A willie-willie circles the plots and pushes a lone plastic rose across the path. Yellow petals with faded green leaves, wedded to a bent and rusty stem. She picks it up and places the artificial flower on a random grave. She glances to the horizon. Lake Dumbleyung, its white body shining in the distance. The sun burns into her face; she'd forgotten her hat in the car. Yellow grass curls around the dilapidated fence that separates the burial ground with the domesticated land. A few salmon gums speckle the landscape, their leaves greyish green in the breeze, the occasional groan of a limb being pushed aside and released by the airy movement.

She walks back, starts the car and carefully steers it downhill. The Graf starts up again, assuring her that time will tell. Sweltering gusts rage into the cabin as the Rodeo picks up speed, heading for the lake. She leaves the bitumen and manoeuvres the vehicle onto a brown road. Dust rises and the car follows the trail just like a dog that knows its morning walk inside out. Branches clap against the antenna and windscreen. The rattling of a stock grid shakes her out of her thoughts.

The Rodeo heads into the blue until it reaches the top of Pussy Cat Hill. She turns the key but leaves the ignition on. The Graf 's voice thunders on. The lake lies below, like a forlorn white arena amongst the yellow vastness. Its surface glistens in the sun, horizon shivering and melting into the distance. The bank is dotted by trees either dead or just holding on. An easterly circles the vehicle and pushes heated blusters across the salty crust.

Excerpt from ‘Senescence' by Ines Zimmermann in Follow the Salt (2025, Night Parrot Press)                                                                                https://www.nightparrotpress.com/follow-the-salt/

Author Bio:                                                                                                                              Ines Zimmermann, an acclaimed freelance journalist from Switzerland, moved to Western Australia in 2007 and earned a BA(Hons) in Writing and Literature from Edith Cowan University. Ines has numerous publications in German, with English features appearing in Night Parrot Press's anthology, Three Can Keep a Secret.