"And don't skip off without doing your jobs!"

"Yes Mum."

"You've got the firewood to stack for Dad, and the lawns."

"Yes Mum."

"And don't you 'yes Mum' me! Dad's still annoyed about that back lawn. He's had to re-sow a lot of it. When grass goes to seed it dies. You know that, don't you? And there's grass coming up all over the garden!"

I lay there thinking about that for a while. Then it dawned on me. My grass-brother was dead. He must have gone to seed too. I jumped out of bed and threw some clothes on, then I dashed down the hall and past Mum. She shouted something at me about breakfast but I couldn't stop.

I jumped the fence and ran across the paddocks. It was mostly downhill so I got to where the remains of my grass-brother lay. He was just a pale patch of dead grass now, but where his head had been was a chimp of new grass. Soft, green, new grass, pushing up through the soil towards the sun.

I scooped the grass up with my hands, dirt and all and carried it carefully back to the house.