by Suzy Shearer
I watched the sun sink behind the distant mountains. It had almost disappeared when the last rays hit the water, turning it golden as I stood on the patio. Although I’d only been here a few hours already, I felt different. I thought I could at last truly free myself from the past.
****
The next morning, I woke early. I’d left the glass wall open and had fallen asleep watching the moonlight play on the water, snuggled under a thick warm comforter. Now the sun just crested the horizon and it was simply stunning. Orange, gold, and yellow streaks hit the wispy purple-edged clouds and bounced across the surf. The wave crests turned gold as they broke. I sat up in bed, mesmerized by the spectacle. I was sad that within ten minutes the morning show was over as the sun slowly rose higher and the day brightened. There were heavy, dark-purple clouds on the horizon and I wondered if that meant we were in for a storm later in the day.
After getting out of bed, I dressed in a pair of three-quarter jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt. In the kitchen, I studied the fridge contents and settled on mushrooms, poached eggs, and multi-grained toast for breakfast with a cup of tea. Once I had it made, I sat on the verandah to eat and watch the world go by.
All at once, I realized I had a visitor—actually three. Right in front of the entrance were three kangaroos. I sat as quietly as I could. The receptionist had warned me these were wild ’roos and not to feed them. As long as I was careful around them, there shouldn’t be a problem. I would remember not to get between a male and any of his harem. These three were females and two had joeys in their pouches. While I watched them eating the grass, another six bounded in.
It was obvious who the boss was. A large, well-developed male spied me and stared. I almost buckled under his in-depth gaze and his glare never wavered. The other five were two more females and three youngsters. The big boss decided a closer investigation was warranted. With one bound, he came onto the patio then proceeded to sniff around, getting closer and closer to me all the while. I held my breath as he reached my side.
Keeping very still, I murmured softly, “Hello there.”
This big boy reached maybe around one and three-quarters of a meter, or six feet in the old scale, if he stood straight upright. His muscles would have made a gym junkie very envious. He put a paw on my hand as it lay on the chair arm and studied my face. Leaning forward, he sniffed me. I looked at that paw on my hand with each sharp nail as long as one of my fingers and hoped I’d pass muster. If not, he could inflict serious injuries in less than a heartbeat.
Still keeping his paw on me, he inspected the table and spied my half-eaten breakfast. A half hop and he pinched a slice of toast. So much for not feeding them. I carefully moved the plate further onto the table—multi-grain toast I didn’t mind, but I didn’t think egg was a good idea for a kangaroo. He finished eating the toast then realized the plate was well out of his reach.
He glared at me as if to say, “I was going to eat that,” but he sat back on his heels and turned his head to gaze across at his family. I was thankful I obviously passed the test as he casually went back out to his girls and joined them eating grass.
It was a truly wonderful experience. I’d seen ’roos thousands of times, fed them in local zoos and animal parks, but this was the first time I’d been up close and personal with wild ones. Although I guessed they’d really be considered semi-wild. After finishing my breakfast, I watched my visitors for about a half an hour as they worked their way back into the bush.
Getting to my feet, I said, “Okay, time to start this holiday properly.”
End of sample chapter
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