Before she did however, she knew she couldn’t leave without saying a special goodbye to someone she had come to know intimately. It had to be done. While the other kids at her school prepared for their graduation ceremony and made shallow plans for their summer break and their lives beyond, Kylie bought a suitcase and quietly packed the very few belongings she felt were worthy of taking with her into her next life. She had declined the invitations she’d received to attend the graduation ceremony and the after-party, saying that she had an unavoidable family commitment. This had disappointed a number of her male classmates who had begun to realise that she had developed nicely into adult womanhood. On that mild, early December night she went to bed smiling and excited, knowing that the end was near and the next day, if all went according to plan, she would be on her way to a better place. Of all the friends and enemies she’d made in her time at Cooma it was Lester who had come to hold a special place in her heart and she wanted to give him something to remember her by. As regular as drunk clockwork, Lester noisily traipsed home at around one a.m.. She had timed her departure with her aunt’s monthly road trip and for the first time ever was pleased she would have Lester to herself.
