Be Brave, Be Kind, Be Annoying

After dinner Dad lights the chimenea, down in the garden.

Night sky. A possum glares down from a gum tree. Flickering shadows, sparks flying upwards.

Marshmallows on sticks, burning and blackening.

Butterfly coughs. (It's the smoke).  I think I have asthma, she says.

Fish eats several more toasted marshmallows. Katherine drops her last one.

Now the packet is empty.

They go back inside.

Katherine reads Butterfly a story, up in her bedroom. Little Miss Happy.

The setting is Miseryland, a miserable Kingdom.

Little Miss Happy rocks up. She is annoying. She giggles and chuckles and needles the King into laughing.

That's the end of his kingdom, right there.

Sweezus goes back into the garden. He remembers the garden.  He and Arthur, hallucinating together, in a swing chair.

Yeah.... he had come to Blaxland to rescue Arthur from Pastor Moon, who was performing an exorcism....and Arthur didn't want to be rescued.....

And Unni..... had she been there?

Sweezus decides to swing by Pastor Moon's house. Unni might be upstairs. She might look out of the window. He could throw gravel. She would come out, they could ... catch up or something...yeah....

He heads off, towards Pastor Moon's house.

Shit! Pastor Moon is sitting outside in the moonlight. He sees him.

You! says Ray Moon. I never expected.......

Ray, says Sweezus. Is Unni at home?

She lives in Penrith these days, says Ray. My Little Miss Sunshine.

Urrm, says Sweezus.

Cup of tea? Something stronger? says Ray.

Okay, says Sweezus.

Ray fetches two stubbies.

What brings you to Blaxland? asks Ray. Not my daughter?

No way, I mean no, says Sweezus. A new species of funnel web spider. A mission for Gaius.

Atrax robustus, is it? says Ray. But no, not if it's a new species. A Hadronyche?

You an expert? says Sweezus.

No no, just an amateur, says Ray. This place is like Spider Central.

It's not from here, says Sweezus. It's from Booderee. And I can't head off yet. There's a party.

Party? says Ray.

It's a long time since Ray's been to a party. Sweezus can tell.

The look on Ray's face reminds him (bar the obvious) of Cinderella.

Why don't you come? says Sweezus. It's just up the road, at twelve tomorrow. We can talk spiders.

Should I bring a present? asks Ray.

Yeah, actually...., says Sweezus, thinking quickly...... could you bring two?