Tall And True Short Reads

Season Three: Episode 63 (22 November 2022)

Are We There Yet? is a short story from the Tall And True writers’ website, written and narrated by Robert Fairhead.

Read the story: https://www.tallandtrue.com.au/short-stories/are-we-there-yet

Support the podcast: https://supporter.acast.com/tall-and-true-short-reads

Buy Robert’s short story collections online:

• Amazon Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Robert-Fairhead/e/B086HZ36NM
• Apple Books:     https://books.apple.com/us/author/robert-fairhead/id1436773436
• Rakuten Kobo:  https://www.kobo.com/au/en/author/robert-fairhead

Story Insight

I wrote “Are We There Yet?” in September 2022 for a Flash Fiction Competition hosted by the South Coast Writers Centre and Berry Writers Festival.

The brief for the competition was that the short piece of fiction must be under 500 words (my story is 498 words). And writers should include the theme or word “berry” but “interpret the theme in a broad and creative way”.

My interpretation, however, was literal, about the town of Berry, on the NSW south coast, two hours south of Sydney. And it was inspired by a conversation with my twenty-year-old son.

My son is currently working in Berry. But he has a long association with the town because we used to stop there for a break on the drive to our old south coast holiday house. And one of his favourite places as a young boy was Apex Park, running about its lush lawns, playing chasey around the rotunda and, of course, playing in the playground.

My son mentioned the new Boongaree Rotary Nature Play Park and said if the playground had existed when we used to stop there, we would never have got him out of it!

I haven’t been to Berry since we sold our holiday house in 2016. But talking to my son about the new playground and his memories of the old one had me reflecting on our family holidays. And while I didn’t win or get short-listed for the Flash Fiction competition, I’m happy I wrote this short homage to Berry.

I hope you also enjoyed the break in Berry. You can read “Are We There Yet?” and all my short stories, blog posts and other writing at TallAndTrue.com. You can also buy my short story collections, including my latest collection, Twelve More Furious Months, from the Amazon Kindle and Kobo online bookstores — links are available in the show notes.

The next episode of Tall And True Short Reads will be in your podcast feed shortly. In the meantime, check your feed or the podcast website for earlier episodes from Seasons One, Two and Three.

And follow or subscribe to the podcast and rate and review it via your favourite app — doing so helps other listeners find my writing.

You can support this podcast financially by making a small one-off or regular donation via the Acast Supporter Page.

And finally, please tell your family and friends about Tall And True Short Reads and the Tall And True writers’ website.

Podcast Theme and Sound Effects

Royalty-free music from Pixabay.com: Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, Op. 28 ‘Pastorale’ – IV. Rondo. Allegro ma non-Troppo, performed by Karine Gilanyan.

Sound effects licensed under Creative Commons 0 from FreeSound.org:

• Car Engine: https://freesound.org/people/devy32/sounds/439252/
• Car Horn: https://freesound.org/people/craigsmith/sounds/479995/
• Shop Doorbell: https://freesound.org/people/775noise/sounds/494565/
• Playground: https://freesound.org/people/mshahen/sounds/503841/
• Car Doors: https://freesound.org/people/oscaraudiogeek/sounds/333281/
• Footsteps: https://freesound.org/people/Yuval/sounds/205817/

Production Notes

Tall And True Short Reads is produced using Audacity.

Podcast episodes are recorded in Sydney, Australia, on the traditional lands of the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation.

Acast Podcast Supporter Page

Support this show https://supporter.acast.com/tall-and-true-short-reads.