A Sense of Direction single work   short story  
Issue Details: First known date: 2000... 2000 A Sense of Direction
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Far away from the ocean, Gerald finds a dead water bird that reminds him of his childhood town. His strange magnetic imbalance means that he has difficulty navigating, and magnetic instruments such as watches stop working around him, leaving him adrift in space and time and unable to hold down a job.

Feeling a kinship with the lost bird, he preserves its corpse and brings it to first a vet, then a university ornithologist to identify it. It turns out to be an Arctic tern. Gerald decides to have it preserved, and finds himself appreciating his life outside the clutches of space and time for the first time.

Exhibitions

Affiliation Notes

  • Writing Disability in Australia:

    Type of disability Unknown magnetic imbalance that causes him to have poor sense of direction and be unable to use magnetic objects.
    Type of character Primary.
    Point of view Third person.

    Note: This work uses disability as a metaphorical note or literary device. A character has a strange magnetic imbalance that poses significant difficulties to his daily life.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Island no. 83 Winter 2000 Z856458 2000 periodical issue 2000 pg. 107-113
Last amended 27 Apr 2018 14:25:55
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