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Jess Black
Illustrated by Celeste Hulme
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T
here’s nothing like being out in the bush, thought Eve. Eve loved hearing the bellbirds
chiming and the cicadas humming. Most of all, though, she loved it when everything was silent, and all she could hear was her own breathing as she walked, the crunch of hiking boots on the rough ground ‌ and, of 1
course, the flap of a dragon’s wings. Not your usual bush creature, Eve smiled to herself, but it was a sound she was now used to. Her dragon, Ingvar, flew from tree to tree above her head. Eve and her best friend, Oscar, were hiking to the top of Stingback Mountain, near the seaside town of Marigold where Oscar lived. It was such a change from Eve’s usual life in the inner city, where it was almost always noisy. ‘Phew! It’s hotter than I thought it would be,’ Eve exclaimed, grabbing her water bottle from her backpack and taking a swig. The friends had spent the morning walking on mostly flat ground through shady bush, but the track had grown gradually more steep and now there were fewer trees. Eve could feel her cheeks burning and wiped a trickle of sweat from the side of her face. 2
‘Don’t tell me it’s too much for you city types?’ Oscar asked and took the lid off his water bottle. He held it up high and tipped the entire contents over his head. ‘That’s better!’ ‘Except now you don’t have any water to drink,’ Eve laughed. ‘Good point!’ agreed Oscar cheerfully. ‘Luckily I know there’s a stream nearby.’ Eve smiled. One of the things she liked best about Oscar was how he always managed to look on the bright side. His cheeky optimism was infectious. ‘How much further to the top?’ Eve asked. She’d never done this walk before but Oscar had convinced her that he’d done it so many times he could do it with his eyes closed. ‘Not much further,’ Oscar said with a smile. ‘You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?’ sighed 3