A novella in 30 chapters
Stingaree Bay: Chapter 1
No Age at All
The insistent, rhythmic buzz against his thigh broke his concentration. With one hand, he flicked the power switch on the bandsaw to ‘OFF’ and peeled off the mask. The other dived into the pocket of his overall and plucked out the vibrating phone.
‘Tony.’
‘Hey, Dad. How’s it going?’ The crackly voice sounded all of its 13,253 kilometres away, but he saw the grin, the dimpled cheeks, as clearly as if she were standing in the same room.
‘Ella! Aww, not bad, not bad, love … You?’
‘Yeah, pretty good.’
‘To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?’
‘Just thought I’d give the Old Man a call. You’ve been a bit quiet on social media recently.’
‘Yeah, well … Nothing much to report, I guess. Saw your Instagram from Whistler. Looked like fun.’
‘It was sick. Perfect snowboarding. Bad sunburn now, though. Bit embarrassing for an Aussie chick in Canada, in winter …’
‘Sunblock, love. You don’t want a melanoma.’
‘Yesss, Daaad. Nooo, Daaad.’ A perfect parody of the sulky teenager she’d once been. Astounding to know that his daughter was now a twenty-six-year-old postdoc in charge…
