The Simple GiftI'm not proud. I'm sixteen, and soon to be homeless. Weary of his life with his alcoholic, abusive father, sixteen-year-old Billy packs a few belongings and hits the road, hoping for something better than what he left behind. He finds a home in an abandoned freight train outside a small town, where he falls in love with rich, restless Caitlin and befriends a fellow train resident, "Old Bill," who slowly reveals a tragic past. When Billy is given a gift that changes everything, he learns not only to how forge his own path in life, but the real meaning of family. |
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afternoon Barrier Reef bedroom beer Bendarat Grammar Bendarat Hilton Bendarat River beside Bill's Billy looks bloody bloody kid bottle bowl breakfast Bunkbrain candles Cannery champagne clean coffee cops Dad's dinner drink Ernie favourite feel Freight Yard ginger beer hands hate mopping hold Irene Jessie kilometres kissing knock laugh leave lemonade listen live Longlands Road lunch lunchtime McDonald's mobile phone morning netball night Old Bill Old Old Bill tells old hobo Petra and Kate picnic quiet railway realise ring school uniform seat shake Simon Pulse simple gift sleep smell smiled speedboat Steven Herrick stop streets stupid sunshine sure swearing talk tell Billy there's think of Billy tonight tracks train whistle trees two-stroke University of Queensland veranda waiting walk back warm watch Welfare Wellington Road Westfield Creek window young