IMOGEN TAYLOR

T-shirt
By Rupert Taylor

You bought an AC/DC t-shirt at Tandy’s in Rotorua. The t-shirt had a massive screen-print of Angus Young owning his guitar on the front. Above Angus was the AC/DC logo. Beneath Angus it said ‘Let there be rock.’ You had saved up for this t-shirt. It was a very big deal. You tried it on and looked in the mirror and thought ‘I am complete.’ You wore the t-shirt out of the shop. You wore your t-shirt on the drive home from Rotorua to Russell. You couldn’t wait to go back to school wearing your t-shirt. School, you knew, was where the real glory would flow your way. School was where the girls were. Your marks would get better. You would play better rugby. Hell, you would probably even get an award that wasn’t the most improved player award. You wore your t-shirt to bed. The next day you got up and wore your t-shirt kayaking in the ocean. It rained really hard. You fell out of the kayak. It was awesome. After you dragged the kayak up the stony beach you ran to the dryer and chucked your wet AC/DC t-shirt in the dryer. You wanted to keep wearing it. The dryer took ages. You kept looking through the round plastic window to check on the progress of your t-shirt’s dryness. Finally it was done and you took it out and held it up and saw that the screen-print of Angus, his guitar, the AC/DC logo and the words let there be rock had crumbled off the t-shirt. Your heart sank. The dryer was filled with flakes of red and yellow pieces of Angus. Something about the saltwater combined with the electric air in the dryer had destroyed the screen-print. You stood there holding up your ruined t-shirt and your heart literally broke. You ran to your room and dived on your bed and cried. You screamed into the pillow. No shit. You actually screamed violently into your pillow over a ruined AC/DC t-shirt. You had nothing cool to wear to school. Your world was over. For the next few months when you listened to Back in Black or Dirty Deeds the pain and loss came flooding back.