The Wyld Girls

Chapter 1 - Michelle

Oh hi there, gorgeous reader!  Welcome to a new tale.  As always, thank you to you, the early reader, the one who joins the narrative when it's green and fragile.  Writing is the act of sitting alone and playing with your imaginary friends - having readers as part of the process is like someone sitting down next to you and asking if they can play too :)  All comments, suggestions and critiques are welcome - more than once, my readers have fundamentally altered my books for the better.

Skip ahead if you're ready to read.  For those who love an author's note (I do!), read on.  This tale was inspired by the international obsession with a very famous Aussie family whose last name has become synonymous with Australian wildlife.  As someone who spent many years working at an animal park, I saw firsthand the joy of working with wild animals and the issues with keeping them in human care.  I'm not here to solve the fundamental problems with wildlife parks and zoos - I've seen Blackfish and I strongly believe that intelligent animals aren't meant to live in cages.  I also acknowledge that there are places doing good work - caring for animals that can't be released back into the wild and raising funds and awareness for wildlife causes.  Unfortunately, most humans just don't care about animals we've never seen up close, and zoos and wildlife parks provide the opportunity for millions of people to interact with animals that they would never otherwise give a damn about.  There's not an easy solution here, but I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

As for the people who work at animal parks...  I was floored by the bonkers amount of romance that happens in those places - everyone was dating everyone at work, hell,  I even married a dolphin trainer.  Maybe it's the fact that we all worked so hard, we didn't have time to meet anyone else, but that place had more bedpost notches than Grey's Anatomy.

So, lovely reader, let's have some wild times (wink) - I hope you enjoy.

xxoo Kate - May 2022

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Wyld Times, Episode One

A man stands on a white-sand beach, grinning into the camera. "G'day! I'm Bruce Wyld, and I'm a passionate advocate for Australian wildlife and the conservation of our beautiful natural resources."

He gestures to the women by his side. "These are my Wyld girls - me missus, Michelle, and my kid sister, Kylie."

They wave, the beautiful blonde and the little girl.

"Together, we're a team who run a wildlife sanctuary in beautiful Coffs Harbour, dedicated to the protection of the wild." He leans towards the camera, eyes flashing. "So, I've got one question for you... Are you ready to get wild?"

"Just another wild day around here," I mutter darkly into my microphone as I pack the pouch around my waist with raw squid and glassy-eyed mackerel, feeling them squelch and leak fishy fluids into my cargo shorts. "Tell me again why I'm here instead of lying on a beach somewhere?"

The two-way radio crackles in the corner of the dressing room, and Parker's voice sends a shiver down my spine as he says, "Because you're a Wyld girl. Because you're promoting the future of wildlife conservation in this country. Because your wildlife sanctuary is the heart of our town. And because we literally live next to a beach and you never lie on it. You're terrible at doing nothing, Mish."

I glance out the tinted window of the dressing room, observing the thousand or so people crammed into the outdoor stadium, grateful again that we invested in the giant sails to shield our guests from the brutal Australian sun. "You're right as always, my friend," I tell Parker, knowing that no matter how much I might complain to him, I can't leave. Everyone depends on me playing my part.