Island Girl, Unwritten

‘Island Girl, Unwritten’ is a queer Australian Young Adult (Aus YA) short story about family, grief, losing home, and finding it again.

[Image description: A man’s torso is visible in the foreground. The man wears a puffy black jacket and holds a book. A young girl stands just behind him, smiling, her face half visible. She has curly auburn hair and is wearing a turquoise shirt and grey cardigan. Sourced from Unsplash.]

The story was one of the top 10 finalists in a short story competition for emerging writers from the Clarence Valley, northern NSW on the lands of the Yaegl, Gambaynggirr, and Bundjalung people. The 2019 theme was ‘To the island’ and the shortlisted entries were published in a limited edition book called To The Island 2019 – Stories From The Clarence Valley edited by Erin Brady and Claire Aman.

You can check out a PDF version of ‘Island Girl, Unwritten’ here!

‘Darcy girl.’ Dad clears his throat. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.’

Darcy opens her eyes. ‘I’m not a little girl anymore, Dad. You would know that, if you’d bothered to visit me in Wollongong. Like, ever.’

Dad runs his thumb around the top of his wine glass, now empty. ‘I’m here now, aren’t I?’ he says quietly. ‘I’m here now.’