Sunday Short: 'Damage' by Jennifer Mills

I adapt to his enthusiasm. I adapt to his advice to take up agriculture. I adapt to the way my mother comes in at night to say goodbye, her grey-blue travelling scarf scratchy against my cheek when she leans down to kiss me, and I adapt to the envelope of cash I find on my bedside table the following morning. I adapt to the fact that she doesn’t write, and I adapt to my father’s strange happiness. Winter tomatoes sprawl across the yard. Life goes on, and so does the hole.

Jennifer Mills is one of my favourite current Australian short fiction writers. Reading her work always feels strangely like a treat and this new piece, 'Damage' published over on Meanjin is no exception. Beautifully wrought, it uses a dramatic incident of a fire and sinkholes to reflect very intimate details of the lives of a small family. It's really, really lovely.

You can read 'Damage' over on the Meanjin website.