'Paper Flowers' was originally published in Voiceworks Magazine #85
 

' ... When you first took me to Rose’s place it was September and the powder from the wattle trees fell about my shoulders like snow. The walls were still like gardens then. There was the smell of toast, maybe detergent, as your mother, Rose,  first led me through the hall, showing me each of the rooms: the study with her desk—covered in fabric scraps and half drunk cups of tea and wine; the spare room still full of your old things—posters of cars and notebooks full of sketches; and her own bedroom— three different quilts on her bed, a half drunk glass of wine on the sideboard, maybe some peppermint oil, some gin ... '