Stuck. Stuck in the middle of re-entry, stuck in the house, stuck in uncertainty. And now she’s stuck in mud, literally. They’ve ripped up all the trees and shrubs and every inch of green on their block, rearranged the levels and have piles of dirt everywhere. Some days feel like wading through mud, thick, sludgy and certainly not clear. Entering…
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Stuck
Together
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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Watched Over
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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Hope
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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The Painter
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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