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After the 'Pulse' destroys most things electronic and electric, Jin and Aisha are two teenagers scavenging together. Jin specialises in batteries, Aisha in pharmaceuticals; Aisha's mutism relieves Jin of having to keep his hearing aids on.
While preparing for the next market to trade for food, they meet a third boy, Billy, who Jin starts crushing on. After a misunderstanding at the market, Billy and Aisha - who can speak and simply chose not to - reveal they knew each other, and moreover, knew the origins of the apocalypse.
Billy and Aisha questioned their world before the Pulse - the android-like plastic foster mothers, the lack of humans besides teenagers, and the city no one has ever left. They discovered it was an experiment, and the researchers ended it with the Pulse. Reunited, the trio plan on going to the laboratory and restarting the city.
Affiliation Notes
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Writing Disability in Australia:
Type of disability Deafness, mutism. Type of character Primary. Point of view Third person.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Awards
- 2018 shortlisted Norma K. Hemming Award — Short Fiction
- 2017 winner Ditmar Awards — Best Novella or Novelette
- 2016 shortlisted Aurealis Awards for Excellence in Australian Speculative Fiction — Science Fiction Division — Novella
- 2016 shortlisted Aurealis Awards for Excellence in Australian Speculative Fiction — Young Adult Division — Short Story