AustLit

'Out of the flat, empty fields the children ran. Their footsteps fell in tune with the bell chiming out to let them know it was time to take a seat at the glorious wooden table made from the finest dark wood of the surrounding forest. It was time to sit and listen to the Old Man (Beth's grandfather) who would officially proclaim the New Year and the end of the harvest. They scrambled past each other, dodging the venomless snakes with no teeth who only licked ankles and still remained out in the open despite the dying sun...' (Publication abstract)