The Farm

The plane circled back much lower now almost clipping the tops of the tall gums.
Lucy spotted it earlier flying high above but didn’t pay much attention. Now as it swooped low overhead she couldn’t help but notice that it is some sort of crop duster.
A fine mist dropping from its wings spreading over everything in its path.
‘What the hell is this?’ She thought.
‘No one uses crop dusters around here.’
She ran back to the house to grab her camera.
As she came back out across the field the plane came in low, covering her in a toxic suffocating blanket. She shot off a myriad of snaps before retreating back to the house.
Covered in an oily liquid, feeling dizzy and breathless she attempted to wash it off.
That’s when she blacked out.

Zero is heading back home from the local markets after spending the morning selling his produce and stocking up on things he needed.
Cruising along the dirt road, windows down, warm breeze on his face, feeling good about his life.
He remembers how this was just a dream for him and Lucy. To get away from the hustle and bustle of the transient Gold Coast lifestyle and start up their own organic farm in a small country community.
Lucy a graphic artist and photographer and Zero an ex fireman with a penchant for farming.
‘We’re living our dream.’ He thought as he came over the hill that sloped down toward their valley hideaway.
The dogs didn’t come running down the road barking and jumping at his arrival as they usually did. ‘Must be out chasing rabbits.’ He thought as he swings the Ute into the shed and starts unloading.
‘I wonder where Lucy is… probably out in the bush with the dogs taking photos or something.’
As he unloads the Ute he notices a strange smell in the air. He wanders around the back of the shed and glances out over the field. His crops seem to be covered in an oily wet residue and some appear to be wilting.
It’s eerily quiet, no birds calling to each other through the trees, no goats bleeting and not a chook in sight. An intuitive fear runs up his spine. Zero drops what he’s doing and runs to the house.

He finds Lucy on the bathroom floor unconscious and barely breathing. She smells of the same strange aroma that he smelt outside.
“Lucy! Lucy! Come on angel talk to me!” Shaking her limp body.
“Fuck no!” he grabs his mobile phone and punches 000. Lucy’s breathing is shallow and her pulse weak. Her skin is cold and her lips a light shade of purple. Zero is almost panicking but holds it together knowing he’s her only hope. He knows that the ambulance is at least an hour away so he carries her out and straps her into the passenger seat of the Ute, then points the car up the dirt road and flattens it. One hand on Lucy’s wrist to make sure she still has a pulse and his other hand on the wheel.
Twenty minutes later Zero spots the Ambos coming the other way, pulls to the side of the road and waves them down. They take the barely alive Lucy on board and race off, sirens blaring, towards the hospital with Zero in tow close behind them. He is wondering what the fuck is going on? His day had gone from perfect to a horror show. He couldn’t think anything through, not at least until he knew Lucy was going to make it.
She did, just, and would be awhile before a full recovery.
Toxic poisoning from Atrazine, a type of herbicide, was the diagnosis and if not for her strong disposition she would have surely died.
The Police interviewed them both while they were at the hospital then took their statements and left.

Zero drove back to the farm the next morning leaving Lucy to recover in hospital. He wanted to check on the dogs and livestock and see just how much damage has been done to the crops.
‘They’re probably fucked.’ He thought as he drove back down the thin dirt road to their farm.
‘Why would someone want to do this? I’m not a major producer by any means and it’s not a real competitive market that I’m in. Maybe they sprayed the wrong place’
The goats were dead, lying in the dirt of their enclosure and the chickens were scattered about lifeless. He found both the cattle dogs out in the field stiff with rigor mortis where they had fallen. The anger rose up inside him along with the sadness as he fell to his knees exhausted by it all.
The stench of death and chemical residue filled his nostrils as he walked back to the house. ‘The place is ruined.’ He thought. ‘The Poison would be through the crops and the soil. I’ll never be able to flush it out.’

Back in the house he found Lucy’s camera lying on the floor. He switched it on and flicked through the digital images before him. He could see the waves of liquid mist falling towards the camera in sequence and couldn’t help but feel the frustration of not being there with Lucy when it happened. After downloading the photos onto Lucy’s laptop he zoomed in on them one by one looking for any distinguishing marks but finding none. ‘I must show these to the police.’ He thought.
Zero went back out and buried the animals up near the side of the mountain; making individual graves for each of them even his chooks. He wept as he buried his dogs.
After gathering some clothes and things for Lucy back at the Hospital, he rang his nearest neighbor and friend Happy Mathews, to see if he saw anything. Happy didn’t answer.
Zero jumped in his Ute and headed off to where Happy lived about ten k’s further up the valley.

About five kilometres west behind the range Col Anderson spots a guy climbing up into a plane in an old clearing on the back of his property and wonders what he is up to.
Col yells out to the pilot, but the guy is already taxiing the plane around to take off. “ Hey you fucking prick! What the hell are you doin?” The plane speeds down the makeshift airstrip and takes off ignoring Col.

Zero bashes on Happy’s front door but there is no answer.
He searches through the house looking for Happy amongst the dust and the relics that are collected there. Happy’s a bit of a hoarder and the place is full of bits and pieces. There is no sign of him. Zero runs out the back into the yard and sees Happy’s dog dead on the ground. ‘Oh fuck no’ he thinks. ‘This is bad, real bad.’ He finds Happy out under a big Gum tree still holding his shotgun and mumbling deliriously.
“Shit Happy are you okay?” Happy gives him a weak nod and smile but looks far from well. “Come on mate we’ve got to get you to a doctor.” Happy mumbles something incoherent back to him. Zero takes the gun off him, an old double barreled shotgun and places it safely on the ground. He then throws Happy over his shoulder and carries him to the car.
On the way to the hospital Zero notices that same toxic smell and wonders if the whole valley has been sprayed. Happy keeps mumbling about “killing the fucker!” and trying to grab at a shotgun that’s not there.
When they get to the Hospital Zero has to convince him that he needs attention. Happy doesn’t trust doctors and needs a bit of persuasion before agreeing to go in to the hospital.
Zero calls the Police and tells them about Happy and his own fears that the whole valley may have been sprayed. They told him they would send someone out to check on the other residents in the area.

Lucy is asleep when Zero goes to check on her in the ward. He decides to let her get some rest and not burden her with any more bad news. ‘She will be devastated when she hears about the animals.’ He thought.
Happy is diagnosed with the same toxic poisoning as Lucy and they want to keep him in overnight for observation. He isn’t real keen but is exhausted enough to take the offer.


The Police visited all of the valley’s inhabitants and found most were okay, well at least all those that stayed inside ignoring or oblivious to the plane passing above their properties.
“It seems not all the properties were sprayed.” Sergeant Harris told Zero.
“Just yours and Happy’s.” He said.
“That’s a bit strange, why would any one want to do that to us? We don’t have any enemies.”
“At least none you know of.” Replied the sergeant. “But don’t worry we’ll look into it and find out what’s going on.”
“ I hope so Ted cause my farms totally ruined and maybe Happy’s is also.”

Zero went back to the Hospital to pick up Lucy and take her home. Happy had already booked himself out and is most probably at his place by now.
Lucy is excited about going home after being stuck in the hospital and Zero is having trouble dealing with having to tell her about the animals. He knew it would devastate her but he had to tell her before they got home where she would notice their absence.
“ Honey I’ve got some bad news.”
“ It’s Rufus and Rapheal isn’t it?” Tears were welling up in her eyes. “They’re dead aren’t they?”
Grabbing her hand Zero tells her. “Yes, I found them when I got back from the hospital. The goats and chickens are gone to.”
Lucy wept and buried her head into Zero’s shoulder.

Word spreads around the small community about Lucy and Happy and when Col Anderson hears the news he gives sergeant Harris a call to tell him about the plane he saw on the back of his property.
Sergeant Harris checks with the nearest air strips and finds no record of any plane fitting the description given to him by Col and by the photos from Lucy’s camera.
He's at a loss at why this has happened and wonders if there is more to it, maybe something Zero and Happy aren’t mentioning.
Why would someone go to so much trouble and be so secretive about it?