“Flexion”
A tale of domestic leverage. Frank Slovak, curmudgeonly farmer and domineering husband, has already turned his tractor over on himself before the end of the opening sentence. Frank’s wife finds him upon returning from grocery shopping, calls an ambulance, and accompanies Frank to the hospital. His condition is critical at first, and the doctors prepare her for the worst—but, as the story unfolds, it seems that the "worst" may actually be what Frank's wife hopes for. Reminiscent of Kate Chopin's The Story of an Hour, Frank's wife slowly realizes how much worse her life will be if her husband survives. Even before his accident, Frank was an ungenerous, tormenting presence; but as he partially recovers, his wife realizes that all of his unpleasantness will be multiplied by his sense of total vulnerability, since he needs her to help him function. Suddenly, the man “who’d rather cut off his own hand than be beholden to anyone” (4) finds himself completely dependent on her. The leverage has shifted, but to what end and for how long?
“Ashes”
Chris and his mother spend the day together, driving Chris's father's ashes to the lake where he and Chris shared two awkward fishing trips. Chris's mother insists on promoting a false narrative around Chris and his father's relationship, among other things, including Chris's personal and romantic life. The false narratives and willful ignorance drive Chris crazy, and he spends the entirety of the story holding his tongue while she passive-aggressively mentions her friends' grandchildren, and complains about trifles like the cost of the scones at the cafe and the fake whipped cream with which they are served. Chris is a gay man, but his mother refuses to acknowledge him as anything but a perpetual bachelor. "Ashes" explores Chris's regrets as they pertain to his relationships with each of his parents and his own relationship to his sexuality, including the losses he's incurred as a result of keeping it hidden from his parents, whom he's afraid would be intolerant.
“Laminex and Mirrors”
The unnamed first-person narrator just turned 18 and works a summer job at a hospital with the goal of raising enough money to buy a plane ticket to London. The job begins as no more than a means to that very specific end. She longs to leave what she considers her provincial Australian hometown and escape to what she imagines are the sophisticated, culture-filled London streets and cafes. But as the story goes on, the narrator learns that there's more to her co-workers than meets the eye, and more to the job than just a paycheck. She forms a relationship with Mr. Moreton, an elderly man and veteran who recently learned he only has a few weeks left to live. All Mr. Moreton wants is a cigarette and for someone to wheel him outside, but the matron of the ward refuses to allow it; moreover, the narrator is scolded by medical staff for "fraternizing" with Moreton. The story ends with the narrator choosing to arrive to the hospital an hour early so that she can wheel Mr. Moreton down to the basement for a hot bath and outside for a cigarette, knowing if she's caught, she'll be fired on the spot. While they're outside, the door closes and locks behind them, and the narrator has to wheel Mr. Moreton in through the front, where everyone will see them. The story ends in a triumphant, reckless moment shared between the narrator and Moreton as they laugh their way down the hospital's main thoroughfare.
"Tender”
The story begins with Christine’s worry about an upcoming biopsy. While showering, she feels a tender spot under her armpit, near her breast, and sees a doctor about it. Meanwhile at home, she and her husband try to run a sustainable house. Their house is still unfinished, and Christine is amazed by her husband's breezy, absent-minded way of handling things. Their eldest son, still in elementary school, has a project due the same morning as Christine's biopsy. He has to make a diorama. Christine fixates on making the diorama for him after he goes to sleep. She sees a lot of her husband in her son, including the breezy, carefree way he procrastinates. She makes him a beautiful diorama and enjoys watching the surprise and joy spread over his face in the morning, when he discovers it. She then boards the train and heads toward the hospital.
This story features another unnamed first-person narrator, but this time, he's a family man who has slipped a disc while managing a landscaping job. The story takes place around Christmas, and the opening scene sets the stage of indignity. The narrator describes his embarrassment at watching his wife and eight-year-old son load the Christmas tree onto the car. The narrator spends his days laid out in the middle of the living room floor, watching his children create clutter which he, with his perfectionist's compulsions, is powerless to amend. The injury was supposed to only take six weeks to heal, but the narrator is closing in on the sixteenth week, and his wife, Claire, is growing weary and skeptical. She thinks it might be psychosomatic, which leads to further tensions in the household (especially because with the narrator out of work, she has to work extra shifts at the hospital). The story concludes early Christmas morning, before the children are awake but after Claire returns from her overnight Christmas Eve shift with armfuls of groceries. The couple lays next to each other on the floor and shares a tender moment, leaving the reader with hope that they'll mend any fissures caused by the narrator's injury.
"Five-Dollar Family”
Michelle has just given birth to a baby boy, whom she's named Jason. She thought that after the baby was born, her boyfriend Des would finally step up and be responsible, and contribute in helpful ways to making her life a little easier, but on the day of Jason's birth, he further proves his incompetence. He also has an upcoming court date for aggravated assault, and since it's his fourth offense, he'll definitely be sent to jail. His court appearance is on the same day that Michelle and Jason are likely going to be discharged from the hospital. Des hasn't told Michelle about the charges, but she found out the details by searching through his wallet for the legal paper he was served. As if all of that weren't enough, she also learns that he's cheating on her, because she finds a receipt for condoms in the pocket of one of his jackets she happened to be wearing. Besides Des, Michelle faces issues with the midwives, who are pressuring her to breastfeed Jason, despite the fact that her milk just doesn't seem to be releasing. This perceived failure to feed her son causes her further distress.
When she sees an ad for $5 family portraits in the courtyard of the maternity ward, she's determined to have one taken before Des goes to jail. Against the advice of the doctors and midwives, she takes a couple of painkillers and goes across the street to the Coles where the photographer is set up. When he snaps the photo, Jason opens his eyes fully for the first time. He begins to cry, and the sound of his cry seems to activate the let-down reflex of Michelle's breast milk. She feeds him in front of the Coles, despite Des's incredulity, and realizes once and for all that she doesn't need him to raise Jason.
“Sleepers”
Ray is living in his friend's shed and working part-time at a warehouse. He has recently, but not that recently, broken up with Sharon and moved out of the house they rented together. He feels unhealthy and stalled in his life. He's sluggish and anhedonic. Meanwhile, a corporate, out-of-town developer is widening the roads, tearing up the tracks, and clearing space for new businesses to move in. The town is largely hostile to this development, and a big reason is because they failed to hire any locals to do the work. The tension comes to a head when the developer makes stacks of redgum railway sleepers and cordons them off with orange flags. People in town resent the fact that the company is trying to salvage the wood to resell, as opposed to letting people take the wood and use it to build or as firewood. A lot of people Ray knows have taken wood for themselves and used it to landscape. After leaving his friend Steve's house one night, Ray drives to the site to take a stack of wood for himself. He fantasizes about what he would do with the wood. He could make flower beds with it for Sharon, like she always wanted him to do while they were still together. Or, he could construct little gardens for himself outside the shelf, grow veggies and herbs. After he loads his ute, a police cruiser pulls up. Ray doesn't even turn around, he just stands down and awaits his punishment.
