The picture, the words

My fellow school captain, Patrick, unearthed this photo of us. It appeared in the paper when we became captains of our primary school. I wrote about it in my book from memory, but this is the first time I have seen the actual photograph in many years.

Here's how I described it in my book...

'What a pretty face you've got, love,' the photographer had told me as he squished me beside the boy captain for our shot in the mayor's office, after our official welcome into our new roles. 'And you must be smart as well, to be captain. Bet the boys love you.' I wanted to believe his words, but the ideas rested on my skin, unable to penetrate.

When the photo had appeared in the local paper, a big grin lighting my face as I pushed my badge into the lens for the whole world to see, Mum had smiled and hugged me. But her eyes had still been puffy from crying and they hadn't quite met mine. How could good stuff happen to me when she spent ten hours a day sobbing.

Anyway, thought some people who read my book might be interested to see a photo from that time.