AustLit

'Glimmering deep below our planet and dancing high above its pull, the lights of the ocean space surround us. This giant sphere of purple mud is the centre of a dark red ring. It runs over the sky like a comet's tail. We have never crossed it, or touched it. Our silver bodies cannot squirm past the planet's pull because the Grand Octopus shaped us like thick tentacles. Other animals can swim fiercely and create currents of their own, but us eels can only make thoughts and oceanic dreams. We float in them until a passing asteroid comes tearing under the ring, ripping with it a great new current. Waddling earnestly, we strain and pull ourselves against the Earth's tide and enter the surging rift. The force makes us fly upwards, our bodies yank against the whitewash, and we leave Earth with no goal but to explore the open waters.' (Publication abstract)