Whoever it was that invented the beeping sound that alarm clocks make must not have been loved as a child. Nobody comes up with something that evil without deep-seated childhood issues.

The harsh, jarring beeping of my alarm clock echoed loudly around my bedroom, the curtains that had been hung at my windows and the carpet on the floor doing nothing to deaden the noise. It was so loud that I half-expected either of my neighbours to start banging on the walls, yelling at me to shut the damn thing off. I yanked my pillow out from under my head and slammed it down over my face to try and block out the worst of the noise, making sure my ears were fully covered, and squeezed my eyes shut. My reasoning was that if I couldn’t hear it, it would stop screeching at me.

No such luck. I lifted the pillow off my face and proceeded to glare at my alarm clock, my gaze fixed firmly on its glowing red digits.

“Oh would you shut up?” I croaked at it, as if it weren’t just an inanimate object and could actually hear me. It kept right on beeping at me, of course, just as it did every morning until I got fed up with it enough to finally hit the off switch. Which, like every morning, took me the grand total of one minute. I resisted the ever-present temptation to fling it across the room once it had been silenced, instead giving it one final baleful look before reaching for my mobile phone. It immediately started vibrating in my hand, the opening credits music from Doctor Who blasting from its speaker and Lis on its screen. I swiped my thumb across the green Answer button and raised my phone to my ear. “Hey Lis.”

“Oh good, you’re up.”

“Good morning Lisbeth, how are you today?” I said pointedly.

I was almost positive I could see Lisbeth sticking her tongue out at her phone once I’d spoken. “You still like Hanson, right?” she asked.

“Lis, come on,” I replied as I pushed myself upright, my right hand acting as a lever against my mattress. “You know damn well I still like them.”

“Just checking,” she said. “I’ve got a spare ticket to their show at the UniBar tonight if you’re interested in coming with me. I think it’s their last show of the year.”

“Didn’t they already go on tour?” As I spoke I was carefully easing myself toward the edge of my mattress, doing my best not to jar my aching limbs and joints. I’d barely been awake for five minutes and I was already hurting. But even despite the care I took in moving pain rocketed down my legs, and I squeezed my eyes closed. The sooner I could get my daily dose of painkillers into me, the better. “Because I definitely remember seeing them up in Sydney back in September.”

“That was just the capital cities,” Lisbeth said. “They’re winding up their New South Wales tour tonight.” I could almost see her raise an eyebrow at me. “And you call yourself a fan. Didn’t you know they were going to be touring again?”

“Oh, bite me.”

“No thanks, I already ate,” was Lisbeth’s cheerful response. “But anyway, the show’s at eight – I can pick you up at six if you like so we can grab dinner before it kicks off.”

“You don’t need to pick me up that early,” I reminded her. “The uni’s like ten minutes over from my place, remember?”

“Two words – Crust Pizza,” Lisbeth said. “And Cold Rock for dessert afterward.”

I considered this for a few moments. “Okay, either you got paid early or your Austudy went up,” I said. “Because usually there’s no way you’d be suggesting Crust Pizza or Cold Rock. I know how expensive they both are.”

“It’s called a job, Ruby. So are you coming tonight or not?”

I let out an almost inaudible sigh. “Okay, yes, I’ll come. Anything to get out of this place for the night.”

“Sweet,” Lisbeth said, sounding pleased with herself. “See you tonight, then.”

“Yeah, see you tonight,” I echoed. We both hung up at almost the same moment, and I tossed my phone down to the end of my bed. The temptation to just crawl back into bed with my heat pack was extremely strong, but I knew very well that if I didn’t take my medication soon I would find it more than a little difficult to function that afternoon, let alone that evening. I let out a quiet sigh and eased myself to my feet, wincing the whole way, and stood still for a few moments to make sure I wasn’t about to fall over. Only once I was absolutely certain I would be able to move without my knees giving out on me did I leave the side of my bed and draw open the screen that closed my bedroom off from the rest of my caravan.

I was probably the first person to admit that a younger version of me would never have considered calling a caravan park home. Not in a million years. In my very limited experience it was a place of last resort, a dumping ground of sorts for people who couldn’t afford to rent elsewhere, or a temporary home for those who were waiting for their place on the lengthy Housing NSW waiting list to come up. But after having called site 240 at Tasman View Caravan Village home for the last six years, I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. My caravan was cramped, with just enough room for a double bed, a tiny wardrobe, a kitchenette at the opposite end to my bed, and a small kitchen table with two bench seats set across from the kitchenette, but I also had an annexe built onto the side of my caravan that made my little home feel a lot bigger than it really was. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a roof over my head. More importantly, it was mine for as long as I was able to keep up with my rent – that much had been made clear when I had signed the lease – and that was all that mattered to me.

I had my breakfast made in almost no time – three Weet-Bix with plenty of warm milk and raw sugar, and a banana sliced on top – and set out on my kitchen table. It was the sort of breakfast I usually reserved for winter mornings, but the thermometer I’d mounted on the outside of my kitchen window a few years earlier gave the impression that it wasn’t exactly warm outside. Besides which, it was a nice change from my usual breakfast of cornflakes or Rice Bubbles. Beside my bowl of cereal were a glass of orange juice, a spoon, and the pill packet and bottle that held my daily doses of medication. I hated that I needed to be on medication just to be able to function normally each day, but the alternative of being stuck in bed was far less appealing. At least this way, I was able to go out whenever I wanted or needed to.

A knock sounded at the front door of the annexe right as I finished taking my medication. Moments later I heard the clicking of nails on linoleum as my assistance dog, a black Labrador named Sadie, came up into the caravan and looked at me expectantly. “Yeah Sadie, I heard it too,” I told her, and gave her a scratch behind the ears before getting back to my feet. “Come on, let’s go see who it is.”

This early in the morning – a quick glance at my watch gave the time as a quarter to eight – I half-expected the elderly woman from across the road to be at the door complaining that I’d had my TV turned up too loud the night before. Somewhat to my surprise, instead it was one half of the couple who lived to my immediate right.

“Hi Loretta,” I said once I’d opened my front door. Loretta and her husband William were probably two of my favourite people in the whole of the Village – I considered them to be surrogate grandparents, given that both sets of my grandparents lived interstate and I didn’t get to see them all that often. Loretta in particular was always coming up with ways of getting me to stop being a complete hermit, her favourite being to take me grocery shopping whenever she was headed out to do her own shopping.

“Good morning Ruby,” Loretta said with a smile, one I readily returned. “I was wondering if you were doing anything today.”

I shook my head. “Nothing really, apart from planting myself on the lounge with my heat pack and watching really trashy daytime TV.”

“Oh dear, is your knee bothering you again?” she asked, sounding concerned.

“Just a little bit. I think it’s going to rain again soon. I can deal with it though. What did you have in mind?”

“Grocery shopping for an hour or so,” she replied. “Then lunch at the Palm Court Hotel up in Corrimal if you like – my treat.”

“You don’t mind treating me to lunch?” I asked. “I don’t mind paying my share.”

“Of course I don’t mind,” she assured me. “You keep your money. I’m sure you need it to buy Christmas presents.”

“Yeah, maybe you’re right,” I agreed. I’d already bought Christmas presents for my friends and everyone in my family, but Loretta didn’t necessarily need to know that. “What time were you thinking of heading out?”

“Let’s say…” She trailed off, and I knew she was considering her answer. “How does eleven o’clock sound? The Palm Court’s restaurant should be open by the time we’ve finished our shopping.”

“That sounds good to me,” I replied. It worked in my favour nicely – apart from needing to have my breakfast and work out just what groceries I needed to buy, I wanted to have a shower. Three hours was plenty of time to get everything done. “I’ll see you at eleven, then.”

“See you then, Ruby,” Loretta said with one final smile, and she turned to head back to her own caravan. I closed my front door once she was out of sight and headed back to my breakfast.

I was ready for my shopping expedition with Loretta in what seemed like no time at all. My hair was squeaky clean and tamed enough to be pulled back into its usual plait, I’d dragged my well-worn jeans and my favourite T-shirt out of my clean laundry basket, and I’d written my grocery list down in my little notebook. Right as I finished stowing everything I needed in my handbag, I looked up to see Sadie watching me almost expectantly from her spot next to the coffee table. “You want to come too, Sadie?” I asked, knowing full well that I could get away with it and that Loretta wouldn’t mind. Her answering bark was all the response I needed, and I grinned. “Stupid question, right?” I said, speaking rhetorically, and went up into the caravan to fetch Sadie’s jacket and lead and my walking stick.

Loretta was sitting on the wooden bench outside her and William’s front door when Sadie and I arrived next door at the time we’d agreed. “Is it okay if Sadie comes along?” I asked her.

“Of course it’s okay,” Loretta assured me, as I’d reckoned she would. “She looks very smart today. Shall we head out, then?”

“Sounds good to me,” I agreed. “Sadie, car,” I commanded as I dropped her lead. Loretta had the back door of her car open by now, and Sadie immediately darted forward, lead trailing behind her the whole way. She hopped up onto the car’s back seat and sat up, patiently awaiting my next command. “Down,” was my next command, accompanied by my left hand moving sharply downward. She immediately lay down on the car’s back seat, just as she’d learned during the time we had spent training together. “Good girl,” I said to her, giving her a scratch behind the ears, and closed the back door once I’d made sure her lead wasn’t trailing outside the car.

The drive between the caravan park and the Woolworths in Fairy Meadow was quick, and soon the two of us were wandering around the supermarket. Sadie was keeping pace alongside my trolley as Loretta and I collected our respective sets of groceries, her lead tied onto its top rail. The supermarket was packed full of people, something that wasn’t exactly surprising for a Thursday morning.

“I remember now why I do my grocery shopping on Tuesdays,” I grumbled as I squeezed past a knot of what I thought were international students from the university. “This place is bloody insane.”

“It is rather busy, isn’t it?” Loretta agreed as the two of us started wandering down the bread aisle. “Have you made any plans for Christmas?”

“I’ll probably spend the day at my parents’ house,” I replied. I paused in front of the loaves of bread, studied them for a few moments and picked up a loaf of multigrain. “I haven’t really thought about it yet, though. Odds are I’ll get things sorted next week sometime – shouldn’t take me too long.” The loaf of bread went into my trolley, next to a six-pack of English muffins, and I gave Loretta a smile before continuing down the aisle.

As soon as we had finished and paid for our shopping – three litres of orange juice and a box of frozen raspberries had been the last items on my list – we loaded our groceries into the boot of Loretta’s car and headed up the highway to the Palm Court Hotel. “Now don’t forget, this is my treat,” Loretta reminded me as we headed inside, bypassing the poker machines and heading straight upstairs to the pub’s restaurant. “You pick whatever you like, and don’t worry about paying me back later on.”

The restaurant was quiet, with just a few people seated at its tables – considering it was lunchtime on a Thursday, I wasn’t surprised – and so Loretta and I were seated quickly. Sadie had lain down under our table at a command from me, her lead tied around one of the table’s legs, and I soon set about deciding what I wanted for lunch. It was pretty much a foregone conclusion that Lisbeth and I would end up eating way too much for dinner that evening, so I didn’t want to eat too much for lunch. The trick would be figuring out what meals on the menu would be ‘too much’ and steering well clear of them.

“I think I’ll have the chicken Caesar salad,” Loretta decided as she set her menu down on the table.

“I have no idea what I want,” I admitted. There were a few things that appealed to me, but nothing really stood out as something I might want to have for my lunch. “Chicken pad thai,” I decided after a little bit of thought. I wasn’t all that keen on egg or tofu, but I was hungry and I figured I could just eat around them. Besides which, I hadn’t had Thai food in a while – it sounded like a nice change from what I normally ate of a lunchtime.

Once the waitress who had seated us had taken down our orders and headed off to the kitchen, I decided the time was right to ask Loretta something I hadn’t asked of anyone in a few months.

“Loretta, I was wondering if I could ask a small favour,” I said, feeling a little bit hesitant. I wasn’t entirely sure why I felt this way, but I definitely didn’t like it much.

“Of course you can, Ruby.”

I gave Loretta a small smile. “I’m going to a concert tonight,” I said. “One of my friends has a spare ticket and she talked me into coming with her.”

“Who are you going to see?”

The hesitant feeling returned, but this time I knew exactly why I felt that way. “Hanson,” I replied.

“Oh, those brothers from Newcastle?” Loretta asked, and I nodded in relief. I should have known Loretta would never have made fun of me. William, on the other hand, was a different story entirely.

“Yeah. They’re playing at the UniBar at the university tonight, and I don’t want to take Sadie with me – it’ll be a bit too loud for her. Could you and William watch her for me?”

“I don’t see why not. When were you planning to head out?”

“I’m being picked up at around six-thirty,” I replied. “I have no idea what time I’ll be home though, the last time I went to one of their shows it didn’t let out until after eleven at night. It probably won’t be until eleven-thirty at the absolute earliest.”

“Well, William at the very least will still be awake around then. You have my mobile number?” Loretta asked, and I nodded. “Good. You send me a text when you’re on your way back, and we’ll have Sadie ready for you to take home.”

“Thanks Loretta,” I said. “I really appreciate it.”

“It’s no problem at all,” she assured me.

Back home later that afternoon, I stood in front of the long mirror that ran along the wall above the sinks in the ladies’ amenities block, staring at my reflection. Lisbeth was due to pick me up in roughly half an hour, though I saw no point in heading up to the visitor carpark until I knew she was on her way.

For some reason, it had taken me hours to decide what I was going to wear tonight. Normally it wasn’t so hard for me to figure that out – I pretty much lived in my jeans and various T-shirts, and that was what I tended to wear out to concerts. Instead of falling back on my usual concert uniform I had emptied out my wardrobe, the storage boxes and the two suitcases I kept under my bed, and had pawed through all of my clothes in search of something halfway decent to wear. Judging by the outfit I’d ended up putting together, my subconscious had decided that because tonight was Hanson’s last show for the year I needed to make an impression – which, for some reason, meant that I needed to wear a skirt tonight.

“This better be worth it,” I grumbled to myself as I tried to yank the hem of my skirt down to my knees. That in itself was an exercise in futility, not to mention that because I had opted to be sensible and wear leggings under my skirt a little pointless. Over my skirt and leggings I wore a maroon T-shirt with an intricate Celtic design on the front worked in black velvet. A slouchy black beanie and my cranberry Converse sneakers rounded out my outfit for the evening.

There really was no point in hanging around staring at my reflection for the rest of the afternoon, I decided, so I gathered up the clothes I’d put on that morning along with my toiletry kit and the towel that I’d brought out to the amenities block with me. It was time for me to head back to my caravan and finish getting ready for the concert.

My phone’s text message tone sounded off just as I finished packing my handbag with everything I would need for that evening – camera, my mobile phone’s powerbank and cord, hairbrush, my little pocket notebook, a couple of pens, wallet and my keys. As I’d expected, the text message in question was from Lisbeth. Leaving woonona now – be there in 10 mins or so. I clicked back to my phone’s home screen, locked it and slipped it into my handbag, and looped my handbag’s strap around my neck so it sat on my left shoulder. Sadie was already next door with Loretta and William, so all I needed to do was grab my walking stick and one of my cardigans, lock up and head over to the carpark.

Lisbeth arrived right on six-thirty, her car pulling into an empty space in the carpark not far from the park office. I looked back over my shoulder from reading the notices that had been posted on the office’s noticeboard just in time to see Lisbeth sticking her head out of the driver’s side window of her car. “Come on Rue, let’s go!” she yelled. I raised a hand in response and headed over to her car.

“Looking to try cracking onto Zac tonight, are we?” I asked when I spotted what Lisbeth was wearing. She wore all black – a short black skirt with a row of sequins along the hem, a sleeveless black top, and gladiator sandals. Her short, dark brown hair was pulled back under a headband that had a black rose sewn onto it. “You know damn well he’s taken.”

“I could say the same for you with Taylor!” Lisbeth shot back.

“Taylor isn’t married though,” I replied. “Big difference.”

Lisbeth stuck her tongue out at me and put her car into reverse gear. “I put your ticket in my wallet,” she said as she reversed her car out of its parking space. “Don’t let me forget to give it to you when we get to the uni, I’d hate for you to miss this.” She looked sidelong at me for a brief moment. “You look great, by the way.”

“Thanks, Lis,” I said with a smile. “So what do you think we should expect tonight? Especially as it’s the last night of tour.”

“I honestly have no idea,” Lisbeth said with a shrug. “I’ve never been to the last show on any of their tours. Almost went and saw them in Freo in September, but…” Here she shrugged again. “Couldn’t afford my ticket, my airfare and however much it would have cost me to stay in a hotel for a couple of nights, so I didn’t bother.”

“I’d have thought they’d play their last show in Newy, though,” I said. “Seeing as that’s where they’re from and all.”

“Yeah, I did too.” We’d reached the roundabout outside Stuart Park by now, waiting for a gap in the traffic so that Lisbeth could make the turn into Kembla Street. “But I’m not complaining if it means I get to see them one more time before they go on their summer break.”

“No complaints here either.” The notification tone for my Twitter app sounded off, and I dug my phone out of my handbag. In among the new updates on my timeline, I saw once I had unlocked my phone and opened Twitter, was one from Hanson. “They just finished sound check,” I said.

“Sweet,” Lisbeth said. “Maybe they’ll actually start on time tonight.”

“I wouldn’t count on it,” I said, putting my phone away as I spoke. “Three words Lis – Hanson Standard Time.”

“Good point,” Lisbeth conceded.

We arrived at Crust Pizza at around five minutes to seven. Lisbeth had parked her car in the McDonald’s carpark, and we had walked up Burelli Street and across the Arts Precinct before cutting through to Crown Street via the laneway near the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre. The restaurant was absolutely packed, and I let out a quiet groan. It was going to be ages before I was able to sit down at this rate.

“I think everyone going to the show had the same idea as us,” I said as I surveyed the crowd inside. A fair few people in the crowd were wearing Hanson shirts and hoodies of various descriptions, and I found myself almost wishing I’d had the same idea.

“Remind me again why I suggested this?” Lisbeth asked as we joined the long queue that snaked out of the front door and down the footpath past the burger shop three doors away. “Because this is fucking ridiculous.”

“Because you’re too cashed up for your own good?” I teased her.

“Funny, Ruby.” Lisbeth raised herself up onto tiptoes in an attempt to peer over the heads of everyone in line in front of us. “I think we’re better off just getting takeaway and heading up to McCabe Park or something. I don’t like our chances of getting a table. There’s too many people here.”

“Yeah, I think you’re right,” I agreed. “We’d never make it to the uni on time otherwise.”

It took what felt like hours for our place in line to even make it inside the restaurant. I had been staring at my phone, catching up on Twitter and Facebook, when the unthinkable happened – both of my knees gave out on me at almost exactly the same moment. I didn’t even have a chance to steady myself. My phone and walking stick both went flying off to parts unknown as I hit the deck, landing squarely and very hard on my backside.

“Holy shit Ruby, are you okay?” Lisbeth asked as she crouched down next to me.

“I think so,” I said, wincing as I tried to stand up. My knees refused to work, however, which I immediately took as a very bad sign. “Okay, bad idea. I’m not okay.”

“I think that may be the understatement of the year,” Lisbeth said. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Do you want me to drive you home?”

“Fuck no. I didn’t get dressed up just to spend tonight on the lounge watching TV. I don’t give two shits if I have to sit down for the whole show, I am not missing out on it.” I sighed. “I should have brought my wheelchair instead of my walking stick. Should have guessed this would happen.”

“Do you want me to go back to your place and get it?” Lisbeth asked as she helped me back to my feet. Someone had found a chair by now, and I sank down onto it gratefully, leaning forward over my knees.

I shook my head. “I’ll be all right. I just need to sit down for a bit. Did you see where my phone and walking stick got to, by the way?”

Before Lisbeth could answer me, a pair of bright red Converse sneakers came into view, one of which had the end of my walking stick balanced on it. As I slowly looked up I could see that the owner of the sneakers had my mobile phone in one of their hands. “I think these might be yours,” a very familiar voice said.

“Holy shit,” I heard Lisbeth whisper behind me. She sounded more than a little awestruck, and once I had fully straightened up I saw exactly why she was feeling that way.

Standing in front of me, holding my mobile phone and walking stick and looking just a little concerned, was Taylor Hanson.

“Yeah, they’re mine,” I said once I’d found my voice. “Thanks.”

Taylor grinned, his smile reaching all the way up to his bright blue eyes, and he handed my phone and walking stick over. “No worries. You okay? You took a bit of a tumble there.”

I nodded quickly, only regretting the movement of my head for a moment. “I’ll be okay. S’like I told her, I just need to sit down for a little bit.” I jerked my right thumb over my shoulder at Lisbeth. “Not the first time it’s happened.”

“Yeah, but it’s the first time you’ve fallen on your arse in front of a hot guy,” Lisbeth said, and I immediately reached back and smacked her. “Ow!”

Taylor seemed to take Lisbeth’s remark in stride, much to my relief. “Are you coming to the show tonight?” he asked.

“Yep,” Lisbeth replied. “Been looking forward to it since the regional tour was announced. This one here though” she poked my left shoulder “had no idea until I gave her a bell this morning.”

“Not my fault I’ve been busy with TAFE,” I grumbled.

“Uh-huh,” Lisbeth said, not sounding entirely convinced by my excuse. “Likely story, Ruby.”

“Well, it’s good to hear that you’ll be there,” Taylor said. He sounded pleased that we’d be at the concert. “I should head off – it was good to meet you both.”

“You too, Taylor,” Lisbeth said. He gave us one final smile before heading off through the crowd that packed the restaurant.

“Holy fuck,” Lisbeth said in awe once Taylor was out of earshot. “Please tell me I didn’t imagine that.”

“You didn’t imagine it,” I said. I held my walking stick almost reverently – it had nearly faded, the cold of the aluminium replacing the warmth that had leached into it, but I could still feel where Taylor had held it. I took hold of the handle, gripping it firmly, and used it for leverage against the floor as I pushed myself back to my feet. My knees still felt a little shaky, but I wasn’t about to fall arse over teakettle again anytime soon. “Come on, let’s get our dinner. I’m fucking starving.”