Little girl - Sarah's youngest daughter was the model.
Father- husband of one of Sarah's friends was the model.
Bully - daughter of one of Sarah's friends modelled.
Mr & Mrs Noski - based on two very wonderful neighbours - Mr Noski, who grew amazing vegetables and lived diagonally to my family home in Labrador and Mrs Zigenbine who lived behind us at Labrador.
Truck - the idea of making the father a truck driver was multi-layered - the distances travelled in Australia by truckies signifying loneliness and isolation one experiences with loss and grief and also the closed cabin symbollised being closed in to your grief, locking yourself away from others.
Mending - Something I know about having had 5 children and, yes, I used to sew rag dolls for my girls.
Plane - The noise of a plane taking off was the inspiration for the first line of the story and from which the rest of the story then flowed.