Small Acts by Kate Foster & Kate Gordon

Author:Kate Foster & Kate Gordon [Foster, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781760655952
Publisher: Walker Books Australia
Published: 2024-07-22T00:00:00+00:00

Josh

Term 3. Week 9. Wednesday.

Josh had made fingernail dents in his thighs. He ran his fingertip across them as he sat on the toilet. His tummy was unsettled this morning, and Dad had encouraged him to take some time before they left for school.

For the excursion.

Josh had been awake since four am and he’d only gone to sleep at one am. Yet with only three hours of sleep he did not feel tired at all.

Today was the day and excitement whizzed around inside him as if it were trying to burst out.

‘Josh?’ Mum tapped lightly on the bathroom door. ‘Are you okay?’

Josh thought about his body, tried to connect with his body and emotions.

‘Yes,’ he replied.

‘Good. We need to leave in about ten minutes, so give your teeth a brush and we’ll make sure you have everything you need. Okay?’

Josh nodded and then said ‘Yes’ because he knew Mum couldn’t see him through the closed door. He ran his finger over the dent marks in his thighs again; they weren’t quite as deep now. Skin was very clever like that, the way it bounced back and returned to its normal smooth surface. Josh wasn’t like skin; he never felt like his dents ever truly vanished and that was quite confusing.

Like Ollie.

And like Andrew.

All so confusing.

He hadn’t seen Andrew once since he’d been over and visited the shed that rainy morning almost two weeks’ ago. After he’d gone home, Josh realised how much he’d missed Andrew. Last weekend, one whole week since Andrew said he’d help Josh with Ollie, Josh had been brave and knocked on Andrew’s front door to see if he was in, to ask him if he’d seen Ollie yet. But Andrew hadn’t been in. No one was in.

All so confusing.

Josh stood, washed his hands, brushed his teeth, and left the bathroom. At least today was the art excursion, and Josh was super ready to see the Rainforest Rescue exhibition.

Would Ollie be coming?

That question kept popping back into his mind, no matter how hard he tried not to think it.

He wanted her to come so badly. She would love the paintings and sculptures, and she’d said she liked photography, too.

‘There you are,’ Mum said, as he entered the kitchen. ‘Right, let’s run through all the things in your backpack.’

As Mum laid everything out on the kitchen bench and then put them in his backpack, Josh paid close attention. He wasn’t allowed to take his Mikicam, but he did have two notebooks and a packet of five pencils to make notes and do sketches. Plus, according to Mum, Mr Parham would probably give each child a clipboard with some questions and tasks to complete as they walked around.

‘Right, all set?’ Mum asked, zipping up his bag and handing it to him.

Josh put his arms through the straps and nodded.

His tummy was more settled than it was earlier, but it still felt like there were hundreds of cockroaches and spiders crawling about inside.

He hoped Ollie would be coming, but whether she did or not, he was going to have the best day.

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