RYAN

Hey, excuse me. Sorry - can you help? I can’t quite work out where I am. I trying to find my way to Polytechnic - I start today. Design - landscape design course. First year. Start today. There’s about 20 minutes before my first class and I really wanted to get there early. I want to clean up before I head in. Make myself vaguely presentable. I rode from St Kilda on my trick bike. Wasn’t expecting it to take this long. Seemed like a good idea at the time - to ride. But…bit of a way from St Kilda.

That’s the thing, right. 12 kilometres from St Kilda - you’d reckon that’s be easy enough right? I got myself into this one for sure. I will have to rethink my commute for tomorrow at least. It’s pretty far. Further than I thought.

Anyway - do you know the way?

KATE

She was behind me - a bit of a distance away - not too far. I had my back to her and I just - sensed - something was up. I turned and went to her and her eyes had gone dull. It wasn’t a snakebite - we weren’t in a snakey area. It could have been a spider, but something told me it was something else.

There was this guy. Big. Footballer-big - who appeared out of nowhere and picked her up. And she wouldn’t normally do that - snips at strangers. He carried her like a baby to my car and I was running along beside with my other little dog. I got her to the emergency vet, but she wasn’t good. The vet looked at me and said she’s not good. Gone into shock. Wrapped her in heat blankets. I held her and sang True Colours - you know, Cindi Lauper. I know it’s corny but I sing this to the two of them every night. And then, as I was singing, she just - died. Such a shock. Such a shock. I was singing True Colours to her when she went.

I just wonder if I’d kept her by my side - If I had not left such a distance. If I’d not let her get too far away - if this would have happened? I’ll never know I guess.

They can get too far from you and then you can’t do anything to help.

I’m not going to let this little fella here go too far now.

Not game.

MEG

They are all out of primary now. The last one is off to high school. She starts today actually. I have three. The middle one is in Year 11, and my eldest, he finished last year. He applied to universities all over. Science. He got in actually. James Curtin - He is going to move to Perth to study.

To be honest I’m in a little bit of shock at the moment. I never thought I’d ever worry about my kids leaving home and now… Now my eldest is about to go.

Perth. It’s just so…far. It’s so - unexpected. To feel like this. Is this normal do you think? People have said that it’s hard when they leave, but it’s one thing to hear about it in the abstract and another to face it. And Perth is just so far! This isn’t really a club I wanted to join - not yet anyway.

It’s just so far.

Image by Siggy Nowak from Pixabay