“Mummy, mummy, look, look!” Lina pulls hard at her mother’s hand as she chats with one of her grown-up friends. They’ve been …
No! A needle jammed in the groove of busyness. No room to think. Full! Blah! Words tumble, meaningless, inconsequential, Stop! …
1 Min Read
“You’re gonna do what?” “Enter the UTA,” Izzy repeats, lifting the half-empty wine glass to her lips. Damn she should have ordered …
22 Min Read
11.55 PM, 8 March 2023* Tick. Tick. Tick. She watches the clock. The moon is full, painting the damp blades of kikuyu …
4 Min Read
“About us – we at midnight, slaves, Chained to a tottering world”* “Look at them.” Titus** stretches his lithe trunk over …
2 Min Read
I Very great or intense/Having or showing great knowledge or insight/The deepest part of something, especially the ocean. II “Every man, when …
3 Min Read
“What is going on Liza?” “He’s a fraud Dad.” “How do you know?” “I was living with him.” “WHAT? Where?” “Here.” “WHAT? …
18 Min Read
“What is going on Liza?” “He’s a fraud Dad.” “How do you know?” “I was living with him.” “WHAT? Where?” “Here.” “WHAT? …
18 Min Read
Jesus? New toys! :-J Fake, faux, real? :-/ End-of-year drinks. %-) Tap if you’re ready. Declined. :{ Who stole the chocolate from …
1 Min Read
The dust scatters in the stiff October breeze as Liza’s mother lifts her hand to toss a handful of fresh earth onto …
21 Min Read
“Hey Pa.” “Liza,” the old man raises his head from a thick volume at his lap and nods, as she steps across …
11 Min Read
“Hi, I’m Jack.” Liza’s boyfriend sticks out a smooth palm towards her Grandfather, as the screen door swings listless behind her. Her …
9 Min Read
“It’s howling!” “No, it’s just a breeze”. She stares at her grandfather as he leans against the door, his worn flannelette shirt …
6 Min Read
* This piece is a response to Rob Wilcher’s beautiful poem “Carry the Water”. The stream eddies, as his hand drifts. …
2 Min Read
“MUM. Did you send it?” Clara’s twelve-year-old selfishness stole her thoughts … again. “Are you listening to me?” Her daughter stomped her …
8 Min Read
For Sheila and Roger Let us go then, you and I, to gape at sunsets spread across the sky, that meld …
5 Min Read
For Oliver The little seed is still, black, alone. He lays flat against the earth; waiting. Waiting for what? For the right …
3 Min Read
“Me, me, me, me, me, me, me.” Val can hear them as they flit between the soft cream lounges and the clinking …
4 Min Read
The box is light as always. But that means very little. It’s what’s inside that counts. Don’t judge a book by its …
2 Min Read
How could he not know? “Why, why, why?” he howls till I silence him. A slither of red dribbles from my father’s …
1 Min Read
“What size jacket: thirty-four?” Pink cuticles expertly retrieve a black suit from the rack. “Oh no way,” I reply, confident my last …
2 Min Read
“Close your eyes,” molasses smooth, his voice beckons. Spidery fingers stroke my papery cheeks. Liquid slurps from a flask at my bedside. …
1 Min Read
Coins cascade into the parking meter. The dial spins. Half an hour in the oxy tank will flush the toxins. Post-nuclear air …
1 Min Read
The pew is shiny and hard beneath her fingers as she curls them beside her tucked knees. She leans forward, eager to …
4 Min Read
“Marry me?” His loud plea is swallowed by the cold gray of giant housing blocks. Windows slam shut. Blinds drop. I twitch. …
1 Min Read
No, no, no! I scuttle left, right, back, forward, my antennae twitch frantically searching for the rich dark warmth of the earth. …
2 Min Read
The door whines shut as heaving workman lever the latches shut. Finally, it’s dark. “Are they gone?” A tiny twelve-inch monitor blinks …
3 Min Read
Unfamiliar strings of sinew are lodged between her teeth and Beth pokes absently at them, eager to dispel the odd sensation, but …
13 Min Read
You summon me with your constant chatter; loud, insistent, beckoning, as you weave and wander your way through the valley far below. …
2 Min Read
“Are you fucking kidding?” “Oh darling, you know the deal – you’re a coathanger for their Art.” “It’s a bit of tin …
1 Min Read
“Have you seen the curve?” Beth’s father slurs, as she shuffles softly towards the living area. His eyes are riddled with delicate …
7 Min Read
“Ping.” Busy, I’ll check that later. “Ping.” I really don’t have time for this. 1:20. Boss wants this report on his desk …
4 Min Read
“This better be good. I’ve got a network to run. My clock is ticking. Who’s this?” Vlad freezes as he steps into …
8 Min Read
“Jack, mate, how are you? I didn’t think you’ld be back for a few days.” Beth can hear a man calling to …
16 Min Read
Shadows – always the shadows! Do I seek them, or they seek me? They cast their imagination across drooping ribbon bark. Flicker, …
1 Min Read
Impotence beats a steady drum at her temples as Beth retreats to the sanctity of her privacy pod. Her small lithe fingers …
10 Min Read
This piece is an 800 words piece for a spoken voice competition: Entanglement – Voices of Women. https://voiceswomen.com/entanglement/. It was written in …
5 Min Read
“Well?” Beth’s brother Jack demands as she returns to the apartment she shares with three generations of her family. “Well, what?” Beth …
8 Min Read
https://themovingpen.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Boreas-Street-3.m4a Sarah strides across the strip of hard black sand, her toes kicking at the pebbles. Like marbles in a schoolyard, …
3 Min Read
The year is 2120. Beth blinks and refocuses on the text. They can’t be serious. She stops, breathes slowly, carefully, aware every …
6 Min Read
She kneels, her back heaving and pushing. Every muscle straining. Doc Martins scuff and push against the footpath. Passersby glance, then stop; …
1 Min Read
Oh God, she was beautiful! Ra’s heart belted against his ribcage each time he thought of her – let alone his groin. …
8 Min Read
“Have you got everything”? she asks. “A huh,” the small child nods, his pudgy arms gripping hard at the backpack hugged to …
2 Min Read