Out of Tune Read Online Free PDF Page A

difficulty looking after himself, managing his finances and surviving
     on his own. His reluctance to leave the family nest as a child was in marked contrast to myself; I didn’t have any problems
     about going to school. On the contrary, I have always been curious and eager to try out new things, in contrast to David at
     that time.
    David had to wear eyeglasses from a very early age. I think he must have been five, perhaps even four and a half. He was,
     and is, extremely shortsighted, the only child in our family who began to wear glasses so young. His glasses are the kind
     known in Australia as Coke bottle lenses because they are so thick. Nowadays David sometimes wears contact lenses, although
     he finds that they cause irritation. He may have been encouraged by others to wear them for his concert performances, even
     though he is not very comfortable with them.
    Like my younger brother Leslie, who could be a bit of an adventurer and get into all sorts of mischief, I, too, was quite
     a naughty child. David was more serious, spending much of his time from an early age sitting at the piano, lost in music.
     I remember I owned a skirt that I absolutely hated and my mother would try and make me wear it. Early one evening I snuck
     out of the apartment and went down to the canal near our home in Glenhuntly Road and threw the skirt into the water and that
     was the end of that. That canal was perfect for throwing unwanted items into.
    Another thing I remember is the circus that came to town every year. It pitched its tent on the big field just across from
     where we lived, bringing its horses and lions and tigers and elephants. I used to hang around day and night, intoxicated by
     the exotic atmosphere and nomadic feeling. David loved visiting the circus, too, and liked watching the firework displays
     that sometimes took place across the road from us, for example on Guy Fawkes night (an annual British tradition that used
     to also be celebrated in Australia).
    I also had some rather macabre interests, and these got me into trouble. As a young child I was fascinated by matches and
     fire. When we stoked up the boiler I often used to throw an empty container of toothpaste into the fire, causing some chemical
     process whereby wonderful colors would be emitted from the old toothpaste container as it burned.
    One day when I was about six or seven, I was in the kitchen standing near the very flimsy muslin curtains above the kitchen
     window. I was lighting one match after another seeing how fast they could burn down until they got to my fingers and then
     I would blow them out. Then disaster struck. I had stood too close to the curtains and suddenly they were engulfed in flames.
     I was alone in the kitchen and didn’t know what to do. So I rushed to fill an empty milk bottle full of water and, like an
     idiot, threw it at the window—not realizing of course that the bottle would completely shatter the window. So not only was
     there now a fire burning out of control but there was also broken glass all over the floor.
    Just at that moment, my little brother David came in and looked at the huge fire blazing and me standing there in a state
     of near paralysis not knowing what to do. Shocked, he screamed “What have you done! I’m going to go and tell on you.” I was
     really afraid I was going to get into trouble and I pleaded with him not to. I had this vision that the fire could be put
     out without anybody knowing, even though in the meantime the wooden window frame had started burning and I didn’t know what
     to do. But David ran off in a panic to tell my mother. Just then I noticed my father’s old gray shaving mug. I grabbed it
     and began rushing back and forth from the tap, repeatedly filling it up and throwing water on the fire until eventually I
     managed to put it out.
    Now, although I was quite proud of myself for putting out the fire, the kitchen still looked an absolute shambles. The curtains
     had been