He wants to work the garden; she wants a kitchen sink. He’s doing his best for all of them, she knows, so they can eat their own vegetables during these lean times without an income. He’s juggling so much, with job applications and home renovations and a totally re-landscaped block. Racing to plant before the cold sets in. He’s in…
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There’s a hill nearby and it calls her. She’s always been challenged by a rising peak and loves the climb and view from the top. ‘Come and explore with me?’ she asks the daughter. ‘Sure!’, any excuse to leave the house at the moment, for any reason, is jumped upon. They head out into a squally wind and soon find…
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Dry, dusty, dead. The landscape screamed for rain and exuded hopelessness. Heartbreaking. A friend tells of his struggle on the farm. ‘If it doesn’t rain by February, we’re finished.’ Then the fires, the choking smoke, homes lost, properties lost, people lost. Hail next. Bigger than golf balls. Thousands and thousands of cars written off. Damaged homes. And then the rain….
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He arrives each day, just before nine. His thin grey hair highlights his blue eyes that are quick to crinkle at the edges. He’s chewing gum. It used to be yellow PK, now it’s Extra sugarless, each long strip cut neatly in half. He changes into his painting clothes, sandpaper tucked into his back pocket, and sets up his neatly…
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‘You know, there is no way you can possibly deny the hand of God on your life don’t you,’ she says to her daughter. The daughter smiles and nods in agreement. ‘Yeah, I guess so.’ The daughter had no idea at the beginning of the year what her life would look like. A new country, a new life. After applying…
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