The bracelet was too small for Max and too large for everyone on the spreadsheet.
Mara Ellis put it on the table between the jam jar and the Wattlebank Public School plan, then tugged gently on the plastic tab. The clasp gave way with a sharp snap.
“There,” she said. “A hundred and twenty wristbands that won’t survive a playground.”
Jonah looked up from the coffee machine.
“I note it’s seven twelve and the school fair has already claimed its first victim.”
Max, six, took back the fluorescent yellow band and tried to wrap it around his sister’s wrist. Ruby elbowed him without looking away from her cereal.
“Touch me again and I’ll put you on the jam stall.”
“That’s not a punishment.”
“If you knew Mrs. Harcourt, you’d know.”
Mara spread out the plan. An A4 sheet printed too dark, school buildings in gray rectangles and stalls labeled by Sophie Wren in marker: SAUSAGES, BOOKS, RAFFLE, FACE PAINTING. A blue arrow ran from the main gate through the playground to the small oval, where the inflatables were planned. At the lower right edge, a piece of the grounds was missing. The plan stopped abruptly after the music block.
She had asked for the complete version three times.
“Could you not work on that this morning?” Jonah asked.
“I’m not working. I’m looking.”
“You opened your computer.”
“Because I can see better on a screen.”
He placed a cup in front of her. On its lid he had drawn a skull in erasable marker.
“Your not-working coffee.”
End of excerpt. Discover the other stories in this universe.