The horizon was awash with a lime green glow. Above it, the sky sparkled, stars so visible amidst a sea of purple, the contrast stark. Right over us the hues darkened, to a vivid shade of navy blue. As the bright colour changed to yellow, I couldn’t help but think of my primary school discos. We would wave around glow sticks and dance the night away. I long for the simplicity of those times. Stars seemed to bloom as we watched them dance above us, a joy of being Tasmanian. Yellow and purple, blended with orange in between, could not have contrasted each other more, and yet the illuminated heavens were spectacular. As the night went on, I was starting to feel a little cold, but I wouldn’t have been anywhere else. Yellow gave way to green once again. Aqua hues dazzled across the sky, the colour of my childhood bedroom. We’d repainted it in my teens, perhaps thinking that I would one day leave, as we were searching for a fresh start. Under Aurora Australis, fearless, surrounded by the animals, there was no place else I would have been.
Abbey Sim is the founder of Huldah Media. She is a creative writing, law and theology student who lives on the lands of the Dharug people in Sydney, Australia. Abbey has long had a passion for the weird and the wonderful of stories, sport and zoo animals. 'From the Wild' is her first anthology.