Green Valentine, page 23
Mum’s eyes grew serious. ‘It wasn’t just me, you know,’ she said, and jerked her head over to Dad.
I nodded, and gave her another hug.
Dad and the Whippet were at the centre of a tight cluster of people. It turned out that the giant white boxes they’d been carrying were full of cupcakes. Green cupcakes. With creamy yellow icing.
‘They’re made using spinach,’ she explained to me. ‘Don’t worry, they taste good.’
I tried one, and she was right. They really did taste good. I barely even noticed the spinach.
‘Organic spinach,’ the Whippet – Jessica – added hurriedly. ‘I bought organic spinach.’
‘It must have taken you ages to make all these,’ I said, through a mouthful of green crumbs. I reached for a second cupcake, realising how hungry I was.
Jessica smiled. ‘Your dad helped,’ she said shyly. ‘He’s actually a very good cook.’
I stared at Dad. I’d never seen him so much as boil water. He shrugged.
‘I’m trying,’ he said. ‘Trying to learn new things. To be better. That’s all we can do, right?’
I gave him a hug. ‘Right.’
Hiro came up and slipped his hand into mine. I squeezed it. ‘I’m sorry about your mum,’ I said.
‘Me too,’ he said. ‘She’ll get over it, though.’
‘Maybe we’ve inspired her to be more engaged with community values,’ I suggested hopefully.
‘I sincerely doubt it,’ said Hiro.
‘Well,’ I said. ‘We’ll just keep fighting. Until someone comes along who listens.’
‘About that,’ said Michi, coming up behind us. ‘I’m about to climb up on Mum’s BMW over there and announce through this megaphone that I’m running for local council.’
Hiro stared at her. ‘Seriously?’ he asked. ‘But what about moving to the city?’
Michi shrugged. ‘Rent here is cheaper,’ she said. ‘And Cara’s suddenly developed a passion for gardening.’ She turned to me. ‘I’ll need your help, of course.’
I blinked. ‘Um, yes, of course. Anything.’
Local government. Grassroots politics. Getting involved with the community. Changing the world from the bottom up. That was something I could get behind. The fight wasn’t over, but we’d won this battle, and I was totally up for more.
‘This is certainly going to make our family dinners more interesting,’ said Hiro with a grin.
I looked around at all the wonderful people in my life. Now Mum was talking to Dev’s parents. Maria was admiring Paige’s leaf gown. Even Barney and Kyle were there, munching on spinach cupcakes and trying to look like they weren’t involved. Poison Ivy’s goons were examining a rubbish bin planted with geraniums. Strawberry Guy was holding his strawberry pot and talking to Tyson. I saw Dev in the distance, holding hands with Aaron Matthews, and I felt so ridiculously happy that I had to stop myself from running over and flinging my arms around them both. I saw people planting things they’d brought with them in the Town Hall’s garden beds. Everywhere, things were growing. People were talking, eating, sharing. We were a community.
Hiro put his arm around my shoulder.
‘This whole saving-the-world business,’ he said. ‘It feels pretty good, doesn’t it?’
I nodded. It did. It was the best feeling ever. I felt happy and alive and as though at last, after all my petitions and letters and speeches, I was finally making a difference. I took that feeling and held it inside me, so it burned with a bright, joyful flame. I held it gently, letting its warmth spread through me.
And I knew I would never, ever let it go.
Thanks first of all to my mum, who made some very helpful suggestions at the very beginning of this process, when I was wondering out loud whether it was possible to write a novel about gardening that wouldn’t be totally boring. Mum also took me on a tour of the guerrilla gardens of Clifton Hill, which was awesome and inspiring.
Thanks as always to everyone at Allen & Unwin, especially Jodie Webster and Hilary Reynolds – a girl couldn’t ask for better publishers and editors.
Thanks to two amazing writers and friends: Paul Gartside, for reading an early draft and pointing out that the story needed a villain; and Penni Russon for suggesting the book’s title.
This book was written as the creative component of my PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Melbourne. Massive thanks must go to my supervisors, Pam Macintyre and Kevin Brophy, for their patience, advice and understanding.
Thanks to all the guerrilla gardeners, permaculturalists and environmental activists that inspired the book – you do amazing work to remind us to be better people, and to look after our planet.
And finally, thanks to my beautiful family. To Michael who is always on hand to help me nut out a plot tangle, and to Banjo for napping so I could get some work done. I love you both.
Lili Wilkinson was first published at age twelve in Voiceworks magazine. After studying Creative Arts at Melbourne University and teaching English in Japan, Lili worked on insideadog.com.au (a books website for teen readers), the Inky Awards and the Inkys Creative Reading Prize at the Centre for Youth Literature, State Library of Victoria. She is completing a PhD in Creative Writing and spends as much time as possible reading and writing books for teenagers.
Lili Wilkinson, Green Valentine
Thank you for reading books on ReadFrom.Net
Share this book with friends
I nodded, and gave her another hug.
Dad and the Whippet were at the centre of a tight cluster of people. It turned out that the giant white boxes they’d been carrying were full of cupcakes. Green cupcakes. With creamy yellow icing.
‘They’re made using spinach,’ she explained to me. ‘Don’t worry, they taste good.’
I tried one, and she was right. They really did taste good. I barely even noticed the spinach.
‘Organic spinach,’ the Whippet – Jessica – added hurriedly. ‘I bought organic spinach.’
‘It must have taken you ages to make all these,’ I said, through a mouthful of green crumbs. I reached for a second cupcake, realising how hungry I was.
Jessica smiled. ‘Your dad helped,’ she said shyly. ‘He’s actually a very good cook.’
I stared at Dad. I’d never seen him so much as boil water. He shrugged.
‘I’m trying,’ he said. ‘Trying to learn new things. To be better. That’s all we can do, right?’
I gave him a hug. ‘Right.’
Hiro came up and slipped his hand into mine. I squeezed it. ‘I’m sorry about your mum,’ I said.
‘Me too,’ he said. ‘She’ll get over it, though.’
‘Maybe we’ve inspired her to be more engaged with community values,’ I suggested hopefully.
‘I sincerely doubt it,’ said Hiro.
‘Well,’ I said. ‘We’ll just keep fighting. Until someone comes along who listens.’
‘About that,’ said Michi, coming up behind us. ‘I’m about to climb up on Mum’s BMW over there and announce through this megaphone that I’m running for local council.’
Hiro stared at her. ‘Seriously?’ he asked. ‘But what about moving to the city?’
Michi shrugged. ‘Rent here is cheaper,’ she said. ‘And Cara’s suddenly developed a passion for gardening.’ She turned to me. ‘I’ll need your help, of course.’
I blinked. ‘Um, yes, of course. Anything.’
Local government. Grassroots politics. Getting involved with the community. Changing the world from the bottom up. That was something I could get behind. The fight wasn’t over, but we’d won this battle, and I was totally up for more.
‘This is certainly going to make our family dinners more interesting,’ said Hiro with a grin.
I looked around at all the wonderful people in my life. Now Mum was talking to Dev’s parents. Maria was admiring Paige’s leaf gown. Even Barney and Kyle were there, munching on spinach cupcakes and trying to look like they weren’t involved. Poison Ivy’s goons were examining a rubbish bin planted with geraniums. Strawberry Guy was holding his strawberry pot and talking to Tyson. I saw Dev in the distance, holding hands with Aaron Matthews, and I felt so ridiculously happy that I had to stop myself from running over and flinging my arms around them both. I saw people planting things they’d brought with them in the Town Hall’s garden beds. Everywhere, things were growing. People were talking, eating, sharing. We were a community.
Hiro put his arm around my shoulder.
‘This whole saving-the-world business,’ he said. ‘It feels pretty good, doesn’t it?’
I nodded. It did. It was the best feeling ever. I felt happy and alive and as though at last, after all my petitions and letters and speeches, I was finally making a difference. I took that feeling and held it inside me, so it burned with a bright, joyful flame. I held it gently, letting its warmth spread through me.
And I knew I would never, ever let it go.
Thanks first of all to my mum, who made some very helpful suggestions at the very beginning of this process, when I was wondering out loud whether it was possible to write a novel about gardening that wouldn’t be totally boring. Mum also took me on a tour of the guerrilla gardens of Clifton Hill, which was awesome and inspiring.
Thanks as always to everyone at Allen & Unwin, especially Jodie Webster and Hilary Reynolds – a girl couldn’t ask for better publishers and editors.
Thanks to two amazing writers and friends: Paul Gartside, for reading an early draft and pointing out that the story needed a villain; and Penni Russon for suggesting the book’s title.
This book was written as the creative component of my PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Melbourne. Massive thanks must go to my supervisors, Pam Macintyre and Kevin Brophy, for their patience, advice and understanding.
Thanks to all the guerrilla gardeners, permaculturalists and environmental activists that inspired the book – you do amazing work to remind us to be better people, and to look after our planet.
And finally, thanks to my beautiful family. To Michael who is always on hand to help me nut out a plot tangle, and to Banjo for napping so I could get some work done. I love you both.
Lili Wilkinson was first published at age twelve in Voiceworks magazine. After studying Creative Arts at Melbourne University and teaching English in Japan, Lili worked on insideadog.com.au (a books website for teen readers), the Inky Awards and the Inkys Creative Reading Prize at the Centre for Youth Literature, State Library of Victoria. She is completing a PhD in Creative Writing and spends as much time as possible reading and writing books for teenagers.
Lili Wilkinson, Green Valentine
