Forgetting Foster (18 page)

Dad took hold of the bright red package immediately. Foster slid towards the middle of the back
seat and leaned forward to watch Dad turning the present this way and that, running his hands across the paper. Mum looked on for a moment then reached over and picked at the edge of a piece of sticky tape. It was enough to encourage Dad to start picking at it as well, and then eventually start tearing the paper away altogether.

Foster hadn't seen it in so long himself he had forgotten just how good the cover was. Dad opened the book, lifted it to his face, and smelled it. He always did that with new books.

‘It's beautiful, Foster,' Mum said. And to Dad, ‘Foster made that.'

‘I wrote it too,' Foster said.

‘The General,'
Dad read. ‘It's lovely. Look at the pictures.'

‘Let's go home and read it,' Mum said.

‘Let's read it now,' Dad said.

Foster saw Mum hesitate. They were stopped outside someone else's house with the car running and were so close to home. They could see their street sign from here.

‘Look, I think—'

‘Once upon a time,' Foster said.

Mum turned the engine off.

Routine isn't always routine. Foster reckoned sometimes it's just better to crawl under the overturned peg basket yourself.

acknowledgements

I would like to thank everyone at Allen & Unwin, particularly Erica Wagner for her guidance and support from the onset. Thanks also to Sophie Splatt, because editing me can't be one of the fun jobs.

My love and thanks always to Linda Brooks, Ainslie Douglas and Jenny McDonald, who have supported me during a year they were barely able to stand themselves.

And to Robert Schofield for his invaluable insight into the first draft and for always having the breath of kindness.

about the author

DIANNE TOUCHELL was born and raised in Fremantle, Western Australia. Her debut novel
Creepy & Maud
(Fremantle Press) was shortlisted for the Children's Book Council of Australia's Book of the Year Award in 2013 in the Older Readers category. Her second novel,
A Small Madness
, was published by Allen & Unwin in 2015. She has worked as a fry cook, a nightclub singer, a housekeeper, a bookseller and manager of a construction company. Sometimes she has time to write books for young adults, who she thinks are far more interesting than grown-ups. She lives with animals.