These oddball stories—born out of a writing exercise—weren’t meant to see the light of day. But my family, their earliest readers, encouraged me to loose their chains. First to take them in was Monthly editor Nick Feik who published six in October 2016. Cheers, Nick. Incredibly, Good Weekend editor Katrina Strickland then decided, gamely, to publish them in a weekly column, and enhance them with Jim Pavlidis’ vivid illustrations. Thank you, Katrina (and Jim, and the entire GW team), for your faith and continuing support. Finally, to Jane Pearson and Emily Booth, how fortunate I am to have you, and Text Publishing, in my corner.