‘Time doesn’t exist. Your body doesn’t exist.’

When Paul Hutton purchased his bush block along Long Gulley Rd near Drake, he quickly got to work clearing trees around the house, knowing they posed a fire risk. When the 2019 fires hit, this prep paid off; his house was okay. Some burnt stringybarks down the gulley, however, posed another risk – falling limbs. Paul set off with his chainsaw to eliminate the risk and was ‘cleaned up’ by one in the process. As he lay in severe shock while his partner Belinda found him and called for help, as the chopper flew overhead Paul’s mind – his soul, his self? – travelled from his body, ‘Out there, in the universe…gone.’

Recordist, interviewer and editor, Jarrah Dundler. Sound designer and mixer, Chris Wesely.