Angol
The park at Goolwa is excellent. There's a wooden pirate ship, a rug for Jack, Grandma's chair set up at exactly the right angle - and out on the water, Uncle Andy's jet ski, towing a donut.
Aubree goes first. Then nine-year-old Tate. Max watches from the shallows, building his case the way he always does: in sections, in order. He can swim. There are life jackets. He is more coordinated than Tate.
Mum agrees with every point. And she still isn't ready.
Not Today is a story about wanting something you're not allowed yet - and about the grown-ups who stand with you anyway: a mum who tells the truth, an uncle who never liked the donut either, and a grandma who knows exactly what to ask from the bottom of a pirate ship.
Part of the According to Max series: stories drawn from real family life, for children who think in cases and feel things deeply, and the adults who love them.
