The Common Good.

Alan Monk was tolerated by the townies and avoided by his neighbours.

He lived in a derelict old house beside a gravel road which was 37 minutes from town. His house was surrounded by the rusting bodies of numerous vehicles, bits and pieces of sun rotted plastic, broken glass and thousands of old tin cans.

The first thing you noticed about Alan were his feet. No matter what the season he always had bare feet. Visitors would watch in amazement as Alan walked obliviously over his broken glass, tin can and nail strewn paddocks.

Old Jim from down the road, loved to tell people how he had a 6 inch nail go right through his gumboot when he was once foolish enough to follow barefooted Alan across his house paddock.

But despite his fascinating bullet proof feet, the thing Alan was most famous for was his flat mates. No one knew for sure just exactly how many he had, as the numbers seemed to change with the seasons. The locals generally agreed that winter was when he had the most, and that in summer their numbers dwindled.

Jim once counted 29 while he was cutting his hay paddock across the road from Alan's house. His neighbor Selwyn, had once counted 46 on his way home from the pub . But Jim reckoned Selwyn might have been seeing double at the time.

Nonetheless, despite the general lack of consensus on numbers, the one thing everyone did agree on was that it was disgusting and that something should be done about it.

The most unseemly thing of all was that every one of them was an out and out pig. Mostly they were black, some were a dirty brown colour, and one was white except for a big brown patch just above his snout.



(Two)



If Alan had allowed himself to have a favorite it would have been Nocturne. But being a devout communist he wouldn't allow himself such a foolish luxury.





Nocturne was a huge black captain cooker that Alan had caught in a gin trap as a piglet. For the first year the two were inseparable. Nocturne even had the privilege of sleeping on the end of Alan's bed. But that came to an end when his rapidly increasing bulk caused the legs of the bed to punch through the floor boards.

Nocturne's behaviour began to change when he was about a year old. He followed Alan around less and less, and would frequently disappear into the bush for two or three day at a time. This continued on for several months until nocturne returned from one of his forays with badly mauled testicles and a very bad attitude.

The day after his return he attacked Kip (a mongrel dog that Alan had liberated from the pound) fortunately Kip was more fleet of foot then Nocturne and made good his escape.

Next he started to make Alan get out of his way, rather then the other way round. This didn't worry Alan too much, as he was a firm believer in equality, regardless of race, gender or species.

Then he began to grind his tusks whenever Alan walked past. This did concern him a bit, but he simply dealt with it by giving Nocturne a wider berth.

One day however it all came to a head when Nocturne was just a bit quicker then Kip and disembowelled him with a quick flick of his head, after which he retreated to the house and refused to let Alan or any of the animals in.

Alan responded by enticing Nocturne out of the house with his favourite treat, the carcase of a possum. All antagonism temporarily forgotten, Nocturne followed Alan up the ramp of a trailer, to receive the tender morsel. While he was busy devouring it, Alan quietly slipped past him, and closed the gate of the stock crate.

20 kilometres later Nocturne was liberated in some dense bush, and Alan returned home feeling quite upset, but knowing that what he had done was for the common good.

Three weeks later however a very thin angry pig returned home from his 20 kilometre journey. On seeing Alan he immediately began to grind his tusks and then promptly bailed Alan up the old macrocarpa tree by the house. Two pigs rallied to Alan's defence, but ended up receiving some nasty rips for their trouble.

On nightfall Nocturne took up residence in the house and evicted all the other pigs except for Fortress (who just happened to be in season at the time).

Alan spent the night snuggled up with the rest of the herd under the house (he never referred to the house as his, as he considered private property to be anathema).

After a sleepless night Alan came to the conclusion that Nocturne had defected, and that for the good of all the inhabitants of the farm, he needed to be eliminated.

On day break He cleared his trap line and brought 4 of the largest possums home. Next he milked the house cow and took a bucket of milk and the possums and placed them beside the Rewarewa tree next to the implement shed.

Upon seeing these delicacies some of the other pigs began to kick up a racket, but they soon desisted when Alan scolded them. Nocturne on hearing all the noise left the sanctity of the house to see what had caused the furore, upon seeing the possums and milk he raced over and began to indulge himself, grunting contentedly.

Tucked away in the implement shed, Alan closed the bolt on a 303, and patiently waited as Nocturne tucked into his meal. After devouring the possums Nocturne began to noisily suck up the contents of the bucket. It was only when he got to the very bottom of the bucket that Alan squeezed the trigger.


Peace returned to Alan's world for nearly 13 months, until another boar (Berlin) began to try and take control. Again Alan tried his best to accommodate the pigs bad manners, but as with Nocturne it came to the point where Berlin simply had to go for the good of the all.

This time Alan ensured that Berlin would not come back by taking him over 70 kilometres away. But much to Alan's amazement and despair, Berlin eventually returned.

Berlin too got to enjoy his last meal underneath the Rewarewa.

Alan buried him behind the hay shed next to Nocturne.

(Three)


Leonie was 5 foot nothing, and quite attractive in a plump sort of way. Inspired by George Orwells “Down and out in Paris and London” she had recently dropped out of university, renounced capitalism and disowned her families quite considerable wealth.


However the exhilaration of not having unlimited funds at her disposal had began to wane almost as fast as the dishes stacked up, so she decided that life as a kitchen hand was not for her. Unsure of what to do next she abandoned herself to fate, filled her pack, grabbed her guitar and hitch hiked out of town.

Being female and young she had no shortage of rides and soon found herself a long way from anywhere. Her last ride after ever so casually placing his hand on Leonie's thigh was rewarded with a piercing scream that left his ears ringing for days.

So at 5 O'clock in the evening she found herself abandoned on a country road, not knowing quite what to do next. It was as she was sitting on the side of the road, head between her hands, lost in thought, that Horace (one of Alan's pigs) decided to check her out for provisions. He pushed his way through the fence and raced toward her. The noise snapped Leonie out of her reverie, and on looking up she saw 160 pounds of tusked boar racing toward her.

Well if the creep who had given Leonie her last ride had heard the scream she gave Horace, he would have considered himself let of lightly. As for poor old Horace it caused him to slam on his anchors showering both himself and Leonie with dust and stones.

Alan was enthroned on his long drop, reading a old copy of the Herald when he heard the scream. After quickly redeploying the herald he pulled up his strides and raced outside.


Alan found Leonie hugging a branch 8 feet up in a gnarly old Macrocarpa.

“Do you need a hand?” .

“Is it going to come back?” quavered Leonie, pointing to Horace who was now back in his paddock rooting up the ground searching for dinner.


"No" said Alan, looking as awkward as he felt (Alan had always felt awkward around woman and tried to avoid them).

There was a long awkward silence as Alan pretended to examine his feet,while Leoni simply stood staring at Alan trying to work out what she was going to do next.

"It's getting dark" said Leoni.

"Yeah, it is."

"I've got nowhere to stay, I don't know what to do!"

Alan shuffled his feet awkwardly and began digging a stone out of the road with his big toe. He wanted to offer her the caravan that sat next to his house. But he thought she might think he was coming on to her.


Leoni felt like she was about to cry. Mosquitoes had started to attack her, and darkness began to swallow up the scenery.

"Could I stay at your place, just till the morning and then I'll go".

"You could stay in my caravan. It's a bit rough, but you'll be okay."

Leoni smiled at him, which made Alan feel glad.

(Four)

The caravan was very musty, and the bed was uncomfortable, but at least it was a refuge from the mosquitoes and darkness. Leoni tossed and turned on the sagging bed, but eventually drifted off to sleep.

She was woken just on daybreak by a pig that was contentedly scratching its back on the base of the caravan . It gave her quite a start, and it took her a second or 2 to work out where she was.

Leoni had slept fully clothed which was just as well, because there were no curtains in the windows. She desperately felt the need for a shower so grabbing her toilet bag she stepped outside and headed towards Alan's house.

Alan was sitting on his front porch scratching the back of a very large pig with a stick. When he saw Leoni approaching he began to smile, until he noticed the toilet bag, and her direction of travel.

Alan quickly stood up and began to walk towards her.

"Thanks for letting me stay", Leoni smiled. "I was wondering if I could use your bathroom."?

Alan looked panicked. "um, it's not working at the moment". Quickly, he gazed around his property looking for inspiration. "You could um use the horse trough over by the shed, its pretty clean, and the pigs can't get in it." said Alan hopefully.

Leoni wasn't impressed. "Well where do you normally have a bath or shower or whatever it is that you do?"

Alan's face reddened , and he began to stammer as he tried to think of something to say. "You you could use the river, it should be quite warm at the moment, that's normally what I do".

With no alternative offering itself, Leoni headed to the river with a retinue of several pigs. Being a city girl she was not used to pigs or rivers or even taking her clothes off in the great outdoors. The pigs eyes look so human to her that she left her underwear on while she bathed in the river.

Despite the piggy eyes and the lack of privacy, she quite enjoyed the experience, it made her feel more like the person she hoped to be, though she wasn't really sure what that was.

As she headed back to her caravan she noticed Alan was back on the porch with a stick grooming a different pig this time. Alan looked up at her without making eye contact "I suppose you don't have anything to eat"

"No I haven't" replied Leoni "I'll grab something to eat when I get to town"


Alan dropped his stick on the ground and stood up. "I'd give you a ride but my cars out of gas at the moment"

"That's kind, but I'll be fine I'll just hitch hike"

Alan picked his stick up and began drawing circles in the dust. He felt strange, he didn't know whether he wanted Leoni to stay or to go. He had long been quite content living with the animals, but now he felt lonely at the thought of Leoni leaving. His feelings surprised and unnerved him.

Alan threw his stick into the scrub. "Not many cars come this way, you might have a long wait. I need to go into town tomorrow to get some gas for the car, I could give you a ride into town once I get back".

"How are you going to get into town" she asked.

"I'll probably just jog in"

" But" exclaimed Leoni "it's more than 35 km away"!

"I guess it probably is" replied Alan.

(Five)

Leoni spent the rest of the day wandering around the farm in awe of the chaos that was Alan's life. She was still very mistrustful of the pigs, but found it impossible to avoid them. At first the pigs were fascinated by her as she was new and they were ever hopeful of gaining a tidbit . But by the end of the first day she was no longer new and had proved herself to be a dry well when it came to sustenance, so the pigs began to ignore her (much to Leoni's relief).

Alan shared a stew with her which was comprised of potatoes, watercress, parsnip, onions and possum. Fortunately for Leoni she didn't ask what the meat was because had she known she
would have been violently ill .

After the shared meal Leoni began to barrage Alan with questions about his way of life, why he lived like he did, what were the pigs were all about and what did he do for a living?. Alan ever the evangelist when it came to his communistic ideals was only too happy to share his them with her.

By the time Leoni went to bed her head was spinning, and it was well after midnight before she fell a sleep. When she woke up next morning, she couldn't find Alan anywhere. The door to the house was shut and three very large pig's were sound asleep on the porch in front of the door. Leoni was not usually a nosy person but the way Alan had steered her away from the house every time she went near it, had aroused her curiosity.

Gingerly she walked up the steps past the sleeping pigs and peered in through the window. The windows were covered in dust and grime and it was very dark inside, so it took a moment or two for her eyes to adjust to the gloom. When her eyes had finally adjusted she was horrified by what she saw . The floor was caked in pig pooh and in places it looked to be 20 or 30 cm deep and there were old chewed bones scattered all over the place and in one corner was the remains of a possum carcass.

Leoni stepped down of the porch feeling both guilty and nauseated. She could not comprehend how any human being could live in such squalor. She was so shocked she had to go to her caravan for a lie down.


Alan returned early in the evening clutching a 10 L container of petrol. True to his word he had jogged the 37 km into town brought the petrol and then jogged 37 km back to his house again. By the time he had returned Leoni had recovered from the worst of her shock and had decided that Alan needed her help.

Alan disappeared inside his house and came outside an hour later with two plates of steaming stew. Even though Leoni was ravenous, the very thought of eating food that had been inside the house made her feel ill. She declined the meal by truthfully saying that she was not feeling very well.

After Alan had finished eating, Leoni again began to ask questions about his beliefs. She was fascinated most of all by the fact that Alan did not differentiate between man or beast when it came to right to life or need for shelter and food. He believed in equal rights for all species. Leoni was just about to ask how that applied to the contents of the stew, when she thought better of it.

Alan offered to give her a ride into town next morning, Leoni said that would be great as she needed to buy some food and a few other things. She then asked if it would it be all right if she stayed for a few more days. Again Alan felt uncertain, but as Leoni had a need of shelter his code of ethics and that strange feeling he had inside wouldn't allow him to turn her down.

(Six)


The days seemed to flash by to Leoni. She spent most of her time reading as she was a chronic bookworm and would stay in her caravan until about 10 AM each day ,after which the sun would chase her into the shade. Alan pretty much ignored her during the day, unless of course she ventured towards the house. It really annoyed Leoni that the pigs, ducks, flies and chooks were able to frequent the house whenever they so desired, yet she was denied access.

She was pretty sure it was because Alan was embarrassed by the state of his house . But she had a solution in mind that just required Alan to leave for a day or two so she could swing her plan into action. It took two long weeks before Alan announced that he had to go to his brother's place for a day or two.

True to his word Alan jogged off in the morning to visit his brother. Leoni immediately sprang into action. She went into the caravan and grabbed a scarf which she wrapped around her mouth and nose and then borrowed a square mouth shovel from the implement shed. The door of Alan's house was shut, but it had no lock so she simply opened it and immediately set to work. It took nearly half a day to scrape the accumulated faeces of pigs, chooks and dogs, that carpeted every room in the house. Several times she had to go outside for air.

Various members of the animal community attempted to enter the house, but Leoni shooed them out with the square mouth shovel. Next she began to scrub the floor with an old broom and copious quantities of detergent. Then she hosed the frothy mess out the door. Last of all she poured disinfectant onto the floor which she spread around with an old mop.

By the time she was finished she was absolutely exhausted and was ready to go to bed. She shut the door after leaving the house and then had to fight her way through the animals that had congregated outside the house.

The following day was spent cleaning the kitchen, washing Alan's bedlinen, and cleaning the windows. Despite her best efforts the house still smelt slightly of animal dung, but was a far cry from its former self. As it was a very hot day she left all the windows open ( though three of them wouldn't budge) to air the house out. She couldn't leave the door open for obvious reasons.

Leoni felt very excited, and couldn't wait for Alan's return. She knew he might feel a little awkward about her seeing the state of the house, but she had decided to say nothing about how filthy it was and instead let him enjoy his nice clean house.

Alan arrived later that day, Leoni could barely contain herself. She sat under the old walnut tree so she could watch Alan's reaction. Alan disappeared inside leaving the door open and within seconds three pigs followed him in. It took all of her self restraint to not run into the house to chase the pigs out, but she felt reasonably certain that Alan would do that for her once he saw how nice and clean everything was.

After several minutes Alan emerged minus the pigs and then sat down on the doorstep placing his head between his hands . Leoni stood up and walked over..

"What do you think?" She grinned.

"Why did you have to do that? why couldn't you just leave it alone?" replied Alan his face reddening.

"I just wanted to help was all, I thought you'd be really pleased, I worked really hard!"

Alan looked up at her and his face began to regain its normal colour
.
"I appreciate your help, but you just don't understand, the house belongs to all of us"

It was Leoni's turn to start feeling a little flushed.

"What do you mean the house belongs to us, you let the pigs, dogs, chooks and the rest of your filthy animals in, but as for me you wouldn't let me go near the place".


"And" she continued "it's just not right for a human being to live in such squalor, you'll end up dying from some horrible disease, and a pigs place is outside not in your bedroom ".

Alan stood up, "look, you welcome to stay here for as long as you like. But if you won't accept the way we live it would be best if you moved on. It's entirely up to you."

"But Alan, you can't go on living like this. Sure I think it's admirable the way you treat animals as equals. But you've got to draw the line somewhere and that line has got to be your house. Or your no better than a pig yourself.

"Well we aren't."

Leoni felt frustration and rage build up inside her. She picked up a stick raced into the house and evicted the pigs. She then stood in the doorway and screamed "your filthy animals are not coming into the house, not after all the hard work I've done. They will be just as happy sleeping outside. Surely even you can get that into your thick head."

With that Leoni went inside and slammed the door. She wedged the stick so that no one could open the door from outside. But she needn't have bothered as Alan just stayed outside with the pigs, and slept under the house that night.

Leoni could hardly sleep as her mind was a whirlwind. She felt like a bit of a fool, after all she was a guest of Alan's and had just locked him out of his own house. Still she reasoned to herself ,she was doing it for his own good. It just wasn't right that anyone should live in such filth.



She woke up early the next morning and prepared a meal for herself and Alan and took them outside. Alan was sitting underneath the walnut tree reading a book. She asked if he wanted any breakfast. He nodded and came over and sat next to her.

They sat quietly eating their meals. For once Leoni didn't know what to say so said nothing. It was Alan who broke the silence.

"I was thinking last night how you said you had never been over to the coast, I'm going over that way today would you like to come for a ride?"

Leoni just stared at him for a second or two. His statements seem so completely out of the blue. Even more so since she had just locked the man out of his own house for the night.

"Well yeah sure that would be nice".

Alan stood up took the car keys out from his pocket and said "let's go then."

"Hang on. Let me grab a few things from the caravan."

"No, don't worry about that. I grabbed your gear its in the boot ."

Leoni immediately felt angry that he had gone into her caravan and taken her gear out. But considering she had just locked him out of his house she again kept her mouth shut.

It was quite a long trip to the beach. Once her anger she found Alan quite talkative. She apologised for locking him out of the house. Alan said he understood , as after all women were different to men. Leoni wasn't exactly sure what he meant by this statement but decided to let it go.

The more they talked the more Leoni realised she had developed some weird feelings for this man. He was so different to any other man she had ever met. Not once had he approached her sexually, yet she was positive he wasn't gay. And the way he thought was so bizarre and yet so fair-minded. Leoni was afraid she was falling in love.

It took them an hour to get to the coast. It was a beautiful clear day and the sea reflected the light like so many perfect diamonds. The beach was composed of countless boulders which were overhung by lush pohutakawa's that dripped with crimson. Leoni had never seen anything so beautiful.

Alan parked the car and they both walked down to the water's edge. Despite its beauty the bolder strewn beach was not a great place to walk. Leoni said to Alan that she wished she had brought a good book. "There should be one you pack" replied Alan.

Leoni walked up to the car, opened the boot and to her amazement found her bulging pack.

"Gosh Alan" she exclaimed "you must have packed almost everything!"

"Well I wasn't sure what you'd need so I thought I may as well put everything in."

"Trust you Alan." she laughed.

Leoni rummaged through her pack and retrieved her book and a big pink fluffy towel. She then parked herself contentedly under one of the pohutakawa's.


Alan poked through the flotsam and jetsam glancing up at Leoni every now and then.

She had somehow managed to find a little bit of sand under the tree's and had made a very comfortable place to lie. It was a warm balmy day so didn't take long for Leoni to fall asleep. While she was asleep the sun had clouded over and the air temperature dropped, causing Leoni to wake up. She found her pack sitting beside her and immediately thought what a kind thoughtful person Alan really was. She got up and stretched and looked up to we Alan had parked the car. It was gone.

Leoni felt her heart flutter and a big heard lump formed itself in her throat. She hoped that Alan had just gone off to get something, but she knew instinctively that he wasn't coming back. Tearfully she placed her book and towel back in her pack and dragged it up to the road edge.


(Seven)

Alan drove home feeling both confused and angry with himself. He knew that Leoni just had to go, it was as simple as that. He was confused because he felt very emotional and this was very unusual for Alan. The last time he felt like this was when he was a small boy and his mother had left his dad and himself. He was angry because he didn't have the guts to just tell Leoni to go. It was hard enough to suggest it to her when she had cleaned the house. He hated this weakness in himself.

Alan knew that in his perfect world there could be no room for weakness. Emotion was for fool's and weaklings. Individual feelings, needs and emotions must always be sacrificed for the common good.

When he returned home he walked up to the house opened the door and then sat down on the step. But no matter how hard he tried he couldn't help glancing up at the caravan.

By the following morning he was beginning to feel almost normal again. He was a man of his convictions and he was more determined than ever to stick to them. And as for the strange feeling he had experienced, he managed to push it away, seeing it as a terrible weakness.

After his breakfast he decided to jog into town to buy a newspaper and find out what had been happening in the world. He was just about to leave when a taxi pulled up at his gate . The driver hopped out, walked round to the boot,and pulled out a large blue pack and placed it on the side of the road, after which Leoni emerged, and the taxi left.

Alan's heart sank.

He walked up to Leoni and tried to look her in the eye, but only managed to lift his gaze as far as her chin. A long awkward silence followed which Leoni eventually broke.

"I don't know why you left me alone like that, but I forgive you!"

Alan tried to think of something to say, but try as he might nothing came to mind.

"You need me here Alan"she continued, "you can't go on living the way you have been. I don't mean your ideas about communism and equality and all that, I just mean you can't keep living in such a horrible mess. I care about Alan, your special. You just need someone to take care of you."
Alan couldn't think of anything to say. So just shrugged his shoulders and walked off.

There were tears in Leoni's eyes.

Alan simply shrugged his shoulders and walked off.

Her heart was full of turmoil. Over the last few days she had discovered that she cared deeply for Alan but she didn't know why. After he had left her at the beach she had hated him vehemently. But by the time she hitched back into town the hatred gone and emptiness had taken its place.

She didn't sleep a wink all night. In the morning she rang her father and asked him for some money in fact a lot of money. When he asked what it was for she wouldn't tell him, she simply said she needed it for a project. Her dad had said the money would be in her account by the end of the day.

After that she brought a few supplies then rung the taxi and headed back to Alan's.

Her dad always said how pigheaded and stubborn she was, and he was right.

She had a plan and she was going to carry it out whether Alan liked it or not. After all It was for his own good. The thing that frustrated her the most was that she had fallen in love with him. He was dirty, stubborn, much older then her and in fact wasn't even very good-looking. Why on earth she had fallen for him was a mystery.

Leoni picked up her pack walked straight past the caravan and into the house. She screamed and yelled at the inhabitants who quickly made a retreat. They had already started to foul the house so she went outside and grabbed the square mouthed shovel scraped up the mess and then went outside and sat on the step. There wasn't a stick of furniture in the house except for Alan's bed.

She sat on the step patiently waiting for Alan to return, which eventually he did. He walked up the steps and sat down beside her.

"I don't know why you left me at the beach Alan, maybe it's because you're afraid of me. But anyway it doesn't matter. I guess I believe in you Alan and just want to help."

"What do you mean you want to help, I don't need any help!"

"Yes you do Alan, you just don't realise it. I've got some money, we can make the house nice and even build a nice sty outside for the pigs and some kennels for the dogs and a nice chook house."

"But I don't want you too said Alan, I like things just the way they are."

"That's only because you've lived this way for so long. You wait and see you'll love the way things are once they are the way they should be."

"Well I don't want you too, perhaps it would be best if you left! "

Leoni had always had things her way her whole life and she wasn't about to change.

"Well I am not going."





(Eight)

Leoni felt miserable. She walked over to the caravan, grabbed the mattress and dragged it all the way back to the house. Next she put it in the spare bedroom, lay her sleeping bag on it, rolled up her cashmere jersey as a pillow, grabbed her book and flopped down on the bed.

Try as she might she just couldn't lose herself in her book. She put it down, cradled her head in her hands and just lay there thinking.

There was a gentle tap on the door. "Do you mind if I come in for a minute" Alan asked.

"Sure, come in."

"I'd like to cook you a nice meal, I was just wondering what your favourite food is?"

"That's really kind of you Alan, but to be quite honest I am not really that hungry at the moment."

"No I was thinking about cooking a special meal for lunch tomorrow."

"That would be really nice." Leoni was amazed at the sudden change in Alan. Again he was doing something that seems so out of character.

"Well what will it be?" Alan continued

"My favourite meal of all time would have to be a roast of lamb with potatoes, boiled peas, pumpkin and lashings of gravy."

"And what about pudding?"

"Well I guess my favourite pudding is plain old hokey pokey ice cream."

With that, Alan simply closed the door and walked back outside. She heard him drive off in the direction of town.

Leoni felt very excited. Obviously this was Alan's way of saying he accepted her. She leapt up of the mattress and skipped outside where she did a little dance, much to the amusement of the pigs.

Alan returned an hour or two later and walked inside carrying a couple of shopping bags. Because of the complete lack of furniture Leoni had returned to her room. On hearing Alan arrive she got up and wandered into the kitchen to talk to him. She felt very excited.

"Let's go into town after lunch tomorrow and buy a kitchen table and chairs and a lounge suite"

"Yeah sure that'll be good."

Yet again Alan seemed very distant and distracted. Probably just because he's thinking about lunch tomorrow, Leoni thought. Men, they really only can do one thing at a time. Leoni decided to let him get on with preparing tomorrow's meal and returned to her room.

(Nine)

Leoni slept really well that night. By the time she woke the sun was well and truly up. Delicious smells wafted down the hallway from the kitchen. She could hear Alan banging around outside, so went to investigate. She found him putting together a makeshift table underneath the Rewarewa tree beside the implement shed.

"Is this where we are going to have lunch?" she asked.

Alan spun round, dropping the hammer on his foot. He seemed really jumpy.

"I'm sorry Alan, I didn't mean to give you a fright, I hope your foots okay!"

"Yeah yeah it's fine. You shouldn't sneak up on people like that. Lunch will be ready in about two hours time"

He then quickly turned his back on her and started working on the table again, again not making eye contact.

Again Leoni felt hurt by his abrupt manner. She wandered back over to the house and sat on the step. One of the pigs walked over to her and looked up expectantly. She picked up one of Alan's sticks and began scratching a pigs back. She had thought today was going to be a magical day, but instead it just seemed dreary.

No matter how hard she tried she just could not work Alan out. He seemed so kind to the animals and his views on equality for all were really amazing. But then there was another side to him and she just couldn't break through. And why was he being so nice to her one moment and so distant the next?

Leoni began having a change of heart. She thought that maybe this was not the place for her after all. As for her feelings for Alan, they just confused her. Maybe it wasn't love after all, perhaps it was just a desire to have something that was unobtainable.

She went inside and grabbed her big pink fluffy towel and went back out and sunbathed on the porch. She must have drifted off to sleep because next thing she knew Alan was calling out to come and have lunch. Her nap had made her feel a little more cheerful, and the thought of a nice roast lunch lifted her spirits even more. She wandered over to the table that Alan had made and was amazed at what he accomplished. He had even managed to find a tablecloth and it was clean.

The seats weren't that flash, they were simply a couple of old stumps that he had dragged from somewhere. He had even taken the time to cover hers with an old towel.

She sat down as Alan pushed a plate that was laden with roast meat and all the trimmings. "I'm not sure if I can eat all that, but I sure am going to have fun trying" Leoni grinned.

She tucked into her food with great gusto. It was delicious and she was very impressed with Alan's cooking.

In between mouthfuls, Leoni tried in vain to strike up a conversation. Alan, who was just picking at his food,responded to her banter with monosyllables and grunts, never once lifting his eyes from his plate.

As soon as she had finished her main course, Alan lifted the lid off a chilly bin and passed her a plate brimming with ice cream.

She took it from his has hands, again both attempting and failing to make eye contact.

Despite the ice cream Leoni felt miserable. Alan was more distant then ever. Apart from the sound of her eating there was silence.

Alan watched intently as she consumed the contents of her plate.

When she had almost cleared her plate, Alan slowly stood up. "I've just got to get something from the implement shed." As he walked past she noticed how dejected and stooped over he looked.

Just as Alan reached the shed door she called his name.

Alan stopped, but kept his back to her.

Leoni put her spoon down "I've been thinking Alan, perhaps it would be best if I went."

Alan turned to face her, straightening up as he did so.

And for the very first time he looked her directly in the eyes.