Christmas Blue at Flynn's

Christmas Blue at Flynn’s

By

Angela Verdenius

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2017 Angela Verdenius

All Rights Reserved

Cover image courtesy of © yuriyzhuravov | istockphotos.com

& © shapecharge | istockphotos.com

Cover by Angela Verdenius

Smashwords License Statement

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No part of this book may be reproduced, resold, copied or given away in any form without prior consent of the author & publisher.

All characters and places are figments of the author’s imagination and bear no resemblance to any person living or deceased.

Table of Contents

Glossary

Foreword

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Afterword

Bio

Other Books by this Author

Glossary

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I found that some overseas readers were having difficulty with the Australian slang, so I thought a list of the slang I’ve used will help while reading the following story. If I’ve forgotten any, I do apologise! Also, you’ll find some of our Aussie words have different spelling to the US. Interestingly enough, as I’ve grown (gracefully) older, I find a lot of our slang is bypassing the younger generation, so if a young Aussie says they have never heard a certain word, don’t be surprised! But trust me, I’ve used these words all my life growing up, and so have a lot of my family and friends. Does that make me an older Aussie? Heck yes! LOL

Cheers,

Angela

Australian Names/Terms/Slang

AFP - Australian Federal Police

Ambos - ambulance officers

Arse-End Arnold - usually the soldier guarding the rear of a platoon when in the field.

Arvo - afternoon

Barbie - BBQ

Beaut - beautiful, awesome, great, wonderful

Berko - berserk

Bewdy - as in ‘awesome, great’

Biccies - biscuits. The same as cookies

Bikie - biker, person who rides motorcycles.

Bloke/s - man/men

Bloody - a swear word ‘no bloody good’, in place of ‘no damned good’

Blowies - blow flies

Blue - fight, argument - as in ‘they’re having a blue’

Boofhead - idiot, simpleton, etc. It’s an insult, though sometimes we use it as a term of affection. It depends on how it is said and meant.

Boot (of a car) - trunk

Brown nose - currying favour, sucking up. Has a cruder description, but let’s not go into that here. Means the same thing!

Budgie smugglers - men’s bathers, small, brief and tight-fitting

Buggered - many Aussie use it as a slang word for ‘broken’ (it’s buggered), ‘tired (I’m buggered), and ‘no way’ (I’m buggered if I’m going to do that). Just some examples

Bung/Bunging - as in ‘bunging onto something’, putting on something (bung veggies on a plate, putting veggies on a plate), usually in a careless or ‘easy’ manner.

Bush rangers - outlaws/thieves/robbers.

Caramel Crowns - one of Arnott’s totally awesome chocolate and caramel biscuit. Gooey yumminess!

Cark/carked - die, died.

Chips - in Australia we have cold crunchy chips from a packet, or hot chips known in some countries as French Fries

Chippie - carpenter

Crash cart - resuscitation trolley in a hospital or medical setting - used for life threatening situations such as cardiac arrest

Dander – temper

Dial - face

Digger - Australian soldier.

Dill - silly, idiot

Dogs - (as in attached to a truck) - trailers, enclosed or not, that carry goods or are empty.

Doona - like a padded quilt that fits inside a cover and lies on the bed. Can have the warmth of two, three or four blankets, etc.

Donger - penis. Also another meaning is a place people sometimes sleep in, such as ‘dongers’ on mine sites.

Dunny - toilet. When used in the terms ‘built like a brick dunny’, it refers to something built solid, unmoveable.

Fire bug - arsonist

Firies - fire fighters

Garbo/s - the person/s who drive and/or load garbage onto the garbage truck.

Gee-gees - horses

Giggle-box - TV, television

Gob - mouth

Got his/her/their goat – annoyed him/her/them

Hardifence - corrugated fibre cement sheets

Hoon/s - person/people who indulge in antisocial behaviour. Great explanation in Wikipedia

Iced Coffee/chocolate - a milk drink flavoured with chocolate or coffee

Jarmies - pyjamas

Jumper - sweater

Kick up a stink - make a fuss, get angry

Local rag - local newspaper

Lolly - sweetie, candy

Loo - toilet

Lug - face

Marie biscuits - Arnott brand of plain sweet biscuit - delicious.

Milo - chocolate malt drink. Can have it hot or cold. Yummy!

Moosh - slang for face/mouth

Mobile phone - cell phone

Mozzie - mosquito

NAD - No Abnormalities Detected

Nong - idiot

Nooky - sex

Paddy wagon - four wheel drive police vehicle carries four police in the double cab and has a filled-in imprisonment section in the back to place prisoners.

Panadol - paracetamol, similar to Tylenol in the US

Pav/s - Pavlova/Pavlovas - best dessert ever!

PCYC - Police and Citizens Youth Club

Pedal Pushers - three quarter pants/knickerbockers

Porking - having sex

Primapore - sticky patch with a pad in it, a medical dressing

Pub – hotel

Quack – derogatory term for a doctor

RAC - Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia. Covers insurance, holidays, loans, etc

Red backs - poisonous spider, black in colour with a red stripe on its back.

Root - sex

Rotty – Rottweiler breed of dog.

Rubbers – condoms

Sack - bed - as ‘in the sack’ meaning ‘in bed’

Servo - service station

Shag - sex

Sheila – female

Slab – carton of beer.

Smoko - morning tea and afternoon tea break

Snaggers - sausages

Soft drink - soda, fizzy drink

Sparkie - electrician

Spider (drink) - soft drink of choice with a scoop of ice cream in it

Spunk - good-looking man

Stiffy - erection, boner

Subbies - sub contractors

Tea - some people call the evening meal dinner. In my family, we’ve always called it tea, as in breaky, dinner and tea, or breaky, lunch and tea.

Thongs - worn on the feet, same as ‘flip flops’

Tickled pink - delighted

Tim Tams - a brand of Arnott’s Biscuits. Yummy!

TLC - Tender Loving Care

Togs - bathers, swim suit

Torch - flashlight

Toot - toilet

Tradies - tradesmen

Trots - diarrhoea

Tucker – food

Twistie – a brand of cheese-flavoured snack food. Yummy!

Ute - small truck

Vegemite - most Aussies find this spread yummy, many non-Aussies find it too salty. Here’s the hint - if you ever have Vegemite, use it spread thinly, never thickly!

Vollie - volunteers

Wacky baccy - marijuana

Wanger - penis

Waterworks - crying

Whopper - a lie

Yamaha & Suzuki - ‘brands’ of motorcycles.

You wally - silly

Foreword

*

I’ve always wanted to do a Christmas story, and finally - here it is!

Christmas in Australia is cold drinks and sun, and for my family it’s cold food as well - we’re talking salads and ice cream and cold meat. Some of the braver Aussies will do the roast or BBQ. Whatever, it doesn’t matter, Christmas is Christmas. For some of us it has deep religious meaning, for others it’s a time of family, friends and get-togethers.

I love Christmas. I don’t have to receive presents, I don’t have to have a lot of money or things. I don’t even need a lot of people around me as long as I have those near and dear to me (both human and furry). I just love Christmas, to reflect on the blessings in my life and be thankful for all I have. And the feel of Christmas, it’s in the air. Christmas is what you make it.

For me, it’s also a chance to say Merry Christmas to you! I hope your Christmas is filled with cheer, be it quiet or noisy, peaceful or boisterous.

So back to this Christmas story - it’s a little silly, a little light-hearted, a little romantic, so sit back, enjoy it, and have some romance and laughs this Christmas…because you’re worth it ;-)

Chapter 1

*

When Ben opened the back door to find a blue-eyed, blue-pointed furry face looking up at him, he suspected something was up.

When the Siamese trotted right on by him into the kitchen, he knew something was up.

When he turned to see the dainty cat jump up onto one of his kitchen chairs and start washing one paw in preparation of settling down, he positively knew something was up.

What’s up, Phoebe?

Big blue eyes blinked at him before she licked her paw and rubbed the side of her face.

Where’s Flynn?

Phoebe inspected her paw then started nibbling on her immaculate nails.

Scruff, the Yorkshire Terrier, walked into the kitchen, saw Phoebe, dropped to the floor and rolled onto his back, four little legs up in the air. He knew who was boss even if Phoebe didn’t live here.

Pausing, she glanced over at him, took in his submissive pose with indifference, and resumed cleaning her paw.

Stepping out onto the back veranda, Ben peered over at the house next door partially hidden by the high Hardifence. All was quiet. The windows were closed in deference to the growing heat but the curtains were open each side of the blinds as the sun was still on the other side of the house. Once that hot December sun came overhead then made its way to the other side, the blinds would come down to keep out the sunshine.

The blinds being up revealed the tinsel hanging from one of the curtain rods. The window itself boasted sprayed-on snow. Wishful thinking since Christmas in Australia was hot enough generally to fry eggs on the footpath.

Or people’s brains out if they decided to walk around in the sun without a hat. Take your pick.

Crossing to the corner of the veranda, Ben stood on tip-toe to see into the yard next door. Part of the garden could be seen, part of Flynn’s back veranda. The bird bath under the big tree was full of water, the native plants along the back fence were in flower beneath which some grey doves sheltered from the sun. The patch of grass was green. The stone pavers and pebbles lining the garden beds held a sprinkling of leaves from his big old gum tree that hung partially over the fence.

No fair-haired girl with a sunny smile and bright blue eyes was in the yard.

Which begged the question - why was Phoebe over at his house when normally she’d be sprawled out in her owner’s neat little house with the ceiling fan lazily turning, stirring the lightly-fragranced air