FIRED UP

I’m cradling a singed possum, feeding her water from a bottle. She’s looking up at me with big, terrified eyes, as if asking why her home is going up in smoke. If things don’t improve, we’ll soon have to change our national anthem from Advance Australia Fair to Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, and alter our coat of arms from an emu and a kangaroo to a fire hose and a smug Prime Minister jetting off to a Hawaiian holiday while his country goes up in flames.

The worst bush fires in Australia’s history have left