Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow— T. S. Eliot, The Hollow Men
A good sheep station ruined.
— Anonymous
Two years ago, I wrote a novella about my time in Canberra. For a laugh, I wrote much of it in the style of Raymond Chandler.
I am sharing it now because my friend Jack Baily was recently hit and killed by a car in Queensland. He appears as Davis in the text. I have not changed a word of this work since it was written, nor since Jack died. My point is that I have not added the bits that express my love for him. They were there already.
I hope you will read it, laugh, wonder what was wrong with me, and share the chapters as they come out over the next two months.
This work is dedicated to Jack, the Prince of Kingston.