behind Venus,’ he began. ‘It happened real sudden. It kinda burst from behind the planet like it was explodin’ into itself, but it didn’t fly into bits like you’d expect – nothin’ like that. It just turned into a humungous fireball and then started comin’ towards the earth … goin’ flat out and drawin’ closer and closer, gettin’ bigger and bigger. Then I saw how big it really was. It was as big as a … a mountain.’
‘What then?’
‘I saw it crash into the sea and then I saw it make one of those tsunamis. There was a huge wind too. The wind was awesome. It was blowin’ down every tree in its path like they were made of straw. It must have been a really hot wind too, ’cause fires were startin’ up everywhere.’
I had to ask. ‘Did you see anything else? Were there any animals?’
‘Yeah, I saw a dinosaur. It looked like it was scared out of its wits. I felt really sorry for it.’
A cold shiver scraped like a claw down my spine. ‘Let’s forget all about the asteroid and dinosaur for now,’ I said, feeling my lips go all wobbly and realising that I didn’t need to hear anymore. ‘Let’s go into town. I’ll shout you an ice-cream at Sam’s shop.’
Snook and I had seen the same dinosaur.
Chapter 5
Sam’s shop sold lots of things: grocery items, knick-knacks, books, magazines, newspapers, plus all kinds of lollies, soft drinks and ice-creams. It was the sort of place that if you didn’t know where to look for something, then it was probably a waste of time looking. Snook’s mum reckoned it was clean, though. We often went to Sam’s.
The customer bell dinged as we pushed the door open and walked inside. It was just after four-thirty. Shadow, who’d tagged along, took up his usual spot on the footpath just outside the door; he didn’t mind it there; he liked all the pats from the locals and anyone else that happened to walk past.
We could hear Sam fiddling with something behind a row of fruit and vegetable boxes that ran parallel to the long, wooden shop counter. Hearing us coming in, he poked his head around one of the rows and grinned. ‘It’s the Kelly gang,’ he said, wiping his hands on the front of his shop apron and then walking over to see us. ‘What’s it going to be today? I’ve got a new batch of drumsticks you might like; chocolate flavoured with crushed nut toppings.’
‘Sounds good,’ I said, grinning back. ‘I’ll ask Snook.’ But when I turned to do just that, he wasn’t there. He’d wandered off to the other side of the shop where he was looking at a larger than normal poster that was pinned to the community notice board. I crossed the shop floor and joined him. Looking over his shoulder, I read the notice.
I was pleased that Snook’s mind was on something other than exploding asteroids. I was still worried about him though; I strongly suspected that he was feeling a bit like me … confused and still wondering about the strange images we’d both experienced. I continued to gaze at the poster and after reading it about a dozen times, I said, ‘I didn’t know you liked photography?’
Tearing his eyes away from the notice board, he told me in a matter-of- fact way, ‘As of today I do. I’ve just decided that I’m gonna be like one of them paparazzos.’
I couldn’t help grinning. ‘A paparazzo?’ I said, trying to keep the scepticism out of my voice. ‘You mean like those photographers that go stalking famous people like film stars and royalty just to get their photos. You’re not going to do that, are you? A lot of people think they’re kind of nasty ’cause they invade people’s privacy.’
‘Whatever. Anyway, I wouldn’t take photos of famous people; I dunno any for a start. I’ve got a better idea.’
‘Oh, what’s that? And why the sudden interest in …’ I didn’t wait for an answer. I knew before I’d finished the sentence. ‘Gloria!’ I said. ‘You want to win the photography prize so that you can ask her out for a classy dinner. You devil! You’d be in Gloria’s good books then, wouldn’t you?’
‘Well, it’s worth a try. The $250 wouldn’t hurt either. I could buy her a bunch of flowers, maybe even a friendship ring. Girls like that sort of stuff, don’t they? Whatcha think?’
I couldn’t help laughing. ‘Oh, girls like that sort of stuff all right but I think you’d better think about winning the competition first, don’t you?’
Although teasing Snook a little was meant to be tongue-in-cheek and good natured, he did look a bit put out. Thinking he was being a bit precious, I was about to say something when he beat me to it. ‘I have thought about winning it, Miss Know-it-all, and don’t be surprised if I do win it. I’ve got plans.’
I smiled and said, ‘You’re full of surprises, Snook Kelly. I won’t bother to ask what’s on your mind. It’s bound to be something out of this world anyway, so c’mon, let’s go and do something useful like ask Sam for one of those entry forms. I’ll help you fill it in.’
Walking home and licking the chocolate ice-creams that Sam had recommended earlier, we looked over Snook’s entry form. Pointing to a section near the bottom, he read out aloud, ‘It says here that the photos are to be about the West Coast. It said that on the poster too. That’s where my plan comes in. I’m gonna take photos of the wild animals that live around here.’
‘Yes, you could,’ I said, surprised that Snook’s idea was a sensible one. ‘And you wouldn’t have to go very far, either.’
‘No, I wouldn’t. There’re lots of wild animals out there. The gorge would be a good spot and it’s only a couple of kilometres out of town. So would Snaky Creek and Mucky Lagoon. There’re wallabies, wombats, quolls, devils and lots of other animals out there; there’d be different types of birds too. I might even get a photo of one of those rare ones like the orange-bellied parrot. Whatcha think?’
‘You never know what you’ll see out there, day or night. You could come across anything. Has your camera got a flash by the way; you’ll need it for the nocturnal animals? There are lots of those.’
‘No problem. The digital Mum and Dad gave me for my birthday has one. But I do have one major hurdle to get over … the $10 competition fee.’
‘Don’t worry. We’ll come up with that somehow,’ I said, not really knowing how we were going to do that. ‘But right now you could have a more urgent worry.’
‘Oh?’
‘Yes, I think so. Just as we were leaving Sam’s, I saw Quenton Quigley and he was making a beeline for the shop clutching a $10 note. I’ll bet you anything you like that he’s going to enter the competition too. I wonder if that was what he was talking to Gloria about earlier today, and I wonder if he’s got the same idea as you – about winning it and then asking her out to dinner.’
‘He’d better not have. Gloria’s my girlfriend, not his.’
‘You know what, I think you should talk to Gloria. Let her know how you feel. From what you’ve told me, she might just be wondering where she stands, especially after today and last night.’
As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I regretted saying them. Bringing up last night was the
