The Stony Heart
We had travelled thousands of kilometres across Australia in a Jeep Wrangler, through sagebrush and spinifex and red sand to get to the centre of this world. But it was not our world. I felt just as lost in Melbourne after my wife left me and the kids.
As we drove around Uluru, its shadows hid and re-appeared as if playing a child’s game. Other tourists took walking tours – my good friend Declan and I sat on the base. The rock pulsated with changing shades of crimson and pastel orange. I stared into the abyss and thought to myself, somewhere out there, a kangaroo is bounding with joy.
The Anangus believe that by touching the boulder they can experience Dreamtime. I wondered what my ancestral beings would tell me now? Don’t give up. I said a quiet prayer to a quiet desert, placed my hand on the stony heart, and felt oven glove warmth.
Robert S.Daley is a mental health nursing student at the University of the West of England. He resides in Stroud, UK. He has previously lived in Hong Kong, Australia and Japan and travelled extensively.