Death of a Friendly Bank

Some years ago I wrote a Tall Tales column for the Penrith City Star and at that time the major Australian banks were closing their small-to-medium branches so they could minimise staff and concentrate all over-the-counter banking in relatively few locations.

Things were no different on Dimmiga Berg and when Westpac closed their local branch I wrote this story.

At the end of the year the editor did a half-page feature on my column and concluded that of all the stories I had concocted, the only one that remained totally unbelievable was the story of a “friendly” bank.

~*~

Once upon a time on Dimmiga Berg, there was

All that remains of the bank is an ATM.

a beautiful little village called Blaxland, and in that village was a bank. It was a friendly, caring bank and lived in a big square building on the Highway of Dreams.

Each morning its windows twinkled as the first rays of the sun reached them and the wise women say that, long ago, it even smiled.

The bank loved the village and the villagers loved the bank. Together they prospered and the bank grew rich.

Then one day an evil witch cast a money spell on the bank's greedy owners and they closed the bank and transferred all its business to a big town nearby.

The people became angry and blamed the bank, and the bank was sad because it knew its doors had been closed forever.

To this day the bank still stands in the misty mountains but its windows no longer sparkle in the morning sun and the wise women of the village say it will never smile again. It stands lonely and forgotten beside the Highway of Dreams.

Once upon a time there was a friendly caring bank –- but that was long, long ago.

~*~

The building still stands. For the past ten years it has served as a popular Thai restaurant, so it’s still a friendly place. All that remains of the Westpac Bank is an ATM.