First published in The Grieve Anthology, Volume 7 (2019) Jane stood looking down the length of the hospital bed at the old, dying man, her grandfather. ‘Don’t say anything. Don’t say anything.’ The mantra echoed in her head. At the same time she wanted to ask ‘How could you? And did you, in the end, believe her?’ But she said…
Remember smoking?
I remember the first cigarette I had. I was with a bunch of kids from the neighbourhood and we found a single cigarette, discarded and lying on the footpath. Sam picked it up and turned to us. ‘Hey, do you wanna smoke it?’ I would have been maybe around 11 or 12. Sam snuck home, nicked one of his dad’s…
Beach Storm
From the boardwalk looking across the estuary to the surf beach she could see the dark clouds gathering. It would rain soon but at that moment the effect of the sun at her back illuminating the clouds on the water’s reflection was mesmerising. She took a breath, tasting the metallic flavour which comes before the rain. It would be wise…
Molly and Lemmy
Why does Molly lick the doona? He asked me as we sat on the couch. Who’s Molly, I thought. But it wasn’t the right time to ask. He was brandishing a gun and I’d only just handed over the suitcase with the money inside. I needed to stay sharp to get out of there alive. I looked up at him. …
Breaking up
Over the next couple of days Amber got to thinking that it was actually foolish of her to have left the flat. She planned to take up a job interstate in a few months and she started to think that it was not fair that she should have to move twice within a short period. It’s the way she put…
Our Stain
I’ve read two books* lately which use fiction to examine what happened as white men spread out across this land. It’s funny that, when I was a kid, the emphasis in stories about early Australia was always on our convict past. I can remember it being referred to as ‘the stain’. These books don’t lend any more weight to conviction…
Three things I’ve learned about debating and life
My partner once said he had not met the person who could win an argument with me. For a while I wore that statement like a badge of honour – as debater trained to win arguments for sport there could be no higher compliment. But a dawning realisation of the impact my argumentative approach was having on some important personal…
Are you procrastiworking?
Think of the last time you organised your linen cupboard, or cleaned out your kitchen pantry. Or perhaps the last time you chose a really fiddly recipe and cooked for your housemates or family. If you’re like me there’s a good chance that you did these things when you were facing a deadline or under some kind of pressure. …
I already regret not having children
I’m a woman of a certain age. I’ve been happily partnered for the best part of 20 years. And we don’t have children. If you believe in the biological clock you must be having trouble thinking over the noise of the alarm on mine going off. It doesn’t bother me. The only time I really hear it is when one…
Confusopoly…aaargh!!
I want to make a point about our capitalist system, privatisation of essential services and ‘competition’. This week I took a day of annual leave from work. That sounds nice but the day off was necessitated by a weight of personal administration which had been building up for some time that I wanted to knock over in one hit. One task…