Red

<p><strong style=color: rgba(48 48 48 1)>Short listed in the <em>SANTA FE WRITERS PROJECT (SFWP) 2022 Literary Awards: </em></strong></p><p><span style=color: rgba(48 48 48 1)>  </span></p><p><strong style=color: rgba(48 48 48 1)>Desperate for experience and a chance to earn his stripes 23 year old pilot Will is forced to accept gruelling work in remote Outback Australia with cringeworthy hilarious and often hair-raising consequences.   </strong></p><p><span style=color: rgba(48 48 48 1)> </span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(48 48 48 1)>ACE student William Boyston's whole life has been about flying. He's sacrificed everything to get his </span><strong style=color: rgba(48 48 48 1)>pilot licence</strong><span style=color: rgba(48 48 48 1)> leaving him with a massive overdraft an unhealthy </span><strong style=color: rgba(48 48 48 1)>Top Gun</strong><span style=color: rgba(48 48 48 1)> obsession and an addiction to Luigi's coffee - the big-hearted hopeless romantic and Italian proprietor of Will's favourite cafe.  </span></p><p> </p><p> Renting a shared house in <strong style=color: rgba(48 48 48 1)>Nineties Melbourne</strong><span style=color: rgba(48 48 48 1)> with Adam his impossibly cool Fedora wearing bushwalking flatmate Will only has one thing on his mind - getting his Captain's stripes so he can fly Boeing jets for an international airline. If only jobs weren't so scarce in the city.  </span></p><p> </p><p> At the bottom of the career ladder and desperate to pay off his escalating debt he'll take any work however menial. So when he gets his <em style=color: rgba(48 48 48 1)>only</em><span style=color: rgba(48 48 48 1)> job offer he knows that he must take it. Even though it means relocating </span><strong style=color: rgba(48 48 48 1)>3000km</strong><span style=color: rgba(48 48 48 1)> to the harsh </span><strong style=color: rgba(48 48 48 1)>far north of Australia.  </strong><span style=color: rgba(48 48 48 1)>Even though it means saying goodbye to </span><strong style=color: rgba(48 48 48 1)>his prized Toyota Corolla T18</strong><span style=color: rgba(48 48 48 1)> to </span><strong style=color: rgba(48 48 48 1)>Adam</strong><span style=color: rgba(48 48 48 1)> and to their intriguing new flatmate </span><strong style=color: rgba(48 48 48 1)>Molly Malone.  </strong></p><p><span style=color: rgba(48 48 48 1)> </span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(48 48 48 1)> In the isolated towns of the </span><strong style=color: rgba(48 48 48 1)>Northern Territory</strong><span style=color: rgba(48 48 48 1)> Will's life is soon defined by stifling heat squalid accommodation and the peculiar habits of the locals.  Social opportunities are almost non-existent. Work is erratic. Living expenses are sky-high. </span></p><p> Life up here is nothing like the big city - snakes scary neighbours crocodiles and relentless hordes of blowflies. But if he's ever going to get into an airline he needs thousands of hours in the air.  </p><p> </p><p> No he must stick to the plan and focus on filling his log book. He lives to fly. It's all he's ever wanted. So why can't he stop thinking about Molly the girl he left behind? </p>