Lucy in the Sky

hair. I spent enough time with the straighteners this morning.’
    ‘Been a long time since you were on this ferry, hey, Lucy?’ Sam says, after she’s left.
    ‘Yeah,’ I murmur, and as an afterthought get a hair tie out of my bag and pull my hair back into a ponytail. I remember how knotty it used to get on this crossing.
    The last time I caught this ferry I was with Molly and Sam. The three of us hung over that very railing, Molly and I both flanking Sam in the middle. It was just before I left Australia and they were on one of their on-again times. I remember feeling terribly left out. On the whole they never made me feel like three was a crowd, but at that age and at that time, especially considering the feelings I had for Sam, it was quite painful. Sam kept putting his hand up to stroke Molly’s mop-head and theywere laughing as our hair blew all over the place. I still recall the comb bringing tears to my eyes as I tried to untangle my hair that night.
    Sam’s mobile phone rings and he makes his way to the other side of the ferry to take the call, leaving Nathan and me alone and facing each other.
    There are no buildings on this part of the mainland and it’s green, full of trees. The tops of the city’s business towers start to appear above the cliffs. I can just make out concrete structures on the cliff face.
    ‘Look.’ I get up and go over to the railings. ‘I’ve never noticed those before.’ Nathan joins me and we stand side by side. ‘Are they left over from the war, do you think?’ I ask, nodding towards the small, grey buildings.
    He leans over, resting his elbows on the railings.
    ‘That’s right,’ I continue. ‘Didn’t the Japanese manage to get submarines into Sydney Harbour?’
    ‘That rings a bell. But I left school at sixteen, remember?’ he answers.
    I don’t really know what to say to that.
    ‘Sam would know for sure,’ he says after a moment. ‘Ask him when he gets back.’
    I see some movement in the ocean and spot seals ducking and diving in the surf alongside the boat, their small black bodies slick with the water. The white foam from the ferry’s wake is almost blinding in the sunlight.
    I’m glad of the distraction.
    ‘That reminds me of our dolphins.’ I look across at him.
    ‘That was a classic,’ he responds. ‘Actually, I’ve got a joke for you.’
    ‘Not another elephant joke…’ I groan.
    ‘No. I found my old joke book last night and they really are crap. Well, unless you want to know why elephants have trunks?’
    ‘Since you’re asking…’
    ‘Because they can’t afford suitcases.’
    ‘That’s shit!’ I squeal.
    ‘I did warn you.’
    ‘Was that the worst?’
    ‘Of the elephant jokes?’
    I nod.
    ‘Hell no, I can top that.’
    ‘Go on, then.’
    ‘Okay, but this is definitely my last one, because the others really are appalling. What’s the similarity between a plum and an elephant?’
    Pause.
    ‘They’re both purple. Except for the elephant.’
    I laugh, then snort and he grins down at me.
    ‘So do you want to hear my properly funny joke?’ he asks, after a while.
    ‘Are you sure it’s properly funny?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘I think I need to after that.’
    ‘Okay. Brace yourself,’ he says. ‘A man is stopped by the police for driving a van full of penguins. Even though the man argues that the penguins are all his friends, the policeman orders him to take the penguins to the zoo. The very next day, the same man, the same van and the same penguins are stopped by the same policeman, except this day all of the penguins are wearing shades. “I thought I told you to take these penguins to the zoo,” thepoliceman says. “I did,” the man replies, “and today we’re going to the beach.’”
    ‘What are you laughing at?’ Molly and Amy appear through the cabin doorway.
    ‘Oh, just telling silly jokes,’ I giggle.
    Sam returns, putting his mobile phone back into his pocket. ‘Ben and Adam are running a bit late.’
    Nathan looks at his watch. ‘No worries. We’ve got an hour to kill. Beer down by the harbour?’
    ‘Sounds good,’ Sam agrees.
    ‘Amy’s going to pop in and see her mum when we get there,’ Molly tells me. ‘She’ll meet us in an hour at the Ocean Room.’
    I forget to ask Sam about the Japanese submarines in the harbour.
    As the ferry turns the corner, the Sydney Opera House looms into view. There are dozens of sailboats out, all leaning in exactly the same direction. The ferry honks its horn as