The fox-women dance in the soft light of late afternoon. Free from the cares of day, they dance, The last glint of daylight catching in their auburn hair. The dreamer has fallen down, down, down, deep into sleep's netherworld. Somewhere, far off, she hears the sounds of hunting but cannot wake to warn the hunted, cannot escape the fearful dream, must wake to its reality. Based loosely on the Japanese legend of the Fox Women, decrying the horrors of the hunt and victimisation of the hunted, this is a story of blurred lines ? what is real, what only seems? AUTHOR: J.R. McRae/J.R. Poulter is the author of forty books for children and education published in Australia, the UK and the USA, including Children's Choice winner, New Zealand, Mending Lucille. Her poetry has been published in leading journals like 'Quadrant' and short stories anthologised, e.g., in ALR's 'Basics of Life'. A former senior librarian, senior education officer, book reviewer and associate lecturer in English Expression, she once worked in a circus. ILLUSTRATOR: Laura Peterson began her career as an illustrator after she moved to Australia from Hungary in 1996 and completed a Bachelor Degree in Visual Communication. Laura was awarded Honour Book in the CBCA Crichton Awards for her first picture book, 'Eyes in the Night', written by Jan Ramage; and the Aurealis Award for Children's Illustrated Work for The Wolf Kingdom Series, Books 1-4. Her last picture book was 'Chase through Venice', written by Sally Gould. Atmospheric illustrations
