FALL-OUT was written in response to a Queensland Writers Centre short story prompt. I do not have great success with my quick-reads submissions, although once or twice I have won a book prize. Since I have been absent from blogging for awhile I thought you may like to read it.

Here is what I submitted to Queensland Writers Centre in response to the prompt ‘Weather’ and something which I experienced first-hand prior to writing this piece. Needless to say I feel powerless to change the situation.

A sunny day in Brisbane suburbia and treeloppers are busy chain-sawing the mature trees in the next street. Sublime spring weather brings a softness to the air but it attracts the hacking and slashing of all that nature has created for the coming months.
These trees were planted during the 1970s for shade and privacy and much prized by elderly residents, the nesting birds, tiny native bees and possums. Ground zero now seems preferable to birds tweeting and butterflies fluttering in the foliage.
I shudder to think of the fragile eggs and hatchling baby birds cheeping in terror before being flung from their nests as their distressed parents fly back and forth, powerless to stop the screaming metal teeth from destroying their home, their family.
Flocks will circle for hours, upset and disorientated as fresh green branches are fed into the slashing blades of the growling mulcher attached to the back of a rusty truck.
Clouds pass overhead and gentle rain falls on my shoulders as my thoughts conjure the new buds, the tender green leaves, the butterfly chrysalis and tiny ecosystems being destroyed around the city and suburbs. Tree by tree extinguishing the natural order, the leafy shade, and ultimately changing the weather patterns of our subtropical city. 

© Gretchen Bernet-Ward 2026