Last Rocket Down

“Ronald, come down this instant... If you don’t come down now, I will come up there and drag you down. There will be tears.” The mother yelled up at her 6-year-old son, who had made his way to the very top of the giant rocket slide in their local park. “Wait till your father finds out how you scared your mother, there’ll be hell to pay,” she carried on. The boy in the meantime was happily ignoring his mother, today he was Neil Armstrong, about to launch with the rest of the crew on their mission to the moon.

“Hi, can I play,” a small voice asked the boy, still looking up at the sky, making rocket noises.

His concentration broken, he glanced at the girl, her head poking through the hole in the floor. “Girls aren’t astronauts, and how did you get on board without burning up?” Ronald asked quite indignantly.

“Why can’t girls be astronauts? She pleaded.

“Because you have to be big and strong to steer a big rocket like this,” he replied, looking back up to the sky, hoping she would go away.

“Well, you’re not big and strong and this isn’t a real rocket, is it.” The young girl snapped back. “You have to share; you don’t own it and you’re not in charge.”

The girl climbed the rest of the way in and grabbed the outer bars of the rocket looking down, calling out to her mother, who was standing next to Ronald’s own mother. The two women had been sharing their opinions about the large steel structure and whether it was a suitable thing for young children.

“I think it is ridiculous and dangerous,” Ronald’s mother said. “All that steel and it’s so high. What if he falls and hits his head? I could never go in there.”

“It must be so exciting to be so small and feel so tall, standing right at the top,” the other woman replied. “Leanne was so excited to see it, I couldn’t hold her back. You remember what is was like to be that age, everything seemed a little dangerous and exciting.”

“Perhaps, but this monstrosity is too much. It doesn’t look safe, and my Ronald is in such a hurry some days, he gets clumsy in his rush to get to where he’s going.”

“Yes, Leanne can be the same. She fell out of a tree the other day. We had to take her to casualty to check for concussion.” The girls mother told her shocked companion.

“My goodness, that’s terrible. Why do you let her climb trees? She’s a girl; girls shouldn’t be doing that kind of thing.” Ronald’s mum said, all popping eyes and righteous indignation.

“Do you have girls?” Leanne’s mother asked the other.

“No, just Ronald and his older brother. Why?”

“Don’t you think little girls should be able to have the same kind of fun as little boys? She asked. “God knows it isn’t long before they grow up. They should be allowed to do what they can before society imposes itself on them.”

“Girls have dress-ups and tea parties and sleepovers and dolls and pretty clothes. Boys have pretend-fighting and toy cars and bikes and sport and mud and dirt.” Ronald’s mother told her.

“Leanne has an older brother, and he does all those boy things as well as many of the girl things; if Leanne can get him to sit for long enough. They are too young to worry about that sort of thing. It is simply playing.

The women continued their debate but were interrupted by crying from the top of the rocket, and it wasn’t Leanne. “Oh my goodness. Ronald are you alright?” Leanne called down and told them he fell and hurt himself. Fortunately, Leanne’s mother was slender enough and quite keen to ascend the tower, squeezing through each bulkhead until she reached the top.

“Hi darlin’. It’s Ronald isn’t it. I’ve been speaking with your mother. Now, what happened?”

“She pushed me off the steering wheel and I hurt my elbow.” Ronald sobbed.

The woman turned to her daughter. “Is that true Leanne?”

“No, not really. Well, I wanted to have a turn at the wheel, and he wouldn’t share, so… um, we were both pulling and…um, he let go and I didn’t. So, I won.” Leanne finished, sporting a satisfied grin.

Turning back to the boy, the woman asked, “Is that what happened Ronald?” Reluctantly he nodded agreement, still holding his elbow.

“Well, give me a look at your arm… Ok, how about we go back down and play on the swings. You can do the rocket next time.” The girl’s mother suggested.

“Mum,” Leanne began, “he said girls can’t be astronauts. Why can’t I be an astronaut?”

“Is that what you think Ronald? It would be boring if only boys were stuck up there floating around in space. I think if I wanted to be an astronaut and someone told me I couldn’t, it would just make me want it more, anyway, don’t you watch Star Trek, there are lots of girls on the ‘Enterprise’.”

“Mum won’t let me watch because it’s after my bedtime,” Ronald told her sadly.

“Ok, let’s begin making our descent. First, we have to land the ship. Who will do that?” The woman asked.

“Oh, can I do it, please, please, please?” Leanne begged.

“What do you think Captain Ronald? We’ve been hit by Klingons, and you’re injured. Do you think she has what it takes to bring her in safely?” Leanne’s mother addressed Ronald seriously.

Ronald was slow to respond. He was weighing up his options. He really wanted to land the ship, but he liked Leanne’s mother and didn’t want to disappoint her. “Yes, lieutenant Leanne, take the wheel.”

So, with lots of rocket noises coming from every mouth present, Leanne took control, her mother and Ronald looking out the side and offering directions. Finally, after some close calls, they landed the mighty craft, narrowly missing Ronald’s mother and made their way down to the escape slide, Leanne between her mother’s legs and Ronald at the back. Together they made a safe exit.

That was a day etched in Ronald’s mind. He made a friend, and she was a girl. She liked to do all the things he did and in time she persuaded him to try her things, even muddy tea parties. Whenever possible, they made their mothers meet at the park. Some days they were astronauts, lost and floating in space. Other days they were pirates high up on the crows-nest, searching for ships to conquer, some days they just played on the swings, talking about the latest cartoons, Leanne’s collection of Barbie dolls, or Ronald’s new infatuation with plastic models.

Those young years meandered by and though neither attended the same school, the park was where all the local kids gathered and as they grew together, so did the number of friends, but the two of them always stayed the closest, never taking opposite sides for fear of upsetting the other. Many battles were fought though, so sides had to be picked, for ‘red rover’, ‘tips’, soccer and touch footy and Leanne was ready for any challenge, the more physical the better. Ronald was less athletic or sure footed but was always amazed how well Leanne kept pace with even the fastest of boys, while he often just made up the numbers. Leanne didn’t care, just as long as he was there. At times one had to defend the other over a stupid comment about her being too much of a boy or him not being good enough. Ronald was good at fending off childish insults with jokes and clever comebacks, but Leanne always wanted to take them on and fight them off.

Thirteen was the age that would remain the most defining of eras for Ronald. It was the age he blew it and things changed. Naturally there were lots of changes happening to all of them but his was dramatic and quick. He had begun to get quite tall, quite fast and his voice dropped an octave. The boys at the park started acting more stupid than usual and most of the girls played less and watched more. The summer of ’77 would bring an end to something he thought impossible to end, a bond unbreakable.

It was late one summer afternoon, and so long as the streetlights remained unlit, they could stay at the park. Ronald had taken a break from the game of tips, to drink from the bubbler (water fountain) when two of the regular girls came over to talk. Oblivious to any connotations other than general conversation, he stayed and chatted, while they practiced flirting in that unrefined, early-teen way, a lot of giggling and silly questions. Ron was unaware of the situation, that was obvious, but it hadn’t escaped the attention of Leanne, who magically appeared behind him, her presence cutting the girl’s conversation off abruptly. Ron watched them leave and was startled to turn around and find Leanne standing there, with a look on her face he hadn’t seen before.

“What were they talking about? She asked, glaring at the departing pair.

“I’m not sure,” he replied, “They just asked me about things I liked, giggled a lot, that sort of thing.”

“I think they like you,” Leanne said

“What do you mean, they like me?” Ronald asked, a look of mild panic furrowing his brow.

“I’ll show you.” With that, Leanne took Ronald’s hand and dragged him to the rocket. “Come on I’ll race you to the top,” she said. Leanne raced around to the slide and proceeded to climb up it. Ronald, caught by surprise as he often was by his good friend, ducked down to get to the ladder. By the time he got to the top, she was there and barely out of breath from the effort.

“They think you’re cute Ronnie. Do you think they’re pretty? She asked, looking directly into his eyes, causing him to avert them involuntarily.

“I dunno, I guess they are.” He mumbled almost to himself.

“Do you think I’m pretty? She continued with what Ronald felt was becoming an interrogation.

“Yes, I guess so. Oh, I dunno Leanne. Why? He pleaded, hoping this would stop soon.

She turned away from him and for a short time they were looking at the kids playing below them in the fading light. They turned to each other again and without warning, Leanne leant over and kissed Ronald on the lips. It should have been a lovely thing, a sweet memory and over time it had become that. He could still remember, after a lifetime of kisses, how soft her lips were and a little salty from her sweat, but from the surprise of it, he pulled back and smacked his head on the steel of the rocket. Tears welled in his eyes and a lump formed instantly. After apologising profusely, Leanne disappeared down through the floor leaving Ronald confused and rubbing his sore head. The startled boy’s reaction was the beginning of the end for the two. Ronald made the mistake of confiding in one of the other boys, which resulted in a lot of silly talk and attention directed at them both. It was a fight Leanne was not equipped for then, it was a regret Ronald wouldn’t acknowledge fully till much later.

Beverly and Ron Andrews sat in the kitchen in their pyjamas, Beverly enjoying a crumpet with ‘Golden Syrup’ and looking forward to getting stuck into the garden. Ron was contemplating the news article he’d just read, about the last steel rocket to be removed for safety reasons, situated in the park he played in as a young boy.

“Hey, you remember those big steel rocket ships that used to be in the parks?” Bev inquired, looking over the shoulder of her daydreaming husband.

“Yes dear, I remember them,” He mumbled back.