam. I wish that someone would take a photo of that.

I was brought up with close contact to Amahs because my parents were very busy. As a result I was exposed to a never ending source of ghost stories. The women probably found it easier to scare me as a way to control a head-strong and demanding girl. Those ghost stories gave me nightmares for years and made me more superstitious than any members of my immediate family. Today, as I stood there looking at those marquees, I wasn’t a bit scared at all. Instead, I felt total sadness for those people. What a way to go?

I will post again about Sam when I receive the photo next week.

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