Words by Zoe Elektra
Art by Kathy Lee
City Chick
City Chick stands out in a leafy country town. She walks down quiet streets with a backpack on her back and a jacket around her waist. She smiles at people mowing their lawns, thinking that a smile is a respectable halfway point between doing nothing and saying hi. City Chicks don’t say hi to strangers.
City Chick gets agitated when the footpath ends. She has to cross the road in order to keep walking. How can the pathway just end like that? Does no one here walk around?
City Chick is amused by the irregularity of trains and buses. She is not agitated because she understands that country folk live in polytime compared to monochronic Melbourne. Short, sharp, prompt. City loop trains every ten minutes.
City Chick cannot believe how quiet it is around. Walking down the main road from the train station, about three cars and three people passed her. The park she is sitting in now is empty, spacious, inviting.
City Chick is slightly intimidated by a man walking around aimlessly with his hands in his pants. He keeps looking around like he’s waiting for something to happen, staring wistfully up at the trees, at the street, at the carpark. She is keeping an eye on him. If her mother were here, she’d probably want to move away from him. But City Chick is more trusting of country folk. And she can watch him in the black mirror of her computer screen.
City Chick longs to stay here by herself for the weekend. To not have to talk to anyone (unless she feels like it), to only have the responsibility of looking after herself, to watch people and listen to the birds and be somewhere different.
City Chick is relieved when Country Man’s suspected wife comes and meets him on the street. He truly was walking around aimlessly. City Chick feels remorse for having immediately characterised Country Man negatively. She doesn’t know where the balance is between being wary and assuming innocence until proven guilty.
City Chick stands at the bus stop, instead of opting for the bench that is set in from the road. She doesn’t trust that the bus will stop unless it sees her. She is tired from standing. She has walked a lot for her city legs.
City Chick needs to take a shit.
City Chick is worried the bus will not arrive.
City Chick gets an Uber to the nearest train station.
