Text

Notes on illustration and design

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Yabby

Half-title -

small picture of yabby and title

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Yabby, by Virginia Lowe

Full page illustration incorporating title,

publication details

Snug in my mud home-hole,

I lie in wait for food floating by -

water weed, insect larvae,

delicious nameless wriggling things.

Yabby in hole - the entrance makes a little muddy mountain

Then suddenly appears

something new and strange -

something that smells wild and wonderful!

I lunge and snatch -

Mine!

Yabby and meat on string, and human feet through the water in the background - thematically, links with leg and foot on tram, later...

But surprise!

As I grasp the morsel it streaks upwards

like a bubble from disturbed ooze.

Up, up, to the mirror-surface

it rises and I rise with it,

till together we break

through the barrier

and flash into the bright hot air above.

Being pulled up - showing the meniscus from below, Yabby's point of view, with the Yabby's reflection on it. And perhaps showing how the meniscus bulges outwards, is distorted, as the Yabby (and the meat) reach the surface

A hard bright coloured thing

surrounds me -

claws cannot grip.

Panic!

My home-hole is gone

and the smooth water -

though there on the bottom

there is at least

a little comforting mud.

Yabby in the bottom of the bucket, possibly with human hands or a head looking in

Beyond the rim there loom two beings -

impossibly high like trees,

Now muddy water sloshes over me soothing my gills,

and a bumping begins.

When my pond water has been churned

by a creature racing through

sometimes I have been rocked and bumped like this.

Two children - probably a boy and a girl - from the perspective of the yabby looking upwards, seeming to reach the sky.

The children scoop some water into the bucket and begin walking.

Possibly "memory" of dog spashing joyously in pool.

[could be two or three separate pictures]

Then something enormous!

Harsh green and yellow with thunderous vibrations.

On the street - a tram is approaching

Nothing is solid anymore.

Vibrations, bumping, jerking -

until suddenly the hard bright walls

are gone.

Children looking abstracted out window of tram, bucket is in the process of tipping, unnoticed.

Freedom!

But where is the pond

and my snug home-hole?

The underneath of the tram seats, various feet hanging down, yabby off exploring

Perhaps if I climb this branch

I can find the water?

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leg, which is shaking to get it off. Anger from the conductor. Consternation, or amusement, from the children and other passengers

This branch is not safe,

it is shaking wildly -

there must be wind blowing,

though I can't feel it.

High-pitched vibrations, very strong

hurting my receptors.

But now I am caught from behind.

I try to nip, but my claws just cannot reach

and I let go.

Child's hand taking Yabby from the leg. In background, Conductor pointing off the tram.

The bright hard walls surround me and the

bumpting starts again. The muddy water has gone

and my gills feel hot and dry.

Children walking away with bucket, tram in the background. Could be from the point of view of the yabby peering out again.

A familiar smell, a wonderful sight!

The home-pond -

and my home-hole, safe and secure.

Swimming back underwater to the hole-mountain.

[A paragraph on the yabby, explaining that they can live out of water, but like to keep their gills damp. They travel out of the water on damp nights and even days sometimes, so could have seen, could have known, trees and wind. They can't hear, only sense vibrations, but they can sense these in lots of different ways.]