“The bark on the tree was just a little softer.”

“If only, if only, the woodpecker sighs, The bark on the tree was just a little bit softer.While the wolf waits below, hungry and lonely, He cries to the moo-oo-oon, If only, if only.”

“Dad called this the shadow time. The sun sucks colour from the world, he'd said. He'd taught her to see the softer colours of the dusk, the green and orange bark, the purple shadows. At times like this Flinty felt her edges vanish, leaving her part of the mountains, like the wallaby pulling wonga vine down from a thorn bush, or the sleepy possum peering from a tree.”

“His skin is so hard and rough, it’s like shaking a piece of tree bark.”

“And the man then said Oh, please: Just let me know if you come upon bark textures that recall the erosion patterns of human hope...And then he disappeared behind a tree...and the forest fell into silence...”

“He barks out a laugh. "My little rebel.”