One of the tasks I had to complete in the AFTRS application.

Set Task 2

Tell a story based on these 5 photographs above (in no more than 500 words)

They stood and surveyed the surf.

Striking out into the waves in a race to the island.

The man notices a dark shadow in the water, and stroking harder positioned himself between the boy and the shadow

They both stop and tread water, the boy looking at the shadow over the mans shoulder.

Slop slop water in motion.

Shiny blunt nose rises out of the waves.

Made out of rubber tyres thought the boy

The head gently rolled and a bright eye stares back at the boy

The cliffs lined with calling spectators, others are swimming to join them.

The head disappears.

The radio squeezed a classic out of cheap speakers.

'Well the drums rolled off in my forehead,

and the guns went off in my chest,

Remember carrying the baby for you,

Crying in the wilderness…'

Mum smoothed down his pillow mussed hair

'Where did you disappear to yesterday?'

'I went to the beach'

'You didn't go swimming did you?'

'It's cool, dad was with me.'

'The hell he was! That prick.'

A shit eating grin split Crater face as he chomped on his toast down at the far end of the breakfast bar.

Mum grabbed up the phone 'hello Troy? It's Deanna.'

The boy dialled out his mothers voice leaving a message on her lawyers voicemail, and tuned into the radio

'…Morning headlines and a Three month old orphaned whale calf has befriended a sailing boat in the harbour.'

He stomped his board up into his hand and bolted out of the house.

The family watched him skate off down the street.

Click click of the woman's heels on the bridges pedestrian access.

She peered over the rail at a sailboat passing beneath, a dark shadow in the water following in its wake.

Man joins her at the rail.

'Looks like they couldn't shake the little bugger'

'What?' She replied vaguely

'the little whale that thinks that boat is its mum. They took it out this morning to see if he could find some mates.'

'He must be getting hungry by now' said the woman

'I think their preparing to put it out of its misery.' Said the man

Cunk cunk drummed the wheels of a skate board passing behind them

A sailboat was moored out in the bay. A shadow was swimming around the bay and circled under the pier.

Clop clop slapped his converse on the boards of the pier

Lying down on the warm boards the boy stared down into the water.

A black back broke the surface and rolled, the glassy eye staring back at the boy.

He watched the shadow swim back out into the bay.

A small motor boat put-putted into the bay.

A woman dressed in khaki was standing on the bow, she gripped a long aluminium pole.

The boy watched her follow the shadow around to the far side of the sailboat.

As she disappeared behind the bow, the boy saw the woman thrust the pole into the water.