
- Published: Flashscapes! Competition
- Date: May 2023
“The banksias and the bees” 2023 Flashscapes! Competition Shortlist
‘Go on, babe, flip off Old Vicky.’
I refuse but still follow. He breathes in the lemon air from the gumtrees and breathes out his confession.
‘I love you’, he tells me, ‘like the bees love the banksias.’
For months, we run. Through manicured native gardens. Through dry untended bush. We always pass her. Queen Victoria, that marble monarch. He gives his middle-finger salute, then winks at me.
The banksias. The bush.
Him.
The things I love were not brought by her.
So I flip off Old Vicky.
‘I love you,’ I tell him, ‘like the banksias love the bees.’
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