Living Down Under

• Ella Gray, Grade 6, St Agatha's Parish Primary School
• Short Story
• 2012

Finalist in the 'Far Out 2012' competition

Sitting in a paddock in the heart of the outback. There’s a sense of tranquillity here, what with the cows mooing and kangaroos prancing around. The sun is setting and I’m in awe of the perfectly painted sky. The once white clouds have turned a deep shade of purple and are lined with vibrant pink streaks.

After minutes, the sun has disappeared and stars begin to appear. The moon arrives in a crescent shape, and I am unable to see the craters which I can when it’s full. I stare up at the night sky. After being in the city, I have realised what a spectacular view it is. In Sydney, only few stars make it into sight, but here in the middle of nowhere, I can see millions of stars. I play dot to dot in the sky, creating new constellations to rediscover tomorrow.

I stare out across the field, where a wire fence separates my father’s land from the bush. Memories come flooding back. I remember when my cousins came to stay and my father took us bushwalking. We collected branches of wattle and eucalyptus to make bush bouquets to present to our mothers. I felt an enormous sense of achievement presenting it to her, although I’m sure she wasn’t that happy about the mess that the wattle made.
A small wallaby hops up timidly, its eyes watching me like a hawk. The wallaby comes closer, as it begins to take in the fact that I would not hurt it. It stands near me and I absent-mindedly stroke it. Its fur is so soft that I could run my fingers through it all day and I think the wallaby liked me caressing its fur. Suddenly, a bigger wallaby appeared at the fence and the smaller one started hopping up to greet it. They disappeared.

A shooting star illuminates the heavens and I watch it cross the sky. It vanishes in a matter of seconds, but in the moments I had spent viewing it, I realised that it was something very extraordinary. I continue to stare up at the sky and I begin to wonder what masterpiece God would make of the sunrise tomorrow morning. Purple, pink, orange, yellow? Only time will tell, but I’m sure the result will be amazing. I get up to go back to the house. Tomorrow’s sunrise would be incredible and I would not like to miss a minute of it.