This morning, being Monday, the first thing that I did when I woke up was check the work group chat, then my emails. The new roster has been released. I scanned my eyes over it and took a screenshot, to find it again easily to add to my diary. Today I wasn’t rostered on, which I was thankful for. The calendar alert came to me once again for the primate TAG meeting, so I accepted.
I figured that if I wasn’t meant to still be coming, then someone would politely tell me that there’s no longer a need for me to join. It was Christine, however, who sent out the invitation. This somehow felt more legitimate than coming from Reuben, or even Sam. I was grateful to have the house to myself, in preparation for going out for breakfast with Patrick. After having a shower, I got dressed. I felt a little light-headed, with nerves about breakfast. Having a coffee was not a good idea, but I did it anyway. I’d just finished the coffee when Patrick arrived, so I grabbed my bag. I made sure that the house was locked behind me.
“Good morning,” I greeted him, striding out the front and hopping into the passenger side of his car. “Thanks for driving.”
“My pleasure. Thanks for coming.”
Patrick did a U-turn to drive back down the road, in the direction of Sorell and the city. Of course, I’d been in his car before, when we’d driven to Launceston with Bushmint Lovechild. The windows were down a little, so that I could feel the wind in my hair.
“How is the rezoning of your place going?”
“Well, we haven’t heard anything yet after the inspection, but there was always the chance that it was going to take a little while.”
“And then what’s the next step?”
“Well, once the council approves the application, it goes to community consultation.”
“Do you think that that’s going to be a problem?”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Who knows? Our neighbour didn’t seem to think kindly about it.”
“The one who stole your trampoline?”
“He didn’t steal our trampoline, it was his trampoline in the first place.”
Patrick turned right onto the Tasman Highway.
“But yes, it’s that same neighbour. The fences came down in the windstorm and his sheep came onto our property. He said, ‘Are your lions and tigers going to eat my sheep?’.”
When we arrived, Patrick found somewhere to park near Salamanca, then we walked across the park to get to the hotel for breakfast. Being the regatta public holiday, the waterfront was packed.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to get a table.”
“It’ll be alright, we have a booking.”
Patrick was right, the waitress let us in and showed us to a table inside.
“Thank you.”
We sat down, and he poured glasses of water for us both. I accepted it, but I was distracted, as was Patrick, but the red and pink love-heart decorations which lined the walls of the hotel.
“Oh,” Patrick gulped, his gaze pivoting back to mine.
We realised in the same moment, and I burst out laughing.
“I’m so sorry. I honestly just didn’t realise, I really should have realised--.”
“It’s fine,” I insisted. “But I do have you ask you something, what is this?”
I stretched my hands apart, although I didn’t really know what I was gesturing.
“Jumilah, I want to spend more time with you, not at work, not with other people, but if you don’t want that--.”
“I do.”
“Can I get you anything?” a waitress asked, popping up out of nowhere.
Patrick gestured towards me, so that I could order first.
“Could I please have eggs benedict with a hash brown, and a chai latte?”
The waitress nodded her head, writing down my order, then looked at Patrick.
“Could I please have bacon and eggs and an orange juice?”
I heard a loud noise outside the hotel, lost a second, and then I was on the floor.
“Jumilah, are you OK?” Patrick murmured, getting down from his chair.
He gently placed his hand on mine.
“It was a car taking off from the lights, I think.”
“I’m sorry,” I apologised breathlessly.
Patrick reached for a glass of water from the tabletop and handed it to me, as I shifted onto my bottom, with my legs pulled up against my chest.
“Thank you.”
I accepted the glass and took a sip.
“You know how I told you that my grandfather was killed when I was in Sumatra?”
Patrick nodded apprehensively.
“He was shot. It happened right in front of me.”
Patrick gulped, then nodded his head slowly. The waitress returned to our table.
“It was just a car taking away quickly from the lights,” she confirmed.
The waitress placed down my chai latte on the tabletop. Patrick gently helped me out from underneath the table, so that we could sit opposite each other again. He’d been holding my hand for a little while, before I realised. I took another sip of water, then chai latte.
“Is this what happened when you were in the loading dock with Sloane?”
“Yeah, it is. Did she tell you about that?”
Patrick nodded, clasping his hands after he let go of mine.
“I’m sorry, if you didn’t want her to.”
The waitress arrived with our breakfasts, and I thanked her as she placed the plates down.
“It’s only happened those couple of times. Loud noises just set me off.”
“Because of what happened with your grandfather?”
“Yeah.”
I cut my poached egg in half, hollandaise and yolk oozing.
“Are you seeing a counsellor or anything?”
I shook my head, heart still racing.
“But I should, though,” I decided, the conviction crystallising as my hands jittered. “My grandfather died and that is very hard, but I think it’s more than that, now.”
I tried to start eating my breakfast. While mostly delicious, the toast underneath the poached egg felt a little hard and dry.
“Have you spoken to your parents about how you feel, what’s been happening?”
“Mum had to come and pick me up after the panic attack I had in the loading dock.”
I felt my phone vibrate, within my bag against my leg.
“Sorry,” I apologised, reaching down to check it.
It was just a marketing text, so I could put it away and instead dip my hash brown into hollandaise and enjoy the delicious crunch.
“I just thought that it might have been Tallulah, she’s starting her new job tomorrow in the café at Bellerive Oval.”
“That’s cool.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“Well, I suppose that I’ll see her at your birthday, if not before--.” Patrick winced. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright, it’s perfectly fine,” I reassured him, tucking my hair behind my ear. “I know that my mum’s organizing me a party.”
“It will be nice. It’ll be a nice night.”
Patrick and I finished our breakfasts, and I took the last sip of chai latte. The café was starting to fill up, and the waitress collected our empty plates and glasses.
“We’d better head off.”
“Would you like me to pay for both of us? I can.”
“I have money, I can pay for my own breakfast, but that’s very kind of you.”
“Well, I suppose it depends if this is a date or not.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to pay for me, either way.”
It was decided, and we paid for our own meals on our way out. Patrick and I walked back towards the car. His hands were by his sides, just hanging there at the ends of his arms. I’d held Patrick’s hand before, so I reached for it, and he squeezed my hand back. We reached the car, and I stood with my back to the passenger side door. Patrick’s body was lightly pressed against mine.
“What are you doing this afternoon?”
“I have the primate TAG meeting. I’m not quite sure whether I’m meant to be going--.”
“Do you enjoy going?”
“Yes.”
“You want to work with animals, don’t you?”
“Yes. I don’t know what that looks like, at least not right now.”
Patrick and I got back into the car, and he started driving towards Sorell – slow going, owing to the traffic.
“Have you told Sloane that we were having breakfast this morning?”
“No. Should I have?”
“I don’t know. Patrick, I’m sorry, but I really don’t know what to do.”
“I can’t tell you what’s right, Jumilah.”
“How did she tell you that she was pregnant?”
“Boxing Day, I found her crying in a storeroom at work. She told me she was pregnant and I was the father.”
“And did you consider getting together with her at all?”
“Well, yeah, I’ve thought about it. Sloane never brought up the possibility. I thought that I was into her, but I’ll be honest, we were both drinking at Bonnie’s party. It sounds awful, but that contributed to what happened between us, I think.”
Patrick turned left onto Pawleena Road, off the Tasman Highway.
“Sloane, was she your first?”
“Yeah,” Patrick confirmed. “A bit unlucky, huh?”
The joke didn’t really land.
“I mean about the pregnancy.”
We arrived back home and Patrick pulled into the driveway.
“Are your parents home?”
“No, they’re not. They’ve gone on a day trip with my aunty and uncle to Freycinet.”
“Lovely.”
I unclipped my seatbelt.
“The other day, on the trampoline, I wanted to kiss you, but I don’t think you wanted to kiss me.”
“We’re very good friends, and I really appreciate that.”
“Look, Jumilah, that’s alright, I understand.”
I laughed nervously.
“I’m not getting myself across properly. It really does make me anxious that you’re having a baby with Sloane. I don’t want to betray her, but when that thought crossed my mind, it really disappointed me.”
“Because?”
“I wanted to kiss you.”
Patrick slid his fingers into my hair, cupping my head in his hands.
“Do you still?”
I answered by tilting my head slightly to the side and planting a kiss onto his lips.
“Considering,” he proposed once we parted, “would you like to come to my place and play Mario Kart?”
I scrunched up my nose with disappointment.
“Can’t,” I reminded. “I’ve got the primate TAG meeting.”
Even though I was tempted to ditch it, that is where my priorities lie.
“Rats,” Patrick lamented. “Another time.”
“Of course.”
I took a breath.
“There is one thing that I would like to show you, though.”
I took Patrick by the hand and led him to the spot where we had placed the memorial for Kakek.
“He’s buried in Sumatra, so this is what we have.”
Patrick kissed me on the top of the head, then we walked back to the front. He got into the driver’s side, and I walked up to the house. I stood on the front porch, leaning against the railing, watching Patrick’s car drive away until he was gone. I decided to do the Indonesian Wordle before the TAG meeting, to calm myself down, selecting INDAH as my first guess.
This morning, being Monday, the first thing that I did when I woke up was check the work group chat, then my emails. The new roster has been released. I scanned my eyes over it and took a screenshot, to find it again easily to add to my diary. Today I wasn’t rostered on, which I was thankful for. The calendar alert came to me once again for the primate TAG meeting, so I accepted.
I figured that if I wasn’t meant to still be coming, then someone would politely tell me that there’s no longer a need for me to join. It was Christine, however, who sent out the invitation. This somehow felt more legitimate than coming from Reuben, or even Sam. I was grateful to have the house to myself, in preparation for going out for breakfast with Patrick.
After having a shower, I got dressed. I felt a little light-headed, with nerves about breakfast. Having a coffee was not a good idea, but I did it anyway. I’d just finished the coffee when Patrick arrived, so I grabbed my bag. I made sure that the house was locked behind me.
“Good morning,” I greeted him, striding out the front and hopping into the passenger side of his car. “Thanks for driving.”
“My pleasure. Thanks for coming.”
Patrick did a U-turn to drive back down the road, in the direction of Sorell and the city. Of course, I’d been in his car before, when we’d driven to Launceston with Bushmint Lovechild. The windows were down a little, so that I could feel the wind in my hair.
“How is the rezoning of your place going?”
“Well, we haven’t heard anything yet after the inspection, but there was always the chance that it was going to take a little while.”
“And then what’s the next step?”
“Well, once the council approves the application, it goes to community consultation.”
“Do you think that that’s going to be a problem?”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Who knows? Our neighbour didn’t seem to think kindly about it.”
“The one who stole your trampoline?”
“He didn’t steal our trampoline, it was his trampoline in the first place.”
Patrick turned right onto the Tasman Highway.
“But yes, it’s that same neighbour. The fences came down in the windstorm and his sheep came onto our property. He said, ‘Are your lions and tigers going to eat my sheep?’.”
When we arrived, Patrick found somewhere to park near Salamanca, then we walked across the park to get to the hotel for breakfast. Being the regatta public holiday, the waterfront was packed.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to get a table.”
“It’ll be alright, we have a booking.”
Patrick was right, the waitress let us in and showed us to a table inside.
“Thank you.”
We sat down, and he poured glasses of water for us both. I accepted it, but I was distracted, as was Patrick, but the red and pink love-heart decorations which lined the walls of the hotel.
“Oh,” Patrick gulped, his gaze pivoting back to mine.
We realised in the same moment, and I burst out laughing.
“I’m so sorry. I honestly just didn’t realise, I really should have realised--.”
“It’s fine,” I insisted. “But I do have you ask you something, what is this?”
I stretched my hands apart, although I didn’t really know what I was gesturing.
“Jumilah, I want to spend more time with you, not at work, not with other people, but if you don’t want that--.”
“I do.”
“Can I get you anything?” a waitress asked, popping up out of nowhere.
Patrick gestured towards me, so that I could order first.
“Could I please have eggs benedict with a hash brown, and a chai latte?”
The waitress nodded her head, writing down my order, then looked at Patrick.
“Could I please have bacon and eggs and an orange juice?”
I heard a loud noise outside the hotel, lost a second, and then I was on the floor.
“Jumilah, are you OK?” Patrick murmured, getting down from his chair.
He gently placed his hand on mine.
“It was a car taking off from the lights, I think.”
“I’m sorry,” I apologised breathlessly.
Patrick reached for a glass of water from the tabletop and handed it to me, as I shifted onto my bottom, with my legs pulled up against my chest.
“Thank you.”
I accepted the glass and took a sip.
“You know how I told you that my grandfather was killed when I was in Sumatra?”
Patrick nodded apprehensively.
“He was shot. It happened right in front of me.”
Patrick gulped, then nodded his head slowly. The waitress returned to our table.
“It was just a car taking away quickly from the lights,” she confirmed.
The waitress placed down my chai latte on the tabletop.
Patrick gently helped me out from underneath the table, so that we could sit opposite each other again. He’d been holding my hand for a little while, before I realised. I took another sip of water, then chai latte.
“Is this what happened when you were in the loading dock with Sloane?”
“Yeah, it is. Did she tell you about that?”
Patrick nodded, clasping his hands after he let go of mine.
“I’m sorry, if you didn’t want her to.”
The waitress arrived with our breakfasts, and I thanked her as she placed the plates down.
“It’s only happened those couple of times. Loud noises just set me off.”
“Because of what happened with your grandfather?”
“Yeah.”
I cut my poached egg in half, hollandaise and yolk oozing.
“Are you seeing a counsellor or anything?”
I shook my head, heart still racing.
“But I should, though,” I decided, the conviction crystallising as my hands jittered. “My grandfather died and that is very hard, but I think it’s more than that, now.”
I tried to start eating my breakfast. While mostly delicious, the toast underneath the poached egg felt a little hard and dry.
“Have you spoken to your parents about how you feel, what’s been happening?”
“Mum had to come and pick me up after the panic attack I had in the loading dock.”
I felt my phone vibrate, within my bag against my leg.
“Sorry,” I apologised, reaching down to check it.
It was just a marketing text, so I could put it away and instead dip my hash brown into hollandaise and enjoy the delicious crunch.
“I just thought that it might have been Tallulah, she’s starting her new job tomorrow in the café at Bellerive Oval.”
“That’s cool.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“Well, I suppose that I’ll see her at your birthday, if not before--.” Patrick winced. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright, it’s perfectly fine,” I reassured him, tucking my hair behind my ear. “I know that my mum’s organizing me a party.”
“It will be nice. It’ll be a nice night.”
Patrick and I finished our breakfasts, and I took the last sip of chai latte. The café was starting to fill up, and the waitress collected our empty plates and glasses.
“We’d better head off.”
“Would you like me to pay for both of us? I can.”
“I have money, I can pay for my own breakfast, but that’s very kind of you.”
“Well, I suppose it depends if this is a date or not.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to pay for me, either way.”
It was decided, and we paid for our own meals on our way out.
Patrick and I walked back towards the car. His hands were by his sides, just hanging there at the ends of his arms. I’d held Patrick’s hand before, so I reached for it, and he squeezed my hand back. We reached the car, and I stood with my back to the passenger side door. Patrick’s body was lightly pressed against mine.
“What are you doing this afternoon?”
“I have the primate TAG meeting. I’m not quite sure whether I’m meant to be going--.”
“Do you enjoy going?”
“Yes.”
“You want to work with animals, don’t you?”
“Yes. I don’t know what that looks like, at least not right now.”
Patrick and I got back into the car, and he started driving towards Sorell – slow going, owing to the traffic.
“Have you told Sloane that we were having breakfast this morning?”
“No. Should I have?”
“I don’t know. Patrick, I’m sorry, but I really don’t know what to do.”
“I can’t tell you what’s right, Jumilah.”
“How did she tell you that she was pregnant?”
“Boxing Day, I found her crying in a storeroom at work. She told me she was pregnant and I was the father.”
“And did you consider getting together with her at all?”
“Well, yeah, I’ve thought about it. Sloane never brought up the possibility. I thought that I was into her, but I’ll be honest, we were both drinking at Bonnie’s party. It sounds awful, but that contributed to what happened between us, I think.”
Patrick turned left onto Pawleena Road, off the Tasman Highway.
“Sloane, was she your first?”
“Yeah,” Patrick confirmed. “A bit unlucky, huh?”
The joke didn’t really land.
“I mean about the pregnancy.”
We arrived back home and Patrick pulled into the driveway.
“Are your parents home?”
“No, they’re not. They’ve gone on a day trip with my aunty and uncle to Freycinet.”
“Lovely.”
I unclipped my seatbelt.
“The other day, on the trampoline, I wanted to kiss you, but I don’t think you wanted to kiss me.”
“We’re very good friends, and I really appreciate that.”
“Look, Jumilah, that’s alright, I understand.”
I laughed nervously.
“I’m not getting myself across properly. It really does make me anxious that you’re having a baby with Sloane. I don’t want to betray her, but when that thought crossed my mind, it really disappointed me.”
“Because?”
“I wanted to kiss you.”
Patrick slid his fingers into my hair, cupping my head in his hands.
“Do you still?”
I answered by tilting my head slightly to the side and planting a kiss onto his lips.
“Considering,” he proposed once we parted, “would you like to come to my place and play Mario Kart?”
I scrunched up my nose with disappointment.
“Can’t,” I reminded. “I’ve got the primate TAG meeting.”
Even though I was tempted to ditch it, that is where my priorities lie.
“Rats,” Patrick lamented. “Another time.”
“Of course.”
I took a breath.
“There is one thing that I would like to show you, though.”
I took Patrick by the hand and led him to the spot where we had placed the memorial for Kakek.
“He’s buried in Sumatra, so this is what we have.”
Patrick kissed me on the top of the head, then we walked back to the front. He got into the driver’s side, and I walked up to the house.
I stood on the front porch, leaning against the railing, watching Patrick’s car drive away until he was gone. I decided to do the Indonesian Wordle before the TAG meeting, to calm myself down, selecting INDAH as my first guess.
⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜
Not thinking, I typed TIDAK and pressed enter.
⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨
While I was pleased to unearth the K, albeit in the wrong spot, I hadn’t realised that I did know that the D couldn’t have been in third position. As my brain was fried, I decided just to go for vowels, even if it meant making the same mistakes.
⬜🟩⬜🟨🟨
That was quite successful, and from there I only had one guess – KONDE.
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
I chucked my grid into the group chat, then went out to the loungeroom to join the Zoom call by clicking on the link in the email. When I logged into the meeting, the others were already there. I wondered who would be presenting this week. The email hadn’t elaborated on that. I like learning from the presentations, considering that the minutiae of details about breeding programs largely go over my head. Christine welcomed us all to the meeting.
“I’m sure that you’ve all got the email about the annual conference.”
There was a chorus of nods around the meeting. I tried to stay still. Of course, I wouldn’t be invited. Gerard’s face popped up, another box on the screen.
“Sorry, I’m late. I’ve been at the elephant insemination.”
Reuben and Sam both leaned in closer to their computers.
“Reuben, could you please update us on the Sumatran primate evacuation? I note that we’ve got Jumilah Fioray with us in this meeting, and her grandparents were running the sanctuary.”
“Yes, I can,” Reuben accepted.
I still sensed he was disappointed not to be waxing lyrical with Gerard and Sam about elephant breeding.
“The cargo plane landed safety in Perth with all animals onboard.”
“And that was paid for by?”
“The receiving zoos and Jelita Sitompul.”
“Right,” Angelique replied.
Even though she’d seemed perturbed, the answer seemed to stop her questioning.
“The siamang pair were moved to Adelaide Zoo last Thursday. The very exciting news I can report is that the female, Georgia, is already pregnant, so we will hopefully be expecting a new siamang offspring in the region in the next couple of months.”
“That’s a really good outcome.”
“Yeah, it is.” Reuben seemed genuinely chuffed. “The white-handed gibbons will be travelling to Dubbo tomorrow, and we will be arranging the rest of the transport in due course.”
“Thanks for the update, Reuben.”
It seems like all is going as well as possible.
“We’re going to be running through our colobine populations. There’s not much I can add to this conversation,” Christine noted.
“Which doesn’t have to be that way, of course,” Reuben pointed out.
“It doesn’t, you’re right. Maybe that can be a discussion for the end of this meeting, but I’ll hand over for the meantime.”
After the meeting I checked Reuben’s text message again, with the phone numbers of young female zoo keepers from across Australia and New Zealand. I could cross-check the names with those I’d already met or heard of. It wouldn’t have been long until Tallulah would be due to arrive, to pick me up and drive into town to fetch the records about her biological father. Therefore, I quickly added all the numbers to my phone, then when I heard the car coming, I went out the front to jump in.
“Thanks for picking me up.”
I fastened my seatbelt.
“Are you nervous?”
“I’m nervous about everything. I start a new job tomorrow, I’m potentially going to find out my biological father’s identity today.”
Tallulah paused at the end of the road, then turned right when there was no traffic.
“Which one makes you more nervous?”
“What we’re doing now, definitely.”
Tallulah drove from Sorell into town, slowly owing to the traffic. I could tell it frustrated her.
“Do you know what time the clinic closes?” I asked quietly.
“No.”
Tallulah sighed heavily.
“Look, tell me about your date with Patrick this morning,” she requested. “Sorry, your ‘not date’.”
“Well, we kissed at the end of it.”
“Oh my goodness.”
I beamed.
“So I guess you could call it a date.”
Eventually we arrived in the city and parked, walking over, anxious. As Tallulah and I approached the clinic, I could see that the doors were closed, and the lights were off inside. We stood before the closed doors, staring at the printed notice posted on them.
“I didn’t realise that it would be closed for the public holiday.”
Tallulah started to cry.
“Would you like to come back to our place for dinner?”
Tallulah shook her head.
“Thank you, but Mum will be expecting me.”
“You still haven’t told her?”
“I know I should. I’ll tell her when I get home.”
I led Tallulah back to the car.
“Are you sure that you’re right to drive?”
She nodded and we got back into our seats. While Tallulah was driving me home, it started to rain. Her windscreen wipers were going at full speed by the time she turned left at the road to our place. I felt a little bit anxious for her driving back, but I didn’t want to insert myself into this difficult situation, where I ought not be.
“Whenever you’re free, we’ll go back again. You will figure this out.”
Tallulah nodded her head.
“Text me when you get home.”
“Of course I will,” Tallulah promised.
Once I got out of the car, I stood in the rain and watched while she drove away. I went inside to find Dad in the kitchen pouring himself a glass of wine. Mum sorted the mail on the kitchen island.
“What are we going to have for dinner?” I enquired, peering into the fridge.
“I’m not sure,” Mum admitted, looking over my shoulder. “There should be something there.”
“How was Freycinet?”
“Lovely,” Mum answered. “We saw an echidna.”
“That’s wonderful.”
We found a spare packet of haloumi, which we decided to crumb and fry to eat with sweet potato chips. I helped Mum make dinner. It didn’t take long to cook, so before we knew it, we’d taken the food into the loungeroom to eat. Once we were finished, Dad offered to clean up. This left Mum and I in front of the television. As my chest tightened, I knew that I needed to tell her – everything – even if there are details I wish to omit.
“This morning, I had another panic attack.”
“Oh, Jumilah.”
“It was a loud noise situation again. A car going off quickly from the traffic lights, apparently.”
Mum stroked her hand through my hair.
“Where were you?”
“I went into town with Patrick, we had breakfast together.”
Mum’s eyes bulged, but she tried to hide it.
“Do all of your friends know what happened to Bapak?”
“Tallulah knows everything, and Patrick does now. Sloane was there when I had the first panic attack as you know, but she doesn’t know what actually happened.”
“Jumilah, you’re seventeen now. It’s not my place to tell you what to do.”
“You know, I would kind of like you to tell me what to do.”
“About your panic attacks or about Patrick?”
“Both?” I answered, albeit a little hesitancy, before smiling. “But don’t get upset if I don’t follow your advice.”
“I think it would be helpful for you to see a counsellor.”
“You’re right.”
“I’m sorry that we didn’t get onto that sooner.”
“It’s alright. It has been a very busy time.”
Feeling tired, I got up to check my phone, confirming that Tallulah had arrived home safely.
“I have to tell you something.”
Mum beckoned me over to come back and sit down again.
“Ibu called, while we were at Freycinet.”
“Is she alright?”
“Yes.”
I nodded my head.
“The sting is on with the poachers on Wednesday.”
A cloud seemed to come over me for a moment, at the mere thought of that.
“I’ve got work tomorrow. I should go to bed. Thank you, Mum. I love you.”
When I got into bed, I said a prayer, for Nanek’s safety, for justice, and for the animals. We will just have to make it through and have faith.
Jumilah Fioray is a recent high school graduate from lutruwita, Tasmania. Her parents, Catherine and Adriano Fioray, met at the University of Melbourne in the 1990s and returned to Hobart after finishing their degrees, where they raised their daughter and worked in agriculture. Jumilah's passion for conservation reflects her grandparents' work running a sanctuary in Sumatra.
Abbey Sim is the founder of Huldah Media. She is a creative writing, law and theology student who lives on the lands of the Dharug people in Sydney, Australia. Abbey has long had a passion for the weird and the wonderful of stories, sport and zoo animals. 'From the Wild' is her first anthology.
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