We were all anxious about the takeoff. With one faulty engine and a short rough runway, we neded all the airspeed we could muster to get airborne. We hung on and braced ourselves as we roared down the runway. The bouncing suddenly stopped. We were airborn! we seemed to skim the wave tops for ages before we started a slow climb to our normal cruising altitude. This was another boring featureless flight, over the sea towards Darwin. I don't know what I was expecting, but whatever it was, I was dissapointed. Darwin was a mosquito ridden dump at  that time. We ate slept and took off after refuelling. Still with a faulty engine. The other aircraft did not come with us, this time we were alone and heading for a well known town in the outback. Alice springs. Now we were flying over some great country, it seemed so crisp and clean- even if most of it was desert. We landed at alice springs to refuel, and then took off with full tanks, heading for the Australian Air Force base near Adelaide, I think it was at Edinburgh Fields. Gordon was sleeping, or trying to, I was sitting by the window gazing at the countryside below. I began to see what looked like a vapour trail coming from the wing, there was one similar coming from the wing opposite too, it was very slight, was I seeing things, perhaps it was moisture in the air, I sat and watched for half an hour, it was more noticeable now, and it seemed to be coming from the fuel tank filler pipes. I thought it was worth a mention, and I went to the cockpit where the pilot and radio operator were talking to the fitters. The Pilot was thumping the gauges on a panel. I told them what I saw. Christ! the pilot and the fitters looked worried very worried.
He patted me on the shoulder, "Well done, we thought the fuel gauges must be faulty. He turned the aircraft around and headed back to Alice springs for another refuelling. The tanks were filled again, the filler caps were ******* down tight, and we took off again!  Twenty minutes later we were back for more fuel and the filler caps were checked and rechecked and finally ******* down as tight as possible. We took of again, and landed again, took on more fuel,and  tightened the filler caps. "It's too late to continue with the flight now, we'll stay in town tonight and try again in the morning. "That was easier said than done, we had no money and no credit, we managed to get a room at the pilots expense , but there was no food but a packet of biscuits.
I lay on the bed beside four others and wondered what tomorrow would bring.

The girl who never cried broke out in tears,
How can this be?
She tries to say this isn't real,it's not reality
But she doesn't wake and her heart continues to ache,
He wasn't just some boy
To her he was everything she'd ever need,
She feared without him she wouldn't suceed,
She fell to pieces,
She hurt inside and out,
She neded to shout
Even moew she needed to know if he always had doubts.

How could she have been such a fool,
She believed his lies,
To him she was just another tool,
He used her and made her feel like nothing,
Her heart no longer feels anything but pain,
Her world was shattered and her heart was slain,
This may be her end,
She can no longer go on and pretend,
No it's not alright,
No it's not okay,
She can't bare to stay
Her life must be taken away,
One more day like this
Just to make sure there's nothing she'd miss,
Then she'll be dead
Remembering how he loved her instead.

If you want to laugh,
I will be your smile.
I will be anything that you need.

If you want to fly,
I will be your sky.
Anything you need, that's what I will be.

If you want to cry,
I will be your sholder.
Everything you want, that's what I will be.

If you want to love,
I will be your heart.
I will always be what you Neded.

she dreamed of simple things not beyond her means
to frolic amidst the dust of tranquility
a tug at her heart would light the inner spark of what she neded to know

She leaned upon her balcony, in the darkness,
Folding her hands beneath her chin;
And watched the lamps begin
Here and there to pierce like eyes the darkness,--
From windows, luminous rooms,
And from the damp dark street
Between the moving branches, and the leaves with rain still sweet.
It was strange: the leaves thus seen,
With the lamplight's cold bright glare thrown up among them,--
The restless maple leaves,
Twinkling their myriad shadows beneath the eaves,--
Were lovelier, almost, than with sunlight on them,
So bright they were with young translucent green;
Were lovelier, almost, than with moonlight on them. . . .
And looking so wistfully across the city,
With such a young, and wise, and infinite pity
For the girl who had no lover
To walk with her along a street like this,
With slow steps in the rain, both aching for a kiss,--
It seemed as if all evenings were the same,
As if all evenings came
With just such tragic peacefulness as this;
With just such hint of loneliness or pain,
The quiet after rain.
her pulse was rushing as she looked towards nature's magnificience
at last she made it through onto so much more