In Flames

Tell me, what would you do if you were stuck in the middle of nowhere with no food, no water, a dirt bike and a seventeen year old family friend?

It started when my family had come back from our holiday in Melbourne, Victoria. We had arrived back in Tasmania with no apparent problems. The mail had come in, a CFA brochure about coming up with a fire plan.

Mum, Dad, Joey and I had sat down and discussed it. Would we stay and fight or get the hell out of there? Dad had always said that if there was a fire, he would go down to the dam and stay in the water until it had passed. I thought differently.

To me, staying in the dam would be suicide. Because the fire might not burn out. We'd be stuck there. I've known how to drive a car since I was seven. No prizes for guessing my escape plan.

About a week later, we were invited to Xavier and Mary's for dinner. They had two sons, James and Noah, who were well known in our area for two different reasons. James was famed for his skills in tennis. He'd been picked up by a talent scout and would be playing in the national championship in three days.

Noah was well known for a reason that looked shameful next to his brother's; his hair. He never liked just being "another face in the crowd", so he went to Riverdale on his sixteenth birthday and raided the beauty isle of Woolworth's. The next day, Mary told me he'd spent all day in thee bleaching his hair. When he came out, his hair was pure white.

After dinner, Joey and I made small talk with Noah. We played Monopoly, which went downhill quickly. Did I mention that Joey was famed for being a professional Monopoly cheat?

We were offered to stay the night, and we agreed. Lying on the couch, I got a good view of the hill and the full moon. Then, the moon disappeared. I frowned. There were no clouds. Why would it disappear?

One word stuck in my head.

Bushfire.