It was 7.20 in the morning, a few years ago, during the first month of summer. I can still remember lying in bed knowing that it was going to be a hot day. Outside the window I could hear the locusts as they chirped in the hot morning sun. The laugh of a kookaburra could be heard in the distance and closer to home, a magpie carolled.

I remember getting out of bed that morning, getting dressed in shorts and T-shirt, to find no one was home. Just a note that read, "I’ll be back at 12.00pm."

I walked to the cupboard and got a bowl and two Weetbix, added milk and sugar and stepped outside to have my breakfast. As I opened the door the hot air pushed against me, as if it were wanting me to stay inside. I remember the grasshoppers and locust jumping everywhere and the lizards running over the hot cement on the verandah. I gazed intently at the milk in my bowl, which was slowly being soaked up by the Weetbix; it always seems to happen that way. The radio said another day of 41degrees; it was too hot to do anything, but to do nothing would be boring.

It was a Saturday, no school. At 1.00pm I was to meet my friends at the water hole near the pine forest. It was about an hour’s walk from my house, so I always rode my bike there along the old bush tracks. It was quicker along the main, road but I liked seeing the bush better, watching the kangaroos hopping so fast they became a blur. I used to wonder how they managed to always miss the trees. As you walk past the koalas sitting in their tree, they stare down at you, chomping slowly on fresh green eucalyptus leaves. You can feel their eyes watching you as you turn your back on them as you pass down the track.

Going down hill on my bike on a hot day was great, especially as you lose control of the brakes when going over a tree root. You get scared as you think you are going to smash into a tree, but then you miss the tree and continue the riding.

By 12:45, I could see the water hole ahead of me. The water was still and the tress around did not move. One friend was already there with her horse. She watched me ride up to where she was standing. Her horse was beautiful, black with a white star on its face. We stood under a tree looking across at the glassy surface of the water.

At 1:15 my other friends arrived. There were now five of us. We didn’t know what to spent the day doing. The water appeared refreshing to swim in but it was full of leeches, which stick to your skin and will not get off. Their meal starts as soon as you jump into the water.

The day went by slowly. We sat around and spoke about school, boys the weather, anything that would keep us from being bored. The black horse standing under the tree was getting restless. I offered to take him for a ride. I walked up to him and held the reins, put my foot in the stirrup and moved on his back. First we walked around, them we took off into the bush at full gallop. Through the trees we went, faster than the kangaroos. Birds flew out of trees as we charged past. The ride was smooth and was over before it began, the horse was tired, the heat was intense.

By 4:00 in the afternoon we were all home again, sitting in front of a fan with a cold drink, not wanting to move.

That night I slept soundly, even though it was hot. Would tomorrow be another hot day? Another long hot summer’s day…….. ?

Big Book '99