Fat Chance

By Maria Gold

Coronavirus... my how Flynn and Mia hate that word. Life in lockdown is tough; school is closed, birthday parties cancelled and sport has come to a halt.

All fun is off the cards until a mysterious rug arrives. Little do Flynn and Mia know that it’s their ticket out of the house.

Fat Chance is a humorous book of adventure, and a reminder that nothing is impossible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Maria Gold
• Release date: Oct 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9780645013207

Maria Gold

Maria Gold was born in Renmark, South Australia, to Polish parents. She holds a Bachelor of Education from the University of South Australia and devoted her working life to bettering education for children in migrant and disadvantaged communities. Maria and her husband, David, have been married for forty-five years and have two children.Fat Chance is Maria’s debut children’s novel. When COVID-19 swept the world, Maria and her grandchildren found themselves 700 kilometres apart on opposite sides of closed Australian state borders. Her grandchildren’s vacation to visit her was cancelled, and with Maria in Adelaide, South Australia, and her grandchildren in Melbourne, Victoria, she found herself separated from her family for nine months.Maria wrote this humorous children’s novel, mailing it chapter by chapter every week, to connect with her grandchildren during a difficult and unprecedented time.

Book preview

FAT CHANCE

Maria Gold

Copyright © 2020 by Maria Gold. All rights reserved.

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, events, businesses and places in the publication other than those clearly in the public domain are products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written permission from the author except for the use of brief quotation in a book review.

For my loving grandchildren.

From Grandy

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: A Strange Arrival

Chapter 2: The Force

Chapter 3: Spinning

Chapter 4: Fish, Penguins and a Croc

Chapter 5: A Close Call

Chapter 6: The Chase

Chapter 7: Birthday Bonanza

Chapter 8: Who Else Knows?

Chapter 9: Tootsie Glidin’

Chapter 10: FartMania

Chapter 11: Shock!

Epilogue

About the Author

Chapter 1

A Strange Arrival

Mia sat on her mushroom stool looking out of the window at the backyard. She could see lots of lemons on the trees, just starting to turn colour from their dark green. Soon there would be beautiful bright yellow lemons covering the trees along the back fence and over near the compost bin, if only they could beat the possums who also seemed to find them delicious.

Mia could hear Flynn playing in the lounge room. She could hear him muttering as he considered which of his Lego blocks to use next. He was making an airport. The children were both feeling disappointed. Dad was going to take them to see Grandy and Poppy in Adelaide. They loved going there. Grandy and Poppy’s house was big and old, and it had all sorts of corners with surprises. And best of all, Grandy loved giving out treats, even though Dad always did his best to stop her. But the holiday in Adelaide had come to a screaming halt because of you-know-what… CORONAVIRUS!

My, how the children hated that word. It meant no school, no playing with their friends, no playground or skatepark visits, no footy, no swimming. It felt like the world had been cancelled. Mum and Dad tried to do their best to keep the children entertained while they stayed at home. But the children felt deflated; there were bush fires over the summer, learning about climate change at school and now COVID-19.

They played board games and cards. They could leave the house for walks nearby, but the national parks and beaches were closed, so no escaping into nature. Wherever you went you always had to make sure you could keep 1.5 metres away from other people, and you had to take hand sanitiser. Washing your hands regularly was also a big must-do. Apparently, Coronavirus hates soap.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Flynn looked out of the window, but strangely nobody was there. A large parcel caught his eye. It’s a delivery, he said excitedly. Mia rushed to his side. Are we expecting anything, Mum? asked Flynn, thinking that the books they had ordered had