Banana boats are a regular site around the tropic waters and like many other days a banana boat cut its way in and out of the passages through the coral reef . The captain navigated the boat with a great understanding of the area . The captain explored the blue sky like bird in flight .
Suddenly he screamed out to the crew
"Aye Yai Yai . Drill the holes . Come on hurry . "
In an instant the crew began to drill small holes into the bottom of the boat . Slowly the boat began to sink under the water . High over head the coastguard plane cut through the blue sky it made a line towards the boat and then turned away in the other direction . The banana boat was submerged with only the heads of the crew and its cargo of runaways visible .
As the banana boat skipped over the reef it was undetected except for an aboriginal girl called Pearl who was a native from Murray Island . The boat would never have been spotted only for Pearl was on her way to the Australian mainland . Sadly for her the journey was a one way trip . Pearl had been abandoned by her tribe and sent to the mainland as a punishment for stealing a watch from a tourist on the island . With only enough supplies to get her to the mainland she slowly drove her small motor boat to live out the life of an exile where ever she could find a home .
Pearl felt something wasn't right and decided to follow the banana boat .
To keep her spirits high she began to sing a song .
" Like a lizard on the water I am unwanted . Like a shark in cage I am put . Like a boat in a storm, I am an eye of a shark, and like a bullet from a gun I must shoot ".
Apart from the banana boat Pearl was all alone in a huge ocean in the cosmos of life . Even thought she was unwanted by those who loved her she had an inner strength to survive . She accepted tribal law and once it had been spoken Pearl knew she had to pay the price for her crime .
She stayed far enough away from the banana boat not to be seen . Under the cover of night a small boat was sent from the mainland and she watched as a number of people were taken from the banana boat to the mainland . Now she had an idea of what was going on . She murmured ,
"Mmm, boat people ."
She made for the mainland and reached the coast near Cairns . Unsure of a welcome from mainland laws and white mans rules she kept herself from the eyes of others for a while . Pearl returned to the bay where she had seen the banana boat come and made her camp there . She was amazed to find that banana boats full of people arrived almost every week . She discovered the boat people were all taken to a warehouse near Cairns and from there they were sent out in trucks. Pearl decided to get into one of the trucks and see what was going on . So one night she waited at the warehouse until the truck arrived and carefully she filtered in among the boat people who were getting into the back of the truck . Once inside Pearl looked around at the faces of the frightened people . Although they were of dark and white skin, yellow and red skin they all had some things in common . They were frightened and unsure and Pearl connected with them in so much as no one cared for them . Aqs she could not communicate with any of them she used hand gestures . Then she realised that their hands had been tied with rope .
Outside the truck a few of the men approached the back of the truck . Sensing danger Pearl dived for cover behind a small group of boat people peeping out from the shadows she saw an unshaven man pull up the tarp at the back of the truck. He stood staring into the truck and turning to some of the other men he said ,
"Have a look at this bloody lot . If I had my way they would be all be shark bait mate . That's all they're good for. What do you reckon ? "
A huge man holding a can of beer in his hand said ,
"How much are we getting for this load mate ?"
"Same as always mate . Half for us and the other half split up between the boss and the courier . Ha Ha "
They all laughed aloud and a few more joined their group . They stood around drinking beer for about half an hour . Throwing back can after can . In through the main gate a four wheel drive made its way over to the group . When it stopped and the drivers door was opened out stepped a very well dressed man in a suit . Pearl couldn't believe her eyes . The man who stepped out was the tourist from Murray Island . It was the man who had accused her of stealing his watch . There he stood as large as life with the very same watch hanging from his wrist . Pearl had to keep cool . She felt like jumping out of the truck and laying her fists into him . But she knew that maybe if she played here cards right she would have her revenge in time . He must have been the boss because he handed out money and maps to the driver and his offsider .
As soon as they had the money they got into the truck and off it rolled along through the gate to the main road . Fate had lent a hand after a mile or two when a huge red kangaroo jumped out in front of the truck . The driver tried to swerve to miss the roo and in the process it went into a roll and overturned .
The boat people cushioned themselves together and were protected by a mass of bodies that had entwined themselves in a human chain . Although she was in shock Pearl began to untie the hands of the boat people and one by one they all stepped out into the darkness of the night . The driver and his offsider lay out on the highway like lepers on the long road to Bowen . A small child approached Pearl and smiled .
Pearl looked at the small girl and smiled back and said ,
" Hi "
Suddenly headlights blinded them . In a flurry of flashing red and blue lights a cavakcade of cars came rushing down the highway towards them . Soon the road was blocked by police cars . After taking a head count the police took the boat people to an airport in Rockhampton were they were placed on a plane and taken to a detention centre in Western Australia for questioning . This is just what Pearl needed . She was able to tell the authorities who she was and where she came from . Them after explaining the reason why she was sent away from Murray Island the police sent an armed police unit to Cairns to apprehend all the people involved with importing and smuggling people into Australia .
With Pearl's help the police knew exactly the spot where the banana boat came in . Then disguised as local fishermen the police set up their headquarters in tents near the bay . They waited and watched until the banana boat arrived . During the time they were waiting Pearl was taught to play a flute by one of the policemen . She was able to play scales on the flute in just three days . She began to make up little tunes .
One night a call came on the police radio . The banana boat had been spotted off a small island making its way towards the reef . From that moment on it was action stations . Through high powered binoculars the police were able to monitor the boat as it made its journey through the reef . They saw a number of large packages being thrown from the boat . These were obviously left to be picked up by someone at a later stage . The police were not concerned about those at the moment . Their main objective was to round up the people smugglers and so they waited until the boat people were handed over to their captors . Then it was time to make their move . They had to be extremely fast and deadly . The element of surprise was in their favour when they struck . Heads did roll that night as dozens were arrested and placed into police trucks . After the media were informed it made front page news . Television stations reported the story about how a young aboriginal girl was chiefly responsible for the arrest of the people smuggling ring .
The tourist who had accused Pearl of stealing his watch was brought to court . He was the ringleader of the illegal operation and on the day of his trial a large number of people from Murray Island had come over to see for themselves what was going on .
Pearl was approached by some of the elders of her tribe who begged her forgiveness . It was so good to be made welcome again by her tribe . They invited her back to live on Murray Island for the rest of her days , Pearl accepted and on her return was presented with opals and jewels from both the land and sea of Murray Island and given a title . She was now to be known as Mother Of The Murray Waters . Each year they were to hold a feast in honour of her .
Doctor Write
THE END
Originally Posted On Site: 2008-02-23 00:55:47
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