Eliza turns to Meg and begins to share her story. Gradually, the past unfurls in the telling. Her love for Thomas. Her sudden awakening. Her unbounded passion. Her hopes for their future.
Eliza’s joy bubbles forth with her study of the notebooks, and her dreams evoke a gentle, yearning spirit. She faces an uncomfortable truth and resolves to yield to newfound insight.
Eliza grapples for a sense of place, even in her dreams. Beguiled by the sentinel, Eliza finds only emptiness. Still doubting the value of her shadow self, Eliza surrenders to the notebooks.
The women on the headland continue to encourage Eliza, and she finds some grace, humour and renewed purpose. Her dreams evince treasured memories and ghostly spirits.
Eliza sees playfulness in the women, yet there on the headland, her own spirit wavers as shadows resurface. Drained of hope, Eliza faces her failure to embody her vision for a new world.
As Spring arrives in the colony, Eliza gathers her spirit through her morning musings. Her dreams provide no insight to her purpose, yet they do arouse memories. We begin to see what sets Eliza apart.
Just as a bird yearns to sing, Eliza needs a way through to the language of the Yura. The winter settles in, and on the horizon come a series of changes that throw focus on despondency all around her.
On her walk to the headland, Eliza encounters more characters from her dream. Joy soon turns to disappointment as shadows emerge and everything seems beyond her grasp. We learn of Eliza’s husband, Thomas.
We meet Eliza as she wakes from a lucid dream, her body reawakened. Holding fast to this newly discovered joy, she shares her delight and her new intention with her neighbour Meg, the midwife.
Eliza Collins. A fictional character, set in history. Fascinated by language and how it might change society. Let me introduce ‘I am magpie’.
