Dazzling lights, glistening stars, columns of glitter and waves of shimmery gold streamers that majestically fell to the ground.
We stood and stared in awe.
“It looks like a celebrity party”. I wondered out loud, staring up at the top level of the Overseas Passenger Terminal at Circular Quay, where the party was held. “Or a ticketed event?”, I added excitedly.
Shani nodded enthusiastically. “Whatever it is, it looks amazing. Let’s go see!”
We ran up the stairs and stopped at the entrance. Our eyes widened as we looked through the glass doors with wonder. It looked so inviting.
“Wow!” We both mouthed at the same time.
Before we had a chance to wander through the doors, a security guard appeared from out of nowhere. He asked if we had invitations to the wedding. I darted a look at Shani.
Always quick-witted, Shani cheekily told the guard that it was her cousin’s wedding and that she had left the invitation at home. He gave Shani a hard look and said matter of factly, “You can’t come in without an invitation, so I will get the bride – she’s just over there”. He pointed over to where the the bride stood amongst a group of young women and told us to wait.
Shani grabbed my arm and said, “Quick, let’s go!”
We ran back down the stairs giggling.
“What would you have done if the bride had actually come to greet us?” I laughed.
“Ha”, chortled Shani. She tried to compose herself and responded with a broad Aussie accent, “Well, you remember me don’t ya? I’m your cousin Sheila from back o’ Bourke. Your second cousin, or maybe third… ya know, from your dad’s side?”
“Oh yeah”, I continued, mockingly, pretending to be the bride. “You’re the one who ruined my dolls when I was a kid… it was ya dingo that ate them!”.
Totally unaware of starring passers-by, we skipped along towards the Rocks, arm in arm like a couple of heady teenagers.
“Oh I wish we could have just wandered through those streamers. It looked so magical!” said Shani, all starry eyed.
“Yeah”, I sighed. “Wouldn’t it be great to put on a show like that…with all those sparkly lights and streamers”. I started to visualise some kind of play or musical production with a bunch of actors and musicians on stage.
“Oh yes, that would be awesome!” agreed Shani, nodding furiously.
We both looked at our watches.
“It’s almost 8 o’clock!”, I cried. “We’ll be late”.
“Don’t worry. They don’t usually start on time”, Shani reassured. “Let’s get a wiggle on though eh?!”
We both started running!
[ to be continued ]
Photo by Lucas Kapla on Unsplash