Interchange: Inklet, #21

By Amy Laurens

The bad: Fed up with James trying to run her life, Ella hangs up on her boyfriend at the bus stop. 

The worse: Having to share the bus ride home with middle-aged drifters.

But the worst of all? The skinny, shell of a man in the business suit next to her starting to cry. Can people not just keep their problems to themselves for once? 

A coming-of-age story that reminds us not to judge others before we know them. 

1900 words / contemporary 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Inkprint Press
• Release date: Nov 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386323563

Amy Laurens

AMY LAURENS is an Australian author of fantasy fiction for all ages. Her story Bones Of The Sea, about creepy carnivorous mist and bone curses, won the 2021 Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novella. Amy has also written the award-winning portal-fantasy Sanctuary series about Edge, a 13-year-old girl forced to move to a small country town because of witness protection (the first book is Where Shadows Rise), the humorous fantasy Kaditeos series, following newly graduated Evil Overlord Mercury as she attempts to acquire a castle, the young adult series Storm Foxes, about love and magic and family in small town Australia, and a whole host of non-fiction, both for writers AND for people who don’t live with constant voices in their heads. Other interesting details? Let’s see. Amy lives with her husband and two kids in suburban Canberra. She used to be a high-school English teacher, and she was once chewed on by a lion. (The two are unrelated. It was her right thumb.) Amy loves chocolate but her body despises it; she has a vegetable garden that mostly thrives on neglect; and owns enough books to be considered a library. Of course. Oh, and she also makes rather fancy cakes in her spare time. She’s on all the usual social media channels as @ByAmyLaurens, but you’ve got the best chance of actually getting a response on Instagram or the contact form on her website. <3

Book preview

Interchange

That’s ridiculous, James! ella said into her mobile, grateful there was no one else at the bus stop to hear her. The traffic whooshed past on the four-lane road, kicked up the smell of hot asphalt and petrol fumes. I think I’m capable of running my own life, thanks. She glanced up at the approaching bus juddering its way toward her—an old one, all orange and sky blue. Look, she said. "I’ve got to go. I’ve no doubt we'll discuss this later. Bye."

She hung up on James, thinking as she did how irritating he was becoming. This was the third time he’d expressed disapproval over her plans to go down the coast the weekend before exams. As if the break wouldn’t settle her nerves. She shook her head in disgust.

The bus doors hissed open as it stopped, sending the smell of oil and hot hydraulics into the back of Ella’s throat as she stepped up inside.

Student, please, she