I catch the train into the city with my mum. We get on at Stirling Station and off at Perth Underground. In the city there's a silver fairy who reaches her hand into her silver purse and pulls out a fist full of glitter. She blows the glitter onto my face. We walk through the arcade and watch rock candy being

made. There is a man selling balloons. I want one so mum asks the man how much. She tells me it's too expensive. I start to cry. Mum pulls out a note from her purse and now I'm crying even harder. I was expecting her to pull out some coins, not one of the blue notes. And now I am on the escalator in the middle of David Jones, crying my eyes out, holding the world's most expensive red balloon.

 

 

© Mabel Gibson. From CryBaby published by Night Parrot Press, 2025.

 

Mabel Gibson is a twenty-five-year-old Yamatji writer. She grew up in Boorloo (Perth), Kinjarling (Albany), and Jambinu (Geraldton), three vastly different locations with landscapes and climates that all play an important role in her story. Her work has been published in maar bidi: Next Generation Black Writing (Magabala Books), all four Night Parrot Press anthologies, Portside Review and Pulch Magazine. She has sat on panels at various festivals including Perth Writers Weekend, Ubud Writers Festival, and Margaret River Readers & Writers Festival. Mabel hopes to one day become a publisher and provide opportunities for other First Nations writers. CryBaby (Night Parrot Press) is Mabel's debut collection of micro memoir that follows her through all the seasons of life, from the brightest summers to the coldest, darkest winters and all the transitions and rebirths in between.

 

 

www.nightparrotpress.com