Deidre Williams--Elsie and Edith

Elsie and Edith

Mother and Daughter Kangaroos

Deidre Williams

© Copyright 2025 by Deidre Williams

"You've got to be kidding me," I told myself, looking out through the screen door. Two furry shapes tottered in the morning sunlight. "Kangaroos? Here?"

I took a step onto the wood porch, dew cold seeping through my naked toes. "Hello there," I said softly, my own voice shaking with thrill. The larger one, dark brown back, white stomach, lifted her head and opened sleepy eyes to gaze at me. Her companion, a less rich grey, glanced around behind her leg.

"You can't be real," I breathed, descending the stairs. The mother, Elsie whom I had called, didn't jump, chomping on the grassy lawn. I advanced closer, my heart thudding like a drum against my chest. Edith, the young one, stared at me in awe, her little paws clinging to the earth.

I sat down on the step at the bottom, a bowl of birdseed in my hand forgotten. "You two want some of this?" I asked, spilling a few seeds before them. They didn't wait. Edith hopped a few eager steps forward, her tail swinging like a metronome. I couldn't help but chuckle. "Looks like you're the braver one."

Elsie moved more quietly, her loose legs carrying her up to the closeness in a silence in contrast to size. She nuzzled at the gift and then looked up at me. Her great brown eyes overflowed with a compassionate wisdom that seemed to address things in the context of empty places and infinite forest.

I lay back, letting the quiet of the Loch Sport dawn envelop us. "Well, you must be the legendary Australian wildlife I've heard so much about," I said, feeling a little silly talking to animals. "I'm from New Zealand, in fact. I've just arrived here."

Edith paused, tilting her head to the side as though she had picked up every individual word. Her mother just went on eating, a contented hum of happiness escaping. I sat and observed them, having a strange sense of identification. It was like they'd seen the script of my life and decided that they would make a cameo appearance.

The air was fresh, a whiff of salt from the nearby sea mixing with the rich smell of the dew-soaked grass. The sky above was a palette of gentle pinks and purples, the sun only just starting to rise. It was a moment suspended in time, a moment that I did not want to ever have to end.

And there I sat, breaking my breakfast with these unexpected guests, thinking to myself about what other surprises this new country had in store. The world was a wide-open book, full of possibilities, and for the first time in a very long while, I felt like I was somewhere I was meant to be. There, on that step, with a kangaroo and her joey munching away at my birdseed.

Weeks went by, and Edith and Elsie's visits became a morning ritual. I would sit on the step with my coffee, watching them graze, telling them stories of my land and hearing the soft hum of the grass as they chewed. They grew more trusting with each visit, even allowing me to scratch their soft fur. The bond grew, an unspoken understanding that we were now part of each other's life.

But the visits grew less frequent as months passed and summer turned into autumn. I'd wake up in disappointment if I couldn't catch sight of their silhouettes in the morning sun. I'd worry, whether something had happened. Then there was one morning, while watering the garden, that I caught a glimpse of movement on the horizon. Two kangaroos, a bit further from the house, but unmistakable. And there, keeping pace with them, was a small figure, a miniature version of Edith.

My heart swelled with happiness as I noticed that Edith now had her own joey. The little clan was growing, and while it would take us less time, I realized nature was taking its due. Observing the new life, their continuation, was a poignant reminder of the splendor and strength of the wild.

With the passing of seasons, the grass thinned and the birdseed no longer enticed them so close to the house. I'd see glimpses of them from my bedroom window, leaping through the field on the edge of town, a reminder of our brief but sweet friendship. And every so often, when the planets were in alignment and our schedules met, I'd be on this step again, whispering quietly of faraway places and observing Edith and her little one snack.

And life at Loch Sport continued, threaded through the fabric of the wilderness. My days filled with the security of familiarity, the excitement of the new, and the unspoken companionship of two kangaroos who had captured my heart. I realized that someday I might cease to see them, but the memory of those mornings, the sound of their chewing, the warmth of their eyes, would be forever seared into my psyche as a testament to what can be when we lower our guard to accept the unknown.

Hi, I'm Deidre (Dee to my friends) Williams, and I live in a small rural town, between a lake and the Pacific Ocean in Victoria Australia, with my partner Dave and our dog Ziggy. I am a new author, and have published 3 children's e-books, and 1 young adult novella. They haven't met with much success, despite my advertising them on social media sites, but I am hopeful to break into writing articles and short stories, for magazines and publications, but I know that it will take time.

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