Red truck

Red Truck is written by Maria Behan and is about Fintan who has to sort through his old things, as his old mother is moving out. Despite his displeasure, as he goes up in the attic, he begins to reminiscence his child hood. He finds a red truck and remembers how he got it at his 6'th birthday and how it was the only thing he played with for a month until a day it got lost. He throws the biggest and only fit in his lift, accusing his brothers of taking it, until his father comes in and, to Fintan's own relief, finally stops him. Nobody mentions the truck again. Some time later he finds the truck at the edge of the field, and remembers how he forgot it as he ran from his brother. He went into despair as he could not tell his family that he had found his beloved truck again. He can't decide what to do with it but he finally hides it away in the bottom of his wardrobe so nobody will ever know. Over the years he forgets about it. Now he wonders what to do about the truck. He runs down to his mother and indignantly tells her he found it in one of his brothers boxes. Fintan is soon to be fifty and lives as an artist. He has never settled down with a family but still finds young girlfriends, and only art students. As he gets older his girlfriends gets more used and ugly. Sylvia, his present girlfriend tricks him and drives him to his parents house as he wants nothing to do with it. She has a flappy stomach and square jaw and a very firm and unyielding attitude. She seems to be an surrogate mother for him as she takes care of him and makes decisions for him as if he is still a child and not fifty. His art and sculptures did not sell well and he wastes his life away with no future or plans. He did not expect to get old, not necessarily die young, but did not see himself adult, responsible and wise, as he is not the type. Others tells him to grow up and start act like his age and save up to retirement, but he does not take them serious as he can not see himself needing a pension. Fintan does not like his brothers Shane and Peter. Shane is the oldest being 13, and is a bully in school but can not be bothered to waste his strength on bullying Fintan, while Peter still constantly terrorizes Fintan. Fintan bites in an apple and spits the piece in the face of Peter when he has the fit, probably as a small kind of revenge as that is the only thing he can do because of his own lack of strength. He seems to be petty, Immature and stubborn as he won't forgive his brothers even as an adult. He seems to believe nothing is his fault but everybody else. He grew up on an apple farm and has no education other than as an artist. Fintan is annoyed with his mother for being soft-hearted and giving in to everybody.