The Domino Effect Lockie Leonard

# Worlds away from anyone

# They were burning themselves out in the sun

# Worlds away from anyone

# They were burning themselves out in the sun

# There was just enough to get that far away

# Ooh... #

It's weird how one tiny thing in your life

can trigger a whole chain of events.

Mum calls it the domino effect

and once the dominoes start to fall,

there's no way of knowing how things will end up.

At least that's what I used to think.

It all started when I was having a surf, minding my own business,

when, out of nowhere, a wave the size of Mount Everest

picked me up, a whole pile of seaweed

and several hundred terrified fish, twisted us and spat us out.

That's when the domino effect started.

The force of the wave caused my leg rope to snap,

which meant I'd lost my surfboard

and Boof found it washed up on the beach.

While I was looking for my board,

I had an argument with the world's nastiest clump of seaweed.

Then Boof decided to make a few dollars by selling my board.

But on the way, he had a run-in with Mr Streeton.

Hey, watch out, you big loser!

Now, Mr Streeton wouldn't usually get upset so easily,

but he was still fragile over losing the mayoral election.

Being called a loser was the final straw.

He went home, locked himself in the bathroom and refused to come out.

Meanwhile, back at the second hand store,

Boof was stoked to get some money for my board...

..which he lost two seconds later.

Not too long after that, Phillip came along,

which was lucky for me because he was immediately on the case.

-Phillip called Sarge to come and get my board.

-Got it!

-Good work, Sarge.

-And with the cash he found,

he bought himself a brand new hobby

and the dominoes just kept on falling.

-HE SCREAMS

-Fascinating.

Blisters, maybe even pustules.

Definitely an allergic reaction to something.

Best specimen I've seen since Amy Connor ate walnuts in Grade Two.

Been near any nuts lately?

Have you been around anything unusual?

-I did have a fight with 50 tonnes of seaweed.

-That's probably it!

An allergic reaction to seaweed.

Never mind the microscopic things living in the seaweed,

there's a whole ecosystem in there. It's not looking good.

There must be something to make it go away.

Ah! Pure aloe vera nappy rash gel.

If it works on Blob's bum, it's bound to work on your face.

Are you kidding? No way I'm putting that stuff on!

Your choice. Bum cream or pustules.

That'll do the trick, Lockie. Good thinking, Phillip, nice work.

I look like salad dressing.

This might take your mind off things.

Guess who's been asked to play a Santa at Blob's day-care centre?

Me!

Huh? If you boys play your cards right,

you might be in line for Santa's special helpers.

I'd love to, Sarge,

but I'm afraid I have to devote all my energies to my new book.

There's a lot to learn with the art of Feng Shoe. It's Chinese!

I think it's pronounced "fung shway".

It's a very old practice. Older, even, than me.

Mostly about generating positivity and balance in one's life.

You can get anything you want

if you place the furniture in the right spots.

How can I have never known of this before?

-It's you and Blob in line for number one elf!

-Sorry.

Not with a face full of bum cream.

Actually, I think I need more on.

The philosophy is simple.

If I position the furniture in the right way

and create enough positive energy,

I can get the one thing that I really want.

There's no way you can change anything just by moving stuff round.

Things just happen the way they happen.

'Once the dominoes begin to fall, it's out of your control.

-'End of story.'

-You just wait. I know I can do it.

Good on you, Phillip. A person who stops believing in things

stops believing in themselves.

Well? What do you think?

Excellent colour for you, Sarge.

I believe you'll be the best Santa ever.

OK, Phillip. If you can make my rash go away,

-I'll believe in your Feng Phooey.

-Don't worry, Lock.

You'll be as good as gold tomorrow.

Things have a way of looking different in the morning.

'And Sarge was right. Things did look different in the morning.'

HE SCREAMS

I'm green! Phillip!

What's happening? I'm turning into seaweed!

It must have been the, um...

Come on, Einstein, you're the one who suggested Blob's bum cream!

The bum cream.

It had aloe vera in it. How much did you put on?

About...26 lots.

In an hour.

"Do not exceed one application every two hours."

Hmmm. I wonder why.

Phillip, this is why!

Aargh!

This is Blob's happy corner.

-I'm starting to Feng Shui.

-Yeah, well it's really working(!)

Look at my face!

At least your rash is gone.

'I decided there were only two ways to handle this situation.

'One - wear a disguise.'

SHE SCREAMS

'Or two - take Egg's advice.'

No one out there cares what colour your face is.

It's the inside that counts.

And yours looks like it's filled with peppermint cream.

'Bad jokes aside, Egg did have a point

'and in the end, I faced the world head-on

'and went to visit the one person

'I knew would give me a bit of sympathy.'

SHE GIGGLES

It brings out the blue in your eyes!

(It does.)

'But I got something much better than sympathy.

'Mum started really laughing, for the first time in ages,

'and that had to be worth 100 green faces.'

Archie, my old buddy!

-Hey! Monster, my man!

-You're lookin' an extra shade of healthy today.

What, you been out for a joy ride?

Nah, must be all the broccoli I've been eating.

-Working on your hog?

-Just cleaning her up.

Can't take her with me,

but I'll make sure she's in good nick for the next guy.

-They're letting me go on Saturday.

-That's great! You must be excited,

-going home and everything.

-Home?

Not allowed home, Dad won't let me.

It's all right, it doesn't matter. Just as long as I get to see Vicki.

But as soon as I find a place, come over. I cook a mean pig on a spit!

Yeah, that sounds great.

Really looking forward to that pig on a spit.

'Turned out Monster wasn't the only one having a bad morning.

'After Boof called Mr Streeton a loser,

'the dominoes kept on falling.'

Please, Dad, will you come out?

We can go fishing after school if you'd like?

Or we can play Scrabble.

-I'll let you win this time.

-I'm not coming out and you can't make me!

Barry, darling? I've laid out all your clothes for work,

including your tie with the kittens on it.

Oh, that's it, Barry! If you don't open this door this minute...

I opened the door. See?

And now I'm closing it again. So there!

Dad, we've got to talk about Colin, he has to come home.

Where he'll get the love and care he needs.

That boy is not setting foot inside this house. I will not permit it!

'Over at Egg's place, bad news kept getting worse.'

Live separately? As in, live in two different houses?

-We'll both be here.

-Living in Angelus.

What does that mean for me?

It means you'll live with both of us.

Some weeks with me, some with your dad.

You'll have two bedrooms!

-But won't that get confusing?

-It'll work fine.

We'll work out a whole schedule that's best for everyone.

That way neither of us has to miss you too much.

What if I don't want two bedrooms?

What if I'm here and I want a CD that's at Mum's?

Or I'm at Mum's and I left my homework at Dad's?

HE SIGHS

What if I like things just the way they are?

'The thing about dominoes is,

'once they start to fall,

'no amount of moving furniture can change a thing.'

-I'm not even gonna ask.

-That's probably wise. How's your dad?

Well, let's see...

He's locked himself in the bathroom and refuses to come out.

-At least he's home, like you wanted!

-Not like this.

He won't even talk about Monster.

I'm such an idiot for thinking that we could just be happy

and live like a real family again.

It's just gonna happen all over again.

Monster gets out of hospital, Dad won't let him back in the house.

So there's no one to take care of him.

He forgets to take his medication,

gets sick and ends up back in hospital - it's never-ending.

There must be some way to convince your dad.

It would take an earthquake to convince him of anything.

Why is your face green?

Maybe that's what you could do. Fake an emergency.

Very funny, Leonard. You take yourself to Mr East's room.

And stay out of sight. No need to make everyone vomit.

THEY LAUGH

'The strange thing was, if my leg rope hadn't snapped that day,

'and I hadn't lost my board

'and if I didn't get attacked by seaweed or get the rash

'then ended up with a green face,

'I might never have been sent to John East's office.

'And if he wasn't away being sworn in as Mayor,

'I wouldn't have checked out his vintage surf magazine collection

'and I might never have found the old yearbook.

'Or the chance to help Vicki.

'It was Monster, same age as me, looking normal and happy

'with an essay he wrote about his favourite day.

-'And then, Vicki thought of a way to create an emergency.'

-Mum...

It's what?

Where? I'm calling Sergeant Leonard.

'While Vicki was sorting out her dad,

'Egg was even more miserable.

'His parent's separation had sent him into a tail spin.'

What if I'm at Mum's and I wake up in a heavy metal mood,

but all I have with me is thrash metal? It's a total nightmare.

Maybe you could just ride back to grab a CD?

It's not like it's far.

It may as well be Africa. That's how it feels.

It's gonna be different. Two beds, two rooms, two houses.

I just want one house, like it's always been.

With me...Mum and Dad.

'I'd never seen Egg so upset before and wished I knew how to help him.'

HE SCREAMS

-What have you done to my plant of renewal, brother?

-Your what?

-Why is this there?

-It's restoring harmony.

I've shui-ed.

There should be flying water but all I could find was the jug.

Phillip, you seriously need help in an extremely large way.

No, see it's genius.

I've opened up the good energy to face north, where Mum's hospital is.

According to my book,

Mum should feel the positive energy, get better and come home.

This is all about helping Mum? That's the big thing you wanted?

You won't think it's so dumb when she comes home.

No, I don't think it's dumb.

Insane and ridiculous, but not dumb.

Maybe just warn me next time.

I can't tell when the greatness will strike again,

but I'll do my best.

Oh, just one more thing.

I rearranged the bedroom to score a deluxe archaeology set.

HE CHANTS

'While Phillip was discovering ways to get Mum home

'and win an archaeology set,

'Sarge was making some discoveries of his own.'

Hi Blob, hi Santa, how'd it go?

Magnificently. Fridays are nothing if not...

-..eventful.

-Phillip's been shui-ing.

I won! I won! I won!

-What's that? What did you win?

-A Christmas raffle at school!

I won heaps of cool stuff!

You won a games hamper.

Yep. Not exactly an archaeology set, but still.

Definitely the shui!

The power of positive thinking. Good for you.

I'm gonna make some calls, spread the word - pronto!

Do I know anyone in China?

'And that was how the dominoes had affected my life. So far.'

Interesting day all round today, Lock.

Found Mr Streeton's convertible abandoned by the side of the road.

-Not a scratch on it, thankfully.

-Who did it?

-No clue.

Mr Streeton was one happy chap when I told him he could pick it up.

'And just then I realised,

'maybe Phillip was on to something with the positive energy.

'Maybe I could use the domino effect to change things for the better.'

-Hey, Sarge? What time did you tell him he could pick it up?

-11.

-Why do you ask?

-Oh, no reason. Just...wondering.

And one more thing - I need a big favour.

Can I please borrow your Santa suit?

'The next morning, my face was finally back to normal,

'just in time for me to put my domino plan into action.'

-Hey, there.

-Hey, Monster. All packed and ready?

Yep, yep - sure am. Just thought I'd watch a bit of telly first.

Don't have to leave here till ten.

So, hey, good news about your car.

-My car?

-Yeah, the one at the car yard.

Heard it got stolen.

No, it's OK. The car's fine. It's in perfect condition.

Sarge has it at the police station.

You can go round and pick it up at 11. No problem.

-You're a good friend for telling me, Arch.

-Any time.

-So, you'll be there?

-You bet I'll be there. Just try to stop me.

'And since I was on a roll, I kept on going.

'I decided to pay a visit to Egg's parents

'and let them know how tough things were on Egg

'and how hard he was taking the two homes thing.

'I didn't know how they'd take it or what they'd do,

'but it seemed to go OK.

'I only had one more domino to play...

'..then stand back and hope they fell the right way.'

Baby's come back! Beautiful baby's come back!

Dad.

'Thankfully, things went according to plan.'

Look what's turned up.

-HE LAUGHS

-You remember this? Eh?

'Starting with a broken leg rope

'and ending with me finding an old yearbook.

'My favourite day, by Colin Streeton.'

'My favourite day is the same day every year,

'right before the Christmas holidays.

'Me and my Dad get dressed up as Santa and his helper

'and drive around town giving lollies to all the kids.

'Dad said one day he'll give me the car.

'I can't wait.

'My dad is the best

'and I think on that special day

-'everyone wishes my dad was their dad, too.'

-Happy Christmas!

'After reading it,

'I realised Mr Streeton and Monster used to be just like Sarge and me.

'And maybe, if I could get them in the same place at the same time,

'they could be that way again.

'I'd never seen Vicki so happy.

'Back at Egg's house, things were going much better.

'Egg's parents decided they would share Egg's house.

'One week at a time, so he wouldn't have to move at all.

'Egg thought it was a great idea.

'He celebrated by head-banging for seven straight hours.

'Personal record.'

HEAVY METAL MUSIC PLAYS

'Things worked out for Phillip, too.

'He Feng Shui-ed himself right to hospital with a sprained wrist

'and got to have a sleepover with Mum.

'It wasn't as good as having her home,

'but Phillip was pretty stoked. So was Mum.

'So, everything worked out OK.'

-Hi.

-Hi. My brother's home.

-That's good.

-It is, it's great.

Your dad called, asked if we'd seen his Santa suit.

Why do I get the felling you've had a hand in the way this has worked out?

I don't know how you did it, but thanks.

I think you're pretty great, Lockie Leonard.

Have a good surf.

'And that's exactly what I did.

'While steering clear of seaweed, of course.'

# Boy, it's breaking

# Underneath the wave of strength

# Hey, hey, hey

# Hey, hey, hey

# Worlds away from anyone

# They were burning themselves out in the sun

# There was just enough to get that far away... #