"Don't ever laugh
as a Hearse goes by
for you may be the next to die"

Paula sings this to her screaming young daughter, trying to calm the two year olds tantrum. The ginger child won't stop, shes obviously hell bent on causing as much trouble as she can for Paula. It doesn't stop Paula singing it, whispering it in a single song way to her daughters ear.

:They wrap you up in a big white sheet
from your head down to your feet
They put you in a big black box
and cover you up with dirt and rocks"

The White duvet she was covered in now makes her think of that rhyme. The six year old Jac lays in bed, hoping that she can fall asleep. She an hear her mum, she's shouting at some man. All Jac wants is a cuddle. But Paula says she's too naughty. She grabs her bear as the shouts get louder. Then it goes silent. The doors slam and everything goes silent. Jac lays there for ages, reciting the nursery rhyme under her breath. She eventually gets up the courage, she goes to the front room. It's empty. As is the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen. Her Mamas gone. Her little heart sinks, as she goes back to bed.

The empty house scares Jac. She can't sleep, tossing and turning. She eventually hears the door open. She can't bet out of bed, mummy will be annoyed. She lays awake, soon moaning fills Jacs ears. The seven year old not quite grasping what Paula is doing. Yet it will be something that will haunt Jac as she gets older, and understands.

"and all goes well for about a week
and then your coffin begins to leak"

Jacs grandad requested that Jac be taken to his wife's funeral. She adored Jac. The ten year old Jac was close to her grandma. She wears a knee length black dress, her ginger hair down. She doesn't stand with her mother. She doesn't like her anymore. She's mean, she's different and she loathes her young daughter. Jac does a reading, her grandfather wanted her too. She reads in a crystal clear voice, somehow finding the courage to talk in front of 40 people she didnt know.

As the coffin is lowered, ready to be cremated, Jac hums the nursery rhyme. She is glad that her grandma won't have the chance to be eaten by worms. She cuddles up to her grandad as they leave the church. None of the really know what's happened, she died very quickly. The whole family is in shock. Paula keeps talking about moving to India. Jac refuses, India is hot. She will burn, and that's painful. Not that Paula cares. She's made it very clear to Jac that she is an inconvenience.

"and the worms crawl in,
the worms crawl out"

Jac sits by a tree. Paula left her a month ago. She's been here a whole month. She hates it. She watches the worms crawl in and out of the tree. Wishing how she could go into hiding like they do. She hates Paula, but not as much as she hates herself. If she had been good, she would have gone. If she had didn't kick off she would have been in India. If she hadn't ever been naughty, Paula would have loved her.

She's in the back corner of the garden. It's a pretty, summery day. The temperatures not overly hot, but it's warm enough for Jac to be without a jumper. She sits there, singing quietly to the worms. The song Paula used to sing, as if it was a comfort to the scared eleven year old. She doesn't like the creepy men, the "uncles" So she stays out the way, keeping herself to herself. She's heard the rumours, she's not stupid. She doesn't do anything naughty. Not here, not at school.

"the worms play pinochle
on your snout"

She was playing pinochle with some of the other girls, Bethany, Rebecca and Fran. When he came, he called Fran to his office. She just looked at them as they carried on playing. By now, Jac was 16. She was leaving soon. She just carried on playing, worn down by the system. She was sick of it. Paula rarely crossed her mind, just her life before this dump. She knew what she wanted to do now, and she worked for it.

She lied when she told Bethany that she didn't think of Paula. She did, she thought of her silly songs. The way she smelt. But she felt particularly miserable when they provide, aged pinochle. She thought of her, and her grandparents. They had tried teaching it to Jac when she was nine, except she kept getting distracted. That song came on in her head everytime it was mentioned. And by default, Paula was remembered.

"They eat your eyes,
they eat your noes
they eat the jelly between your toes"

She can't help thinking about this song when they start desecting bodies. Eighteen year old Jac is now at uni, studying medicine. The lecturer was talking about decomposition of the body, she remembers once in history they were talking about world war one and the trenches. The decomposition of bodies. She tried to erase the memory of this song, as if it would erase Paula. Erase her memory, yet she can't seem to shift the song.

"A big green worm with rolling eyes
crawls in your stomach
and out your eyes "

Jac sat in the library, trying to study for her final exams. They are in the morning, and it's currently 11PM. Yet she can't seem to concentrate. She can't seem to get the image of worms out of her head, after watching some show the morning before. For the last seven years, that song had gone unheard, yet it was back again. At the worst moment in time for Jac. She gives up, walking back to her room and going to sleep.

"your stomach turns a slimy green
and puss comes out like whipping cream
you spread it on a slice of bread
and thats what you eat
when your dead
and the worms crawl out
and the worms crawl in"

She saw the spread that they laid out for the gradation, whipped cream and sandwiches. She sighs, wanting to cry. She doesn't have anyone here. The song that hasn't left her since that night plays in her mind. She goes to the graduation, alone. How sad is that? Or that's what she tells herself. She stands with her year, as they receive their degrees. She just smiles along with the rest of them, perfectly aware of how much she stuck out. She was the most vibrant redhead in her year, along with her deathly pale complexion, she stood out. Just like she had for the rest of her life. She just sighs, willing the day to be over. So she can get on with her life, with being a good doctor.

"the worms that crawl in are lean and thin
your eyes fall in
and your hair falls out
your brain comes tumbling
down your snout"

She gets ready for her first day doctoring. She's so tired, she doesn't want to mess up. She's worked so hard to get here, for it to mess it up, it would be a tragedy. Yet she is so tired, she feels like her eyes will fall out. She just sighs, trying to sleep. She's haunted by memories of the children's home, not that anything happened to her, it's just the whole idea of it. She falls into an uneasy sleep, where the adults became worms, crawling into her life as adult. She wakes up in a deep sweat, but she's OK. It was only a dream.

"and the worms crawl in,
the worms crawl out
they crawl all over your dirty snout
your chest caves in
and your eyes pop out
your brain turns to saurkraut"

She's at a posh restaurant, with people from work. Her eyes scour over what the table has on it. The one jar particularly catching her eye, saurkraut. Remembering that song she was taught as a child, Jac can no longer remember who taught her. She thinks it was her mother, but the adult Jac cannot remember clearly. She can't always remember the words correctly either, it was that long ago.

"They invite their friends,
and their friends too they all come down
to chew on you"

Jac didn't know how to feel. Michael tries to persuade her to meet the child. Something about her not leaving until she meets Jac. She refuses, how could Paula do this? What was wrong with Jac? She feels like Michael is chewing on her ear to meet the kid. She doesn't want to. She wants to go home, she wants two kidneys. She wants to be left alone. Yet when she is, she is plagued by that stupid song. It all came back to her before the operation. And now it won't leave her head.

"and this is what it is to die,
i hope you had a nice goodbye
did you ever think"

Jac sings to Emma, as they watch the sunrise. They sit there, both quiet. Emma is absorbed in the sunrise, yet Jac is conflicted. Paula's death threw her. But she made her think of Emma. Think what's best for her baby. She doesn't know if she has the strength to say goodbye to her baby, even if she knew it was the best thing for Emma. It was killing her, as she packed Emma's bag, ready to give to Johnny. She knew that this is what is best for her daughter, even if it's not for her.

"as a Hearse goes by that
you might be the next to die"

After the meeting with Jasmine, she can't get that damn nursery rhyme out of her head. She brought back all that hurt and resentment. Apparently she wanted to get to know Jac, except she didnt want to. She didnt need this. Paula left her, the hurt is still raw. Jasmine is a permanent reminder of this.

The whole of Darwin has taken a shine to her. She wants to like her, yet she can't. She can't escape, Jacs now on the prowl to look for an excuse to kick her off her ward, yet she doesn't seem to be giving her one. She can't kick her out on the basis that she reminds her of Paula, a very personal reason. It's not allowed, apparently.

"and your eyes fall out
and your teeth decay
and that is the end of a perfect... day"

She regrets what she said almost immediately after she said it. Of course she cared about Jasmine. Jac can see how it is hurting her inside. That's why she talks to Bernie, she doesn't want her sister to suffer. She is actually quite fond of the kid now. She wants to build some sort of relationship.

When that new F1 comes in, she knows something is up. As she runs to AAU, she prays she can see her. She wants to be able to save her baby sister. She stares at the semi conscious Jasmine, trying to help. Jac hopes now that Jasmine saw it as her showing her love. She prays that Jasmine could tell. As she sits in the morgue the next day, she sings lovingly into Jasmine stayed ear. The nursery rhyme they both knew. Jac knowing full well that she can't hear. Yet it comforts Jac. She sits there, holding Jas' hand, stroking the cold palm of her hand, singing this rhyme. She wants to believe in Heaven, she knows Jas will be there. She wants to think that Jasmine is watching her right now, so she knows that she cares. That the blonde haired junior doctor knows that Jac loved her, because she did.

The elder sister breaks down in tears, hugging the thin frame of her body, the whole time singing to her sister, kissing her hand and her hair. Willing for her to live, even though she knows she's dead.