Tim Character Analysis

You missin’ her bad, huh?
I cried when I came here
They sent my cousins someplace else
Thought I was alone
till I saw Tim
Knew he was my lost brother
just knew it!
Tim was a sick baby
Mum took him to the hospital
went back to get him
He was gone!
Where is he?
Mum kept cryin’
Where’s my boy?
She was still cryin’ for Tim
when they grabbed me
Reckon she’s cryin’
for both of us now

[…]

Tim was a fat baby
bein’ sick shrunk him
He looks like a little fella
but he’s only two years younger

Janey pokes out her tongue at Tim
Hey, you lucky to have me
watchin’ out for you!

Tim pulls a face

Janey’s fingers work fast
She twists the twigs
into a little person with arms
and legs and everything

Janey holds it up
See, Annie
a stick doll

I’ve seen a real doll
Visitors came to the station
with a girl who carried a doll
She carried it
like I used to carry little sister
when she was a new baby
Doll had clothes and shoes
and staring eyes
Janey’s bush doll has no eyes
but she feels smiley

My fingers stroke
the doll’s twiggy face

Crying tree is a big old tree
with branches stretching high
and a snug hollow
in the trunk

Janey says
Kids here got special place
to cry
This is me and Tim’s special place
but you can share it with us

At home I share
with my cousin brothers
and cousin sisters
and they share with me
Mum would like Janey sharing

And guess what?
Me skull’s got freckles!
Come out, Annie
I’ll check your skull
for freckles

Who cares about freckles?

Nancy says
Leave her alone, Janey
You know what it’s like!

I hear Janey’s bed squeak
as she lies down
You be okay, Annie
Promise!

Nancy rolls her eyes
That’s what boys do
Forget boys!
Let’s be girls
make ourselves pretty

Nancy finds
a patch of bright flowers
Janey shows me
how to join them together

I’ve got flowers round my neck
round my head
round my arms
Nancy’s got more

Nancy stands
walks up and down
nose in the air
I’m Nancy
queen of the world!

She shrugs
Government don’t like our family
Don’t like Annie’s family
or Nancy’s
That’s why they took us
to make us forget our families
to make us forget our country
to make us what they want

I won’t be what they want
’specially not on the inside

Grandpa told me
our people been in our country
forever

This is your home place, my girl
Your heart place
You remember that

My heart tells me
it’s the same
for Janey and Tim’s family
same for Nancy
same for all the kids here

Tim says
I won’t forget, sis

Can’t forget yourself!
says Janey

We all laugh

No one can see us here
Just trees
lizards
birds
and wildflowers

Catching gilgies
making fire
eating bush food
being with friends
keeps me strong
stops me breaking

When I look into the fire
I pretend I’m not in a bad place
I pretend I am home

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Gotta run!
says Janey

But I’m still not the Annie
they want me to be
They call me Annie
I answer to Annie
but they don’t know
who I really am

They don’t know Janey
Tim
Nancy
Emmy
Dot

Inside
we are all secrets
dreaming secret dreams
of another life

My language name
is still hiding
When I go home
and see Mum
it will spring out
like a seed sprouting
Till then it’s a secret

Me on the inside
is a secret
to the outside world

Only way to stay safe
form the world of this place
World of school
work
bossing
World of forgetting
World I don’t understand

I am like Janey
I keep my secrets hidden

I wake to see Janey
standing by my bed

I rub my eyes
Is she really here?

Janey?
I smile at her
You come back?

Janey stares past me
past the other girls
past the walls
of the locked sleeping room

I jump out of bed
You cold?

Annie, I’m a good big sister, huh?

Yeah, Janey!

Janey smiles like the sun

Nurse finds me and Tim
crying in the crying tree

She kneels
opens her mouth
closes it
shakes her head

I am sorry
Janey’s illness
stole her away
I wish I had let you see her
I didn’t want you to get sick

Her voice is kind
but her thinking is crooked
If we could sit with Janey
if we could make her smile
we wouldn’t care if we got sick

A kookaburra calls

KOO – KOO – KAA – KAA

The bird skims the treetops
swoops low over me and Tim
soars away

Tim’s eyes go big
Janey loved kookaburras
They special to her
like mudlarks are special to me
What you think, Annie?
Is sister flyin’ home?

Tears stream down my cheeks
Yeah, Tim
she’s gone home

We gaze after the kookaburra

You know what, Annie?
Someday
I’ll grow me own feathers
Fly home to Mum and Dad
and Granny Alice
like Janey wanted

I give Tim a shaky smile

If birds have wings
so do songs

Tonight
when all the girls are sleeping
I will send a song
on the moonlight
to my mum

You missin’ her bad, huh?
I cried when I came here
They sent my cousins someplace else
Thought I was alone
till I saw Tim
Knew he was my lost brother
just knew it!
Tim was a sick baby
Mum took him to the hospital
went back to get him
He was gone!
Where is he?
Mum kept cryin’
Where’s my boy?
She was still cryin’ for Tim
when they grabbed me
Reckon she’s cryin’
for both of us now

[…]

Tim was a fat baby
bein’ sick shrunk him
He looks like a little fella
but he’s only two years younger

Janey pokes out her tongue at Tim
Hey, you lucky to have me
watchin’ out for you!

Tim pulls a face

Janey’s fingers work fast
She twists the twigs
into a little person with arms
and legs and everything

Janey holds it up
See, Annie
a stick doll

I’ve seen a real doll
Visitors came to the station
with a girl who carried a doll
She carried it
like I used to carry little sister
when she was a new baby
Doll had clothes and shoes
and staring eyes
Janey’s bush doll has no eyes
but she feels smiley

My fingers stroke
the doll’s twiggy face

Crying tree is a big old tree
with branches stretching high
and a snug hollow
in the trunk

Janey says
Kids here got special place
to cry
This is me and Tim’s special place
but you can share it with us

At home I share
with my cousin brothers
and cousin sisters
and they share with me
Mum would like Janey sharing

And guess what?
Me skull’s got freckles!
Come out, Annie
I’ll check your skull
for freckles

Who cares about freckles?

Nancy says
Leave her alone, Janey
You know what it’s like!

I hear Janey’s bed squeak
as she lies down
You be okay, Annie
Promise!

Nancy rolls her eyes
That’s what boys do
Forget boys!
Let’s be girls
make ourselves pretty

Nancy finds
a patch of bright flowers
Janey shows me
how to join them together

I’ve got flowers round my neck
round my head
round my arms
Nancy’s got more

Nancy stands
walks up and down
nose in the air
I’m Nancy
queen of the world!

She shrugs
Government don’t like our family
Don’t like Annie’s family
or Nancy’s
That’s why they took us
to make us forget our families
to make us forget our country
to make us what they want

I won’t be what they want
’specially not on the inside

Grandpa told me
our people been in our country
forever

This is your home place, my girl
Your heart place
You remember that

My heart tells me
it’s the same
for Janey and Tim’s family
same for Nancy
same for all the kids here

Tim says
I won’t forget, sis

Can’t forget yourself!
says Janey

We all laugh

No one can see us here
Just trees
lizards
birds
and wildflowers

Catching gilgies
making fire
eating bush food
being with friends
keeps me strong
stops me breaking

When I look into the fire
I pretend I’m not in a bad place
I pretend I am home

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Gotta run!
says Janey

But I’m still not the Annie
they want me to be
They call me Annie
I answer to Annie
but they don’t know
who I really am

They don’t know Janey
Tim
Nancy
Emmy
Dot

Inside
we are all secrets
dreaming secret dreams
of another life

My language name
is still hiding
When I go home
and see Mum
it will spring out
like a seed sprouting
Till then it’s a secret

Me on the inside
is a secret
to the outside world

Only way to stay safe
form the world of this place
World of school
work
bossing
World of forgetting
World I don’t understand

I am like Janey
I keep my secrets hidden

I wake to see Janey
standing by my bed

I rub my eyes
Is she really here?

Janey?
I smile at her
You come back?

Janey stares past me
past the other girls
past the walls
of the locked sleeping room

I jump out of bed
You cold?

Annie, I’m a good big sister, huh?

Yeah, Janey!

Janey smiles like the sun

Nurse finds me and Tim
crying in the crying tree

She kneels
opens her mouth
closes it
shakes her head

I am sorry
Janey’s illness
stole her away
I wish I had let you see her
I didn’t want you to get sick

Her voice is kind
but her thinking is crooked
If we could sit with Janey
if we could make her smile
we wouldn’t care if we got sick

A kookaburra calls

KOO – KOO – KAA – KAA

The bird skims the treetops
swoops low over me and Tim
soars away

Tim’s eyes go big
Janey loved kookaburras
They special to her
like mudlarks are special to me
What you think, Annie?
Is sister flyin’ home?

Tears stream down my cheeks
Yeah, Tim
she’s gone home

We gaze after the kookaburra

You know what, Annie?
Someday
I’ll grow me own feathers
Fly home to Mum and Dad
and Granny Alice
like Janey wanted

I give Tim a shaky smile

If birds have wings
so do songs

Tonight
when all the girls are sleeping
I will send a song
on the moonlight
to my mum