Categories
Office tinting

Installing the Glass

“Fine,” Amira said. “Explain. And if, by the end of your explanation, I am not fully convinced that getting rid of the king is the best course of action, then I will simply get up and leave.”

Amira could see Ro visibly biting back her shock. But, finally, it seemed as though the girl understood that Amira wasn’t simply a mindless foot soldier. She had a brain, and she had skills other than doing all the physical work in their pairing. She figured out the secret herself. How many other people could do that?

Ro took a deep breath, rearranged her stern expression, and began speaking. “Years ago, decades in fact, the king hired an office glass tinting company. Nobody thought anything of it. I mean, why would you? Of course the king wants that extra security on the castle, and to reduce heat and glare within its walls. He’s used to luxury.”

“We all used to have luxury,” Amira interrupted.

“Yes,” said Ro. “But that all changed pretty quickly. The commercial business completed their professional installation and they were on their way. Everything seemed fine at first. There were celebrations in the palace as usual, and people came and went without noticing a problem. But then this sort of haze appeared.”

“Haze? Like fog?”

Ro nodded. “According to Xylia, it was exactly like fog. It clung to the walls of the palace and glowed bright white at night. And people started to notice that whenever the fog of the castle glowed, the plants in the villages withered and turned brown. The king had installed the best office decorative glass Melbourne had ever seen, but he’d stolen its power and turned it inside out. Instead of letting it reduce the palace’s carbon footprint, he amplified it.”

Amira picked at the grass beneath her fingertips. “But why would he want to do that? The whole reason our species was put here was to protect the earth.”

Categories
Cars

Hobart’s Too Small

Hobart is a weird place to live. They weren’t joking when they told me that it feels like a (not even big) country town. It’s such a weird place. Nothing happens here. You could be in the middle of the Hobart CBD and think you’re in the middle of nowhere. It feels like remote Australia even though it’s only an hour plane trip from Melbourne. I probably shouldn’t have moved here from Melbourne on a whim but I was bored of my life because of the issue that’s been plaguing the world for the last three years. One day I woke up and I decided to just up and move and now I’m in Hobart. Do I regret the decision? Well, the short answer is yes. 

One of the first things I did when I moved to Hobart was search for a mechanic to do car repairs. Hobart is easy to get to if you have a car, because there’s a boat that takes people from Melbourne to Tasmania. You can put your car on it and then you don’t have to hire a car or buy a new one when you’re in Hobart. I thought I’d be able to drive my car for about a year in Tasmania before I’d need any repairs, but unfortunately it only lasted a week. That’s because Tasmania, and Hobart more specifically, actually has some really rough terrain. In fact, driving here has been really hard on my tyres. In Hobart, the roads aren’t as well sealed as they are in Melbourne, I guess because there aren’t that many people here who need roads, and it’s been really hard on my car. I am surprised at just how few people there are in Hobart. It’s very different to the hustle and bustle of the Melbourne CBD.

I think I’m going to move away from Hobart soon. Maybe I’ll go back to Victoria but move to somewhere more remote, so it’s the same but different. 

Categories
Office tinting

Keeping the Secret

When Amira finished her outburst, Ro stared at her, mouth slightly agape. Her expression wasn’t one of surprise, or anger, or even exasperation; it was a calm patience, as though she were waiting for Amira to understand, as though Amira were simply a child who needed to be coddled. It was infuriating. Instead of responding in kind, Ro gently patted the grass beside her, motioning for Amira to sit. 

“I’ll explain everything,” Ro promised, eyes widening imploringly. “Right here, right now.”

Bitterly shaking her head, Amira trudged over and sat on the patch of grass.

Ro clasped her hands together, teetering from side to side. For the first time, she truly looked every bit the mad scientist their trainers claimed her to be. “This is top secret information,” she began. “There’s a reason the king hired one of the best office tinting firms Melbourne has ever seen to tint all the windows in the palace. He didn’t do it to block out the sun, or just because he wanted a bit more privacy while he was showering.”

“I’m here, aren’t I?” Amira said dully. “I volunteered, and I was chosen. I came all this way. We’re training to be professionals. Do you truly think I cannot keep a secret?”

Ro looked stricken. “Please, Amira. I’m only doing what I was told. There’s so much security surrounding this information that Xylia was only able to get clearance for one person to know. I was ordered not to reveal it until we were within the maze.”

“And all the decorative glass? Melbourne is simply dripping with that stuff.”

Ro rested her fingers on Amira’s forearm. “That has an explanation, too.”

Amira cast her gaze to the grass. Perhaps her outburst had been in haste. After all, hadn’t Amira herself signed dozens of legal documents before she was even given a glimpse of the palace’s architectural design? This whole mission had been encased in secrecy from the very beginning. She really only had herself to blame, for not noticing it sooner.

 

Categories
Cars

An Interrogation

I sighed and lifted my hands up to the one-way mirror in front of my chair.

‘Are these really necessary?’ I asked, rattling the chains.

No response. I dropped them back onto the table with a clink.

The door burst open and two black-suited men in dark glasses strode into the room, each step perfectly in sync with one another. I raised an eyebrow.

‘Do you two practice that in your spare time?’

They ignored me. The taller one leant against the mirror, while the other one pulled up the chair on the other side of my table. He laid out a thick file, steepled his fingers and finally looked up at me.

‘Do you know why you’re here?’ he growled.

‘I’ve been yelling “why am I here?” at that mirror for the last four hours,’ I frowned. ‘What do you think?’

‘You’re here because we heard a… a rumour.’

The man at the window cracked his neck.

‘What rumour?’ I asked, getting nervous.

‘A rumour that you know the best, most affordable mechanic around Ringwood,’ the man across from me whispered.

‘What?’

The tall man flew across the room, slamming his fist on the table. ‘Tell us!’

‘What are you talking about?!’ I cried out, pulling myself as far back as I could from the lunatics while I was still chained up.

‘Our records show you recently had a log book servicing from a Ringwood mechanic,’ the shorter one whispered. ‘We want a name.’

‘I–I don’t rememb–’

‘You’re lying!’ the tall one shouted, looking like he was about to throw himself across the table. His partner held him back with a patient hand.

‘You’re only making this worse,’ he shook his head at me. With a sigh, he got to his feet, sweeping up the file. ‘Perhaps a few more hours in here will jog your memory.’

And just like that they were gone, leaving me alone with my reflection and a flickering bulb.

‘They changed my tyres too!’ I called after them, huffily.

Categories
Buyer's Advocate

Need Help

The weight of the world is really pushing down on me. It’s making me sluggish and it’s making me work really slowly. I can’t even begin to explain how exhausted I am and it’s not like I haven’t gotten a good sleep or haven’t been looking after myself. Trust me, I’m trying my absolute hardest and doing everything in my power to be productive but it’s just not working too well.

I’m supposed to meet with a buyer’s agent in Hampton in the next hour but at the rate I’m travelling, I’m not even going to be there when I’m supposed to be. Everything is just moving in slow motion and is taking me double the amount of time than it should be. Like, it took me an hour to write 300 words of my master’s project before. In general, 300 words should take me about half an hour. That’s why I’m running so late now – because I budgeted for thirty minutes of work and then the commute to Hampton to meet the buyer’s advocate. I didn’t budget for an hour of work.

I hope that being late to my appointment doesn’t put me in the bad books with the buyer’s advocates. In the Melbourne area, it’s easy to get a bad reputation among businesses if you don’t treat them well. You need to be polite. Show up on time and know what it is you require of them. Businesses (such as buyer’s advocates) are there to help us but we have to help them help us… if that makes sense. If I’m really late to my appointment I might get a bad reputation. I also really want to be able to move into a house with my boyfriend soon, so it’s not ideal that I’m late.  

I guess I will just see what happens. Hopefully speaking with the buyer’s agent pulls me out of my fog. Only time will tell.

Categories
Cars

One Hot Day

‘Seriously?’ I groaned as I opened my car door and was hit with an expulsion of hot air. ‘God I hate summer.’

I delicately placed my shopping on the backseat – heavy on the bottom, fragiles on top – and slammed the door shut. I opened the driver’s side, making the immediate mistake of touching my steering wheel.

‘Ouch!’ I hissed, ripping my skin away from the burning wheel. I quickly jammed my key into the ignition, punching the air conditioning to as high as it would go.

Another blast of heat hit me, from all of the vents I’d meticulously balanced to deliver the air at my face and hands.

Eyeballs dry, I desperately squinted at the controls to see which dial I’d flicked the wrong way, but they all seemed right. With a cry of defeat, I flicked the air conditioning off and, with a deep sigh, rested my head on the steering wheel.

Burning!

I squealed again pulling my rapidly-reddening face back from the wheel, desperately rubbing it to dissipate the intense heat. At this rate, I was going to have to pay for a car air conditioning service and emergency plastic surgery, and I didn’t have the budget for either.

I glanced back at the bag containing my ice cream and sighed. I guess I didn’t have a choice – I had to get home, and quickly.

I slammed my feet down on the brake and the clutch, whipped the handbrake down and shunted the transmission from neutral to first, ignoring how hot the gear stick was.

Something crunched as my car staggered into first. Frowning, I nervously navigated the parking lot, then reached the open road and brought it up into second.

Crunch.

My car groaned underneath me as I shifted gears, fighting me at every change.

‘Oh god,’ I muttered to myself, ‘Now I have to find an affordable mechanic that does transmission services around Morayfield.’

Eventually, I limped onto my street, sweat dripping down my brow. I threw the car into park and collapsed back in my seat.

Categories
Podiatry

The Bridge Scene

‘Did you feel that?’ I asked my wife, gently tapping her on the shoulder. She stopped scolding the kids in the backseat for a second to look at me.

         ‘No,’ she frowned, confused. ‘What was it?’

         ‘I don’t know,’ I checked all of the mirrors, puzzled. ‘Some kind of… rumble, I guess.’

         A car ahead of us beeped, but the rush-hour gridlock meant no traffic was moving on the bridge. A quick smattering of reciprocating beeps flowed out amongst the rest of the crowd, but soon died down.

         There.

         ‘Did you feel that?’ I asked, feeling unexpectedly frantic. I couldn’t see anything, but… what was that?

         ‘Honey,’ my wife soothed me, placing a calming hand on my shoulder. ‘I know that you get stressed whenever we have your podiatry appointments near the Melbourne CBD, but you need to take a breath.’

         ‘I know, I know,’ I half-responded, eyes still glued to the bridge behind us.

         Was that smoke? Was that–

         ‘Oh my god,’ I whispered.

         ‘That’s Spy-Door Man!’ my son cheered from the backseat.

         He was right! Spy-Door Man flew past our car, then disappeared under the bridge, chasing something.

         ‘What the…’ my wife breathed.

         The honks behind us began to increase, more people hammering harder on their horns. I twisted around to look, people now streaming onto the bridge, cars abandoned.

         Boom! Boom!

         The road underneath us rippled as if it were rubber, as something massive exploded underneath us.

         ‘The arch supports!’ somebody yelled from the crowd, and a scream went up.

         ‘We’ve got to run for it,’ I said to my family, leaning back to unbuckle my son, as my wife grabbed our daughter. ‘We have to–’

         There was another loud boom! and a sickening lurching feeling, as the road underneath us disappeared with a crash of rubble.

         ‘No, no, no, no,’ I found myself screaming, hanging onto my family as we plunged toward the water below.

         Thwip.

         We stopped falling with another lurch, suspended in midair by a single thread. It was thin, but I somehow knew that it would hold.

         ‘Thank you, Spy-Door Man,’ I whispered.

Categories
Podiatry

Space-Sick

Ravi was beginning to hate his new job. He’d thought that it would be an opportunity of a lifetime, a chance to see the world from a new vantage, to gaze up at the stars and wonder at man’s place amongst them.

         In reality, he’d just been really, really nauseous.

         ‘Catch, newbie.’       

         Ravi unsuccessfully twisted his body around to see who was talking, but only managed a slight turn. A white vomit bag went slowly sailing past him, just out of reach, and he let out an undignified groan.

         ‘It gets better,’ chuckled the person who’d thrown it – Captain Waters. She was in charge of this mission, and absolutely the last person Ravi wanted to throw up in front of.

         ‘Does it?’ he groaned.

         ‘Yeah, just have to give it a couple of days, that’s all,’ she grinned empathetically.

         ‘I’ve been here a week.’

         ‘Oh… then I’d get better at catching nearby vomit bags.’

         As she started to laugh, Ravi had the distinct impression that he’d forgotten how. Seeing his discomfort, the still-smiling captain pulled herself towards him.

         ‘Look,’ she started. ‘Can I tell you something super embarrassing?’

         He looked up at her, curiosity overtaking his queasiness.

         ‘My feet,’ she whispered, ‘are killing me.’

         Ravi just stared at her for a heartbeat, then burst out laughing. Waters’ grin spread further across her face.

         ‘I haven’t actually used them for six months, and the damn things hurt so much,’ she laughed. ‘There’s a great place in Cheltenham that treats common foot conditions, but I’ve still got another three months in this tin can before I can go see them.’

         Ravi wiped a tear from his eye, watched it float into the air as a perfect sphere.

         ‘That does sound awful,’ he giggled. ‘I’d recommend compression therapy, if you ever make it down there.’

‘I might just try that,’ Waters nodded. ‘Quick question: do you still feel like vomiting?’

Ravi looked up, startled to realise that he didn’t. He shook his head.

‘Good,’ his captain smirked. ‘Then get back to work!’

Categories
Garden

Revealing the Truth

Ro seemed to have noticed Amira looking at her rose piles. She shifted uncomfortably.

“What are those?” Amira asked.

Ro didn’t reply. 

Xylia had instructed them to take cuttings of roses that would be useful for their heist; anything that would make it easier to steal the seed compendium from the palace. And Amira could see a number of such roses in Ro’s collection — especially the ground cover roses, which would provide them with valuable camouflage abilities. But on the edge of the pile was a shiny pink hybrid tea rose that Amira had never seen before. It was so unnaturally bright and vibrant that it looked almost poisonous.  

Amira’s brows shot up. “Why have you got that?” 

Ro’s face crumpled, and she turned away, the amber glow of the setting sun casting her profile in darkness. A tight coil of fear began to unfurl in Amira’s stomach.

“There is so many hybrid tea rose varieties,” said Ro slowly. Her mouth was working strangely, as though it was difficult for her to fit the words around her tongue. “Some are edible, some are not. It just so happens that I have decided to collect those that are not.”

“Ro,” Amira began. She wanted to stride over to the girl and shake her, to rattle her brains around and hope some answers fell out. “This is a heist, not an assassination.”

When Ro turned to look at her again, something had shifted in her face. Her eyes, once beautifully inviting and readable, now displayed nothing but the glimmer of guilt Amira had seen reflected in Xylia’s gaze barely two days earlier. Amira staggered back, the weight of betrayal ploughing into her.

Ro smiled weakly. “Xylia and I are in agreement that the king has held too much power, for too long,” she said. “You were right, Amira. There’s magic in the seeds, and in the roses. And it’s keeping him alive. Pruning those roses and cutting the king down is the only way to free our people.”

Categories
Cars

Car Advice Please

I don’t really know much about cars. It’s not a point of pride at all, in the same way certain people happily boast that they are ignorant about certain topics. For me, not knowing how such an everyday machine works is actually pretty embarrassing, but where would I learn? Nobody ever taught me, and even the internet is limited on information. Not to mention, I don’t have access to any of the tools and equipment needed to fix cars, nor do I want to buy it. So it seems like I’m at a bit of a stalemate with my knowledge gap.

I think I’m going to visit one of the mechanic stores Bentleigh has scattered throughout its suburb and ask them to give me a quick introduction to the basics of cars. Do you think they would do that for me? I could offer to pay them, since it wouldn’t be fair otherwise. I just want to know simple things, like what all the parts and components of cars are, where they are, and what to do with them. Things like the engine and the transmission fluid, because at the moment I wouldn’t even know where to access them.

Can I open the hood of my car? How do I open it? I feel as though I would instantly break my car if I tried to pry open the hood. Maybe I can receive some advice from the best car servicing Bentleigh has to offer. If I take my car into their shop for a scheduled logbook service, I’m sure I’ll be able to sneak in a few questions about how cars function. It won’t even look strange, either. It’ll just look like I’m a curious customer who is eager to get the best deal. The mechanics should answer me in the name of transparency. I mean, it’s not like I’m asking for their credit card number; I literally just want to know where the transmission fluid is in my own car.