Aggie stood at the kitchen door and watched her neighbour’s dog running through the long, windy grass. The pain had stalled – …
Roslyn looked up hopefully at the clock. Thank God there was only five minutes till the end of her shift. It had …
14 Min Read
He’s stuck. He knew he’d eaten too much this year. Knew he didn’t exercise enough. It’s dusty in here – and …
5 Min Read
He chose the longer queue to the check out as it led to the young guard in combat gear with his finger …
6 Min Read
Dear Tim, I just found out. Way late. I rarely get on Facebook. The poem brought up memories. And tears. I saw …
4 Min Read
Demented wind. Rain pummelling trees. The drive over with its slippery roads and stirrings from the back seat and the hammering in …
10 Min Read
She stripped the corpses with a startling insouciance, slicing muscle from bone, sucking the skin from fingers, spitting the knuckles with a …
5 Min Read
Billie was such a lovely kid growing up, albeit a little strange. I’ve never forgotten that time her pair of pet mice …
9 Min Read
“Ready?” Speed nods, checking that his packs are secure and his belt is charged. The guard heaves on a chain, lifting a …
5 Min Read
I felt like a criminal. In fact, now I think about it, I was. We snuck down narrow streets, ill-lit alleys, …
14 Min Read
“Hypocritical pricks,” Jane utters under her breath, as yet another white-linen pants woman stops to thank her for her hard work, then …
7 Min Read
The little boy’s face is exquisite. The first thing that catches your attention is his large green blue eyes. They look like …
13 Min Read
Claire lifted herself and looked over the sleeping body at the fluorescent numbers. 2.46. She sighed and pulled a pillow to her …
6 Min Read
Sustainable (N) 1: able to be maintained at a certain rate or level. 2. Able to be upheld or defended. Sally repeats …
5 Min Read
‘So this is where the Grey Man lives. It’s a bit grim don’t you think?’ Julia pinched me. ‘Cam, how can you …
21 Min Read
Whatcha burning? he asks. Cracks his knuckles. I blanch. It’s the goddam nosy neighbour. Always talking to me, at me. A guy …
9 Min Read
“Sir, please get out of your car.” A security guard orders Mike as he waits at the school gate. “Sorry?” he replies, …
12 Min Read
I’m sitting beneath the hot scribbly gum that stands almost dead centre in the play area that backs on to the townhouses, …
8 Min Read
I “What do you reckon she does all day?” Leah says as she stares toward the verandah through the dust-caked window of …
9 Min Read
Truth is buried in our backyard. It pushes up the weed and paspalum, the wet-the-beds and buffalo. It sucks on the sandy …
2 Min Read
‘Fe-lix! Fe-lix!’ the crowd chanted as the next rider trotted on to the arena aboard a chestnut stallion. He raised his crash …
11 Min Read
Skimming stones at Cape Leveque, two hundred kilometres north of Broome, near King Sound, with king tides, the ocean blood red in …
3 Min Read
‘Put the knife down, mutherfucka!’ Rohan smelled the man’s sweat. He placed his knife on the bench and turned to the man …
6 Min Read
…Welcome back to radio station WQLX Ohio, and now we have a special treat for all those at tonight’s concert… ‘Oh my …
20 Min Read
He’d left a note in their letterbox – without his name, of course – telling them to cease the noise or …
12 Min Read
He squinted his left eye when he spoke. It was a look that one might make if they were feeling skeptical. Phil …
16 Min Read
Roseanna is playing, but it’s not the original. I remember swaying along at a high school dance to that song in 1982. …
9 Min Read
It was the sweltering heat that most pained him. More than the shitty job of party pleaser at rich kids’ parties, or …
10 Min Read
Jim looked around him at the outdoor adventure store. It was huge. The Christmas tree was up and there were tinsels draped …
16 Min Read
You’ve always been beguiled by the moon. To you its ancient reflection is two men at a card table, one hunching over …
12 Min Read
The tyres of the white Volvo crunched over the gravel as Hilda pulled into the near empty parking lot. ‘Here we are …
17 Min Read
‘Twas the month before Christmas when all through my head Not a thought was stirring, not even a thread. The desk was …
2 Min Read
Unsure of whether I had Caught the right bus, I Inquired of the old lady Next to me, Does this bus Go …
1 Min Read
‘Johnny Bastard Dalton, as I live and breathe!’ John looked up from his book. He didn’t recognise the man; maybe it was …
9 Min Read
Controlling her anger was one thing. But it didn’t stop her ramming his car. Nathan had been dead for a year. The …
10 Min Read
“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 …
3 Min Read
The celebrated restaurant stood out from the dark street like a reassuring beacon. Yonder! Its glittering lights radiated warmth, welcome and the …
9 Min Read
Waiting for the bell to ring, crouching on a sticky icy bench, the chill from the asphalt squirming through my shoes and …
10 Min Read
Happy Fathers Day. Was there a Sad Fathers Day? A Tired Fathers Day? An Overworked one, or a Pleasantly Proud of One’s …
8 Min Read
Ah, ah, ah, ah. Great lord, heat, light, hit, hit, ah, ah, ah, divine love, and lust, must, must, yours, Great Lord, …
1 Min Read
“What’s the chance of finding one?” I ask as we bat through the Acacia forest surrounding the swamp. “Not high. We’ve been …
5 Min Read
The patron was in ecstasy when the big breasted singer smiled meekly at him. Her top was stretched taut and damp with …
1 Min Read
Life can change in an instance. For Linda Robinson, it took less than three minutes according to the CCTV footage. Martin, her …
17 Min Read
100 words using Patron, Meekly, Damp, Ecstasy It was a blood moon. ‘Excuse me.’ Red talons and exiguous heels, she surveyed the …
1 Min Read
Stringybark Just for Fun 100 words using Patron, Meekly, Damp, Ecstasy The armholes of her nightie are damp as she leans over …
1 Min Read
Life Imitates Art: Retrospective (A play in three scenes.) Characters: Mario – a young man looking for love; Mel – a …
13 Min Read
(100 word story using the following words: damp, meekly, patron, ecstasy) Shaded lamp in hand, Sister Monica crept out of her damp …
1 Min Read
I knew when I saw her face I’d be dead that afternoon. The smile so frighteningly sweet, her purple cat’s eyes aglow. …
1 Min Read
Mama say to come here. To escape Tall Ones. Mama say Daga knows Tall Ones’ hearts. Daga wise , Mama say. Daga …
20 Min Read
The train stalls; she feels her pocket for her passport and ticket, hugs her knees. Dirty snow speckles the thick window. She …
16 Min Read
“Oh, Mrs G, that’s lovely that is. You’re so clever.” The young woman in her navy polo says as she arches her …
5 Min Read
Upturned leaves glide in. Their umber-clad skeletons disrupt the dance of sun on water, then cast shadows on the tiles below. …
1 Min Read
They say that youth is wasted on the young. I think there’s certainly some truth to it. But it’s also a little …
9 Min Read
It was the first time she’d been here since Helen had been reported missing. By rights she should have been at home …
4 Min Read
Lisa sips at her zero-alcohol beer and stares at splashes of red and white as they wrestle over the sponsor-encrusted grass like …
6 Min Read
The sign above the carpark entrance declares ‘Throgmorton’s Real Life Railways’, underlined by a set of railway tracks. A locomotive steams its …
17 Min Read
She’s exhausted. She wants to go back to the beginning, but she’s lost, lost. Too many people on the streets; cars …
4 Min Read
George has been pouring drinks for Carol at the local pub ever since she moved into the area fifteen years ago. He …
17 Min Read
My toes are hanging over the edge as water crashes into the rocks far below. The Pigram Brothers sing of it, but …
1 Min Read
A piece to mark International Women’s Day on 08 March: A short story about a woman and a place using picture prompts …
3 Min Read
A wise man once said that ‘bad things will happen to you if you live long enough’. It rang true for Irene …
18 Min Read
London was never this dark. Not even with the fog black as soot and thick as a toff’s curtains did it …
5 Min Read
She shrieked. He saw a flash of bare skin and in his mind lights flared in a hospital room but vanished as …
7 Min Read
They are lapdogs at the foot of my bed. One is charity, a pallid young man seeking alms for those he has …
26 Min Read
The floorboards are stark and withered. Blood from the man I just shot seeps in between wide cracks. Normally there is a …
12 Min Read
The man stood at the massive carved doors, with its monumental forged handles and hinges. At the top, embossed with gold leaf, …
22 Min Read
1. Sam sat in the darkened granny flat, slightly removed from her grandfather who lay dying in the bed. The old man’s …
17 Min Read
No coward soul is mine; no trembler in the world’s storm-troubled sphere, she always murmured. Before every protest, every demonstration, she …
5 Min Read
Fred studied his reflection on the bathroom mirror. He felt awkward looking at himself like this. He had seen himself either shaving …
19 Min Read
‘Here’s number eighteen,’ Caleb whispered. Zac knocked. A footman opened the door. ‘We’re here about the cockroach infestation,’ said Zac. ‘I assure …
3 Min Read
A short story describing a place without using an adjective or adverb. Audis, Beamers, and Mercs force us against the tea trees …
5 Min Read
‘Hey Babe, my boss is hosting the work Christmas party this year at his house. Partners are invited. So you need to …
12 Min Read
Do you remember summer in the seventies? I do. As my eyelids lower under the weight of a glass of chardonnay and …
4 Min Read
David looked at his watch. Five minutes to the end of the sermon, he reckoned. A couple of closing hymns, a prayer, …
15 Min Read
He proposed a few weeks later. I knew he would, but I’m glad to say I didn’t actually predict the date. We’d …
7 Min Read
‘Acidic,’ I smile. ‘Some certainly are; in fact many I come across.’ The guy doesn’t know whether to grin – am …
12 Min Read
Dry autumn leaves swirl and scrape the pavements Making a sound like a drummer’s brush on a hi-hat, A furious wind pours …
1 Min Read
Thine birthday was a grand and hearty feast; We supped on fowl, roast beef and bread not stale. We gorged so much …
1 Min Read
No! A needle jammed in the groove of busyness. No room to think. Full! Blah! Words tumble, meaningless, inconsequential, Stop! …
1 Min Read
THE DOCTOR I should be dead. The news of my passing was published in the newspaper. Dr. John McMahon – Paediatrician, was …
32 Min Read
In my time I seen some mighty perplexing things on this here river. One night one of those big steamboats ran aground …
10 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
We travelled down the highway that January, in a brief interlude between the fires. The air was sticky, and firedust riddled the …
16 Min Read
Geoffrey shut his eyes, telling himself to focus, focus. See the Mona Lisa, not the world beyond. He steadied himself and took …
9 Min Read
Only a month after Ricardo moved in, he revealed his many faults. He had little regard for the way I’d laid out …
11 Min Read
The evening had started with the calls of the neighbourhood magpies at sunset. They were the first to herald the end of …
11 Min Read
The vehicle screeched to a halt in a cloud of red dust. Joffra and Mitch leapt from the rover, firing their lasers …
3 Min Read
Boris flinched like a child, moved swiftly across the cell and hovered beside me; unexpected, this late in the day. ‘What’s your …
9 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
Long hard unclean. The day. The coffin. Encrusted by the wind in topsoil. White soil. Freckling my black skirt. My mother’s …
8 Min Read
Continuing on from part 1 which was published in December … On the third date I invited him in for a …
9 Min Read
He set about his practice with the thoroughness of an auditor. Trying to remain inconspicuous, he spent the remainder of the afternoon …
13 Min Read
Friday I first saw him when he was my checkout assistant in the local supermarket on my drive home from work on …
6 Min Read
I blame the gods for what befell me, and claim my triumph for myself. I am born of dust. The place where …
21 Min Read
The next morning, Amy woke up and sat on the side of her bed. She recalled her career conversation with her parents …
27 Min Read
Did you know that the word “cynanthropy” means the ability to shape shift into a dog? A second definition of it was …
15 Min Read
‘It’s rising too fast, we’ll drown if we don’t get out now,’ Pearl cried as you sloshed through the sodden hallway. That …
9 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
‘Do you think that Mum will make it till Christmas?’ Maryanne asked her sister Thelma while helping herself with a glass of …
13 Min Read
‘Lucy!’ ‘Hello stranger,’ said Lucy’s voice. ‘Great to hear your voice.’ ‘Really?’ she said. ‘Of course,’ Geoffrey replied. ‘Not too eager?’ she …
13 Min Read
It’s nearly Christmas. Hey fellas, know anyone who wants to buy a second hand bible? It is the best book on earth. …
5 Min Read
Under a cavernous, velvety sky with a gibbous moon floating like a silver dinar above the mountaintops, a travelling minstrel and his …
24 Min Read
The Christmas tree is ginormous again! It’s bigger even than the building Dad works in. I went there once. It’s a brick …
23 Min Read
I came home today in a state of glorious hope. You know that feeling when you get home and take off the …
11 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
Christmas eve was its usual self: expectant, dissatisfied, drunk. But still a glass half-full. Sahara leaned her tired shoulders against the …
15 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
‘Hi sweetie, welcome back. I’ve missed you. How was Stanthorpe?’ Amy’s mother asked as she picked Amy up from the airport. ‘It’s …
13 Min Read
Ava has been on the light rail for about two hours, possibly more; she’s not sure. A guard waved at her …
8 Min Read
‘An eight year old dog is what, fifty-six in dog years?’ The man called Tony watched the terrier gouging the surface of …
2 Min Read
Geoffrey sat nervously on the couch. He stared at the phone in his hand. He thought of Lucy. It’s, what, 6am over …
10 Min Read
A schoolroom, North Yorkshire, 1840 I begged Charlotte to teach alone today; I cannot bear the girls’ scathing eyes. She tells me …
5 Min Read
It was unusual when Mr Johnson didn’t show up for his monthly armoury of medication. He’s a regular, which is how my …
10 Min Read
A man stood in front of the bathroom mirror. That morning he had retrieved the mirror from a pile of discarded items …
7 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
He pulls his bowler hat down tight over his closely-shaven head and steps out into the cold night, his heavy boots making …
6 Min Read
Amy stepped out of the plane and was surprised by the cooler temperature in Stanthorpe. A light breeze brushed across her face …
11 Min Read
He sank into the outdoor couch and gazed at the stars. The night beach rolled out of sight across the dune. The …
2 Min Read
His hands are fitted around her face, heart-shaped; the soft pink hands of a real estate agent. He’s smiling with her, …
9 Min Read
Anton woke. The electric numbers said 2.44. Vague streetlight was etched on his curtains. Beyond the white shadow of his wardrobe was …
13 Min Read
Just after the turnoff to Griffith on the Sturt Highway, Jackson hit the brakes. The tyres squealed. He pulled the truck over …
11 Min Read
Today was the departure date for Amy to make her train journey to Stanthorpe. She was to spend her term break with …
11 Min Read
It’s pretty amazing how one could figure out the climate of a place from millions of years ago by studying the side …
8 Min Read
The man stands at the door with a satchel in his hand. Can I help you? says the woman. She looks at …
12 Min Read
The light changes: red for the cars, a little green walking man for us pedestrians. Then the little man changes into …
16 Min Read
‘What the hell was he doing down there?’ Cara wiggled her hips and attempted to steer him into the right area. She …
19 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
No no no no no no no no no no no no It’s not that big! It’s a trick, done with mirrors …
1 Min Read
You wave at them from the end of the street. The sun pours into your eyes like lava but you’re certain …
7 Min Read
No, No! I love being here, naked and on display. Without a shred of covering except the blue satin choker and that …
3 Min Read
Out of the Frying Pan She ran through the trees, her mind aflame with terror; the cage, the shut oven, the screams, …
1 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
Lysandra opened her eyes and wished she were still asleep. Her head pounded as though a team of stonemasons was carving a …
20 Min Read
The kiss was tingling. She’d waited all night, watching him across the room, his face glittering red under the disco ball. His …
2 Min Read
It all began with Marty’s pail of weed. And I mean pail – one of those galvanised steel pails your grandma had …
17 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
Jenna could not believe her luck as she followed Jeremy down the sandy wooden path that led to the beach. Was this …
7 Min Read
They say your life flashes before you when you die. They are wrong. It’s your future you see. Like when you lean …
15 Min Read
The boy watched the old man crouched By the pool in the sun stirring the water With an even hand. He was …
2 Min Read
The shooting started at around 4.30 pm; most of the neighbourhood mothers had herded their kids inside and were probably doing what …
13 Min Read
Fred takes one of the nails he holds between his lips and places it against the timber, hammering it home with far …
22 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
‘Chintana darling, I’m going to be late tonight. Please don’t wait up for me.’ ‘Alright Auntie Tok, have a great night. Don’t …
17 Min Read
your father beat you or someone else in the family your mum or one of your siblings, when the air is …
1 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
Saint Valentine of Rome was a priest, In the 3rd century AD, But the specific day of his feast – The 14th …
1 Min Read
It was a song oft repeated around the sly grog shops and two-up schools of the great metropolis. Some say Jim Grey …
3 Min Read
‘You’ll need this, Inspector,’ said the officer manning the door to the freezer room. He handed the Inspector a heavy padded jacket, …
6 Min Read
That Dickens bloke lied. Yes, it was the worst of times, the best of times, etc etc, and yes, the world was …
13 Min Read
Dad’s firm had a Christmas picnic at a park in Canterbury where all the families came and ate sausages in bread and …
28 Min Read
There was no answer. Geoffrey pulled open the fly screen door and ran inside. He was scared of what he might find. …
18 Min Read
A heavy foot shoved his face into the water. He heard ‘Move grommet’ before the fuzz of the surf smothered him. He …
18 Min Read
‘Have you balanced yet, Lothar? We can’t be staying here all evening.’ ‘Almost, Herr L-Langmann,’ said Lothar, his cheeks flushing red. He …
31 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
Joe stepped out of the shower and reached for a towel. He threw the towel over his head and rubbed really hard …
14 Min Read
I never saw the murderer that Christmas day. Bonnie did, and Moss – or so they said. Mama told me not to …
15 Min Read
Tom looked out the window from his large and luxurious hotel bed. The Tokyo skyline was strangely eerie. The aircraft warning lights …
3 Min Read
Shahezah the witch raised her hooked staff high, high above into the sky, unlatched the hasp of a cloud and, with an …
29 Min Read
My immediate thought when I first set eyes on her was not ‘what a warm smile’ or ‘I love the dual pigtail …
3 Min Read
Ten minutes along the freeway he came across the site of last night’s accident and pulled over. The rig stood battered and …
10 Min Read
See this woman. Maybe viewed as doing okay by some. Lives in a cramped rented flat near Botany with her two …
25 Min Read
I remember when Rodney Fletcher first started coming for dinner. I was almost fifteen. My brother Joey was eighteen and a half. …
33 Min Read
The spectators cheered as the juggler hurled the fire sticks into the air. They soared into the darkening sky, spinning end over …
17 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
‘Mum, will I be okay at school tomorrow?’ Georgina asked her mother whilst holding tightly onto her mother’s waist. ‘Oh sweetheart, I …
13 Min Read
Geoffrey flinched as the sun cut into his eyelids. In his fatigue last night he hadn’t closed the curtains. He blocked the …
11 Min Read
The Royal Barge bumped against the quay. Lysandra, who had been dozing, grumbled when Jena tapped on the door. ‘Princess, we are …
13 Min Read
“Good grief, witches,” said the old professor as he descended the old wooden stairs to the basement. The four harridans seated around …
2 Min Read
She’s here! God, I can’t do this. – Hi, Jessica, we met… Too earnest. – Hi Jess, remember me? From … I’m …
1 Min Read
Poor old farmer Joe never stood a chance. Wiping the remnants of the morning’s fried egg from the corner of his mouth …
3 Min Read
After the funeral the girl’s mother won’t let her go near the old man who has been sitting at the back …
8 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
Draygon hated drone fighting. The Moon, Mars, Neptune, it was always the same despite climatic differences: the drones always got so covered …
20 Min Read
Geoffrey sat inside the ambulance wrapped in a blanket, blandly watching the scene before him. Two other ambulances, two fire trucks and …
20 Min Read
‘More salmon, Jake!’ The American launched a fat arm across the table to grab the only platter of fish, sending a 1980 …
22 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
Jerry closed the basement door behind him and listened to the clinking of chains on the other side of the door. He …
2 Min Read
Hell is other people. – Sartre There’s no denying it: Vanya’s a hero. Brave and fearless, he returned from the …
15 Min Read
Ben was puffing from having sprinted down the platform. Thirty years ago he wouldn’t have raised a sweat, but now his legs …
13 Min Read
I. I am going to Turkey. Post covid, of course. When – I don’t know. Where – mainly Istanbul. How …
11 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
The surface of the Great River was completely still. Leaning over the rail of the royal barge, Lysandra gasped at the beauty …
17 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
“I lub you too.” A four-year-old James said to his father with a little wave goodbye. He was excited to meet his …
3 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
Right or left? Both tracks from the junction taunt you. Both disappear into a heat that broils the earth. In both directions, …
3 Min Read
When I bought my new dress you smiled cheekily, lasciviously. At my graduation you put your arm around me, And said, “she’s …
1 Min Read
Mary hung the last pair of black cotton knickers from the laundry basket, onto the white clothes horse. She stood back and …
16 Min Read
Geoffrey’s phone rang. It was Lucy. “Hello, Mr Accountant,” she said. “Hello, Ms Bureaucrat.” “That’s Lady Bureaucrat to you, buster.” “I’ll call …
10 Min Read
My pride, my joy My castle, sanctuary My home Dust, dirt, cracks Rust, leaks, gaps Fingers scrubbed, patched and painted …
1 Min Read
“Forty Love. Match point,” John called out after his tennis partner on the other side of the net failed to return his …
16 Min Read
Oh glorious, silver orb, your beams drip deep through the dank damp earth until they reach me here in my resting place. …
2 Min Read
A drifter, my Pa had said. A young girl just passin’ through. I seen her next day in the big barn, watchin’ …
3 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
Geoffrey’s phone rang; its face said Lucy. “You’re up early,” he said when he answered it. “”Hello to you too,” said Lucy’s …
39 Min Read
Please, he says, as sternly as possible. A bit too sternly though: he hasn’t used that tone for years. He flinches, …
8 Min Read
My blade is sharpened before you, oh God Most High. I am ready to use it. I am prostrate. I prostrate myself …
17 Min Read
Andrew fingered the manuscript on the chipped formica table in front of him and looked out the cafe window for Vanya. St …
25 Min Read
Terry looked up from behind his computer as his colleague entered the room. The neon from the tower opposite them spread a …
2 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
Tara loved living near the mangroves, where the tides rolled in and out every day. At high tide the water was bustling …
14 Min Read
And, after all these years, she still can’t touch it. Snow. It makes it difficult, living in a mountainous atmosphere. Every …
6 Min Read
It was worth it wasn’t it? The Lamborghini 350GT, the two mercs, the houses and farms, the fashion, oh my, the fashion, …
3 Min Read
“Oombawa oombawa oombawa!” “Eeni teeni weeni ayo!” “Mmmmm whoopee! Whoopee! Higher higher higher hoo ha!” “Oombawa! Calamar! Oombawa! Calamar!” “Ooh aahh! Ooh …
32 Min Read
The Mountain Climber’s Beginning Let me tell you a story. Just three nights ago I was in a public bar, in …
31 Min Read
She had often thought of killing him. The reverend had joked about that once in a sermon on marriage. “I said to …
10 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
Your neck is on the guillotine. Its sharpness gleams above you, the base is already cutting into your throat. You’re choking …
9 Min Read
The sky was dark and the wind was howling. Julia looked up at her mother hoping that she would see the menace …
3 Min Read
Mary left the coffee shop in Shanghai Pudong airport where she had spent the last hour passing the time. Her excitement grew …
5 Min Read
Lysandra felt almost invisible in her black cloak as she hurried in the darkness down the Avenue of the Pharaohs. The shadowy …
20 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
Caroline stepped off the greyhound bus and onto the dusty red earth. She threw her backpack onto the ground and watched a …
14 Min Read
A blur of blue and white light. Voices. Electronic beeps. Geoffrey’s head pounded. He moved his arm. His limbs were lead. It …
39 Min Read
It was when Albert backed the car into the driveway and turned off the engine that he got stuck. It wasn’t the …
34 Min Read
There was grumbling at the station The news had reached the men That their favourite cook, Asian Jack, had received the DCM. …
4 Min Read
‘What you get is no tomorrow’ David Bowie, Fame After her best friend was killed in the Paris restaurant by ISIL …
10 Min Read
Back in her private chambers it took a long time for Lysandra’s tears to stop flowing. Sitting on the end of the …
16 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
When we stop, blind bodies collapse in a mound of sick, sweat and BO. I scramble to breathe. Someone kicks me. Yusef …
1 Min Read
Lysandra’s right foot came out of her sandal as she took the bend at pace. A troop of Roman soldiers marching in …
15 Min Read
“Dennis, Dennis.” “What is it, darling?” said the elderly man behind the shopping trolley to his wife who was hovering about like …
3 Min Read
…A Tale Told in Triptych… CHAPTER 1: WHITE TSARINA After they told me my boy was a haemophiliac I believed I …
11 Min Read
Cindy leant her weight to push open the heavy glass door that bore the words “Jessica Mulgrave, Solicitor” in gold plate at …
35 Min Read
Henry listened to the soothing and rhythmic sound of the car tyres thumping on the road. The weather was great. He had not …
3 Min Read
“The magic lasts only a couple of minutes. You’ve got to be ready, here it comes.” Dr. Tom Robertson said to himself …
3 Min Read
Geoffrey stood on the roadside in the morning sun. Peak hour had just begun, and cars were starting to queue in the …
19 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
“Oi, Scrubs, do us a solid will ya?” shouted the man in the overcoat to another some way ahead of him in …
3 Min Read
Bradley, a five year old boy with too much energy for the day, looked out of the vast window of his apartment …
20 Min Read
Life is short. According to palmistry, a lack of lifeline meant a short life. “Mary, your lifeline is so faint that I …
3 Min Read
Three ghosts live in this toilet block. They were students of this school. It’s been said that you could see the long …
3 Min Read
Another curry then. He’d rung and said, “Sorry love, work’s all over the shop. I’ll be late in.” She knew what that …
3 Min Read
Geoffrey sat on the blue vinyl chair in the waiting room beside a reception desk piled with mail and files. The receptionist’s …
34 Min Read
‘I didn’t expect you this early, Dad.’ She was as brittle as usual, a blonde shadow, sitting stiffly in the velvet gold …
8 Min Read
Anna hung up the phone and punched the air “Yes, Yes, Yes!!” She pushed back her grey chair and danced on the …
15 Min Read
You’re in the air, swirling, when a face gazes from the tiles below. Hitting the water, your perfect half-twist dive is knotted …
1 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
Santa (real name Andrew Smith, employee name Ian Goldsworthy) beamed joy to the puddle of mums and prams and toddlers in his …
60 Min Read
H – That was a good day, all things considered. W – Oh, I’m full. Just got this glass. (Holds up glass …
5 Min Read
Ah yes, The Barnacles! Don’t they seem to just grow right out of the rocky shores of Sydney Harbour. Regular readers of …
22 Min Read
‘Oh good grief,’ whispered Jennifer to husband Jason, ‘it’s Uncle Frank.’ The waft came first, steaming feathermeal and river mud, followed by …
21 Min Read
“Well fuck Scott Morrison anyway!” Laura bounded into the sitting room of the dilapidated share house in Bondi and slumped onto the …
14 Min Read
The gauche fitout of the salon was far from calming. As she lay naked under the towel, Irena took in black drapes …
13 Min Read
Geoffrey woke. The room was still dark, although day was up, and shreds of light stained the rims of the blinds which …
25 Min Read
“Gentlemen, please place your bets.” Marcia announced to her two younger siblings Tom and Peter as she laid out the table for …
10 Min Read
A few days before Christmas we got a new puppy. We called her Ruby. She was very cute, with big floppy ears …
3 Min Read
‘For chrissakes, put it away!’ We winced as Aunty Vi bellowed at my cousin again, her voice as subtle as a dying …
13 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
Joey The wind blowing off Lake Michigan gives me jitters. It’s rattling the trolley wires, and the street lights hanging off them …
11 Min Read
The white fluorescent lights of the modern classroom hurt Harold’s eyes as he walked into his sixth form class after lunch. He …
6 Min Read
THUMP! CRASH! A deafening sound broke the silence of another peaceful evening in the cosy home of Miriam. Miriam woke from her slumber …
10 Min Read
From the other side I watch them enter the church. Sitting at the altar, beside the priest, just near the satiny …
6 Min Read
I steer the ute out along a dirt track for a while and stop only when I feel it is safe. I …
40 Min Read
“You know this woman?” Judith shoved the dog-eared photograph at the barman. He studied it and launched a chubby finger to her …
3 Min Read
Geoffrey prodded the white surgical tape that held the plastic cover over his right eye. By dodging his head one way and …
31 Min Read
Paradiddle, flam, blam, now the side tom, boom boom boom, kick drum, snare, sticks in the air, roll it ‘n’ swing, shake …
3 Min Read
Laura clicked off the tv with the worn-out remote and tossed it onto the battered coffee table. She sighed and lent her …
14 Min Read
Peter counted the iPhones in the box at least a dozen times. He was definitely missing a few. He returned nervously to …
5 Min Read
“I miss Samantha. She was so athletic and good-looking. She used to bring home rats half her own size, being so petite …
8 Min Read
‘Loonies speak their own language, like educated people.’ The Tree of Man, Patrick White Let’s just walk, let’s just …
11 Min Read
Mihaela thought for a moment that she’d gone too far. “Hey! We’re all admiring your buns in those stretchy pants, Jen.” She’d …
2 Min Read
Helena stepped back from the edge a second time. Breakers thudded against the rocks below and the sea-breeze ruffled the folds of …
3 Min Read
The shade from the London plane trees does a good job of extracting the sting of the sun. Now winter is over …
2 Min Read
The bar heaved with the heat of drinkers, talkers and hangers-on. At the far end of the space, beyond shadowed dancing hordes, …
12 Min Read
“I’ll need you to drive,” said Dave when they arrived at his Audi. “I’ve got a couple of phone calls to make.” …
20 Min Read
The old man turned the skiff homeward. It had not been a successful day. The sea had misled him. His pots were …
4 Min Read
“Shona, why are you gripping the stern rail so tight? Are you seasick?” Oh Christ! It’s Veronica, the gym junkie. “Just enjoying …
3 Min Read
Sho Sushi was a traditional Japanese restaurant nestled in the main street of a small fishing village west of Japan. An elderly …
3 Min Read
It was my first time. The rifle was slippery in my fingers, and Jojo laughed when I nearly dropped it. I’d seen …
5 Min Read
The crisp air assailed them as they stepped outside. Dawn had not yet appeared, and the sky was glass clear, the moon …
15 Min Read
Back in his apartment, Geoffrey dialled the number of the only person he thought might understand his dilemma. “Dave, it’s Geoff.” “Geoffrey, …
12 Min Read
“Show me where the diamonds are, Lehmann!” Lehmann’s face reddened under the throttle hold of the thug who held him over the …
2 Min Read
“Shoes, sunshine, ships or shore Love me rich, love me poor.” It was a song her grandmother had taught her as a …
2 Min Read
‘It’s hurting,’ mumbled the old man. He shuffled in the seat, closed his eyes to the fluorescent light above him. The …
3 Min Read
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO JEREMY MANKIN? by DAVID SAFFORD Everyone in Whispering Harbor knew that Jeremy Mankin wasn’t fishing with the sharpest hook. …
5 Min Read
Annie sat at the bottom of the stairs looking at the back of the blue front door, the house still reverberating from …
12 Min Read
Ben sat uncomfortably on a lumpy chair in front of Mary, his company’s HR manager. “Ben, you need to tell your trainee …
3 Min Read
As I approached my death I came upon a man seated On the stoop of the Doorway To the End of Life. …
1 Min Read
Leo lay languidly under the acacia tree, picking at the morsels of meat caught between his molars. He thought about nothing in …
11 Min Read
The ringing phone was a premonition coming true. Jane had known to expect it when the storm began to lash the hills …
16 Min Read
Meredith and Toby sat in abject terror on the chaise longue where they had, until this moment, been enthusiastically making out, staring …
3 Min Read
The evening had begun its descent into a sepia haze as they drove the dirt track through low sparse scrub. A red …
25 Min Read
A million doubts flooded his mind. He had never really contemplated his own death before. Sure, he knew he was going to …
16 Min Read
The assembled gods declared, “The Mortals mock us! We must combine our eternal fluids and make a god so awesome they will …
3 Min Read
There is another test next week. Mel slumped over her desk feeling the dread. Then she remembered the rumours that had been …
5 Min Read
‘Mum, I’m bored. Can we go to the shops?’ Corey’s mum held up her hand to shoosh him and told the Zoomed …
16 Min Read
The stadium roars like a thunderbolt. So loud her chest vibrates. Are the heavens pulsating? Is it war out there, or just …
9 Min Read
Geoffrey walked along a narrow lane of boutique shops up to the main road. Two lanes of night time traffic swirled past, …
9 Min Read
Mum says being dead is like being asleep except you don’t wake up. Which is silly. I have a sleepover at Andy’s …
3 Min Read
It was a stormy Sunday night. When the lightning bolts lit up the sky, they revealed an eerie landscape shrouded by …
12 Min Read
Hotel 25 – affectionately known as The Two and Five by its regular guests – was a squat boutique hotel hidden in …
25 Min Read
Alex’s hands were steady as he unlocked the door to the empty house. Inside, he stood totally still, listening to the silence. …
16 Min Read
Andrea sat at the large formal reception desk staring at her blood red nails and scrutinizing her cuticles. With the stark fluorescent …
10 Min Read
The sound of the crash ripped apart the hubbub of the pub. Geoffrey and others at the bar paused momentarily to realise …
15 Min Read
The blue sky was striking. The fluffy white clouds resembled little bunnies waiting around for their mother. Tom was nine. He stopped …
9 Min Read
‘I’m telling you, garbagemen can deal with anything. The smell of corpses, shit, rotten eggs. The worst stink in the world, …
10 Min Read
Winter One winter’s day at sunset, four sulphur-crested cockatoos landed on my fence – one bird for each of the seasons. It …
6 Min Read
I was a slight kid, some say cheeky, but not one of the muscular kids. There was one kid, a couple of …
3 Min Read
There is that one dazzling slo-mo moment, when the kick goes up and the ball ascends towards the heavens, and with it, …
3 Min Read
The white flash, then the savage crack of thunder, the flash again and the rain attacked the night. The storm had come. …
3 Min Read
“Julianne, look what the cat dragged in. Over at Chanel,” said Suzanne, a coiffured blonde in charge of Lancôme. In front of …
3 Min Read
An estimated five thousand people amassed in the plaza that day, some said more. Jess was one, masked, arm in arm with …
8 Min Read
Geoffrey was floating, high and joyous amidst the whirring fans and rafters of the pub, slowly revolving in his private heaven. The …
19 Min Read
The brown squishy excrement slid down the bus window leaving a trail behind it, like a slug on a dewy morning. The …
7 Min Read
Ilse cowers; her body trembles. All because she knows, immediately, who she has collided with while rounding the blitzed corner. Despite …
5 Min Read
SCHOOL The funeral for her mother over the weekend gave Matilda a chance to see her cousin Susan again. They grew up …
11 Min Read
Elias’s cheeks were burning. He strode down the corridor, barely looking at his father walking beside him. The sound of the rain …
7 Min Read
The woman and the dog walked through the park. Viewed from afar, their various colours against the vibrant green of the spring …
9 Min Read
What to do. What a to do. First thing, get out of bed. This involves sitting upright on the edge, in the …
13 Min Read
TWO STORIES EACH AT 500 WORDS FOR EASY READING, by Rob Wilcher The Slave Five bedraggled slaves made their sorry way up …
5 Min Read
MAY’S COLLECTION OF 100 WORD STORIES BY THE MOVING PEN AUTHORS * * * * * * * * Century by Paul …
5 Min Read
Julie wrapped Ben’s uneaten dinner in tinfoil and placed it into the fridge with a sigh. She looked at last night’s dinner, …
5 Min Read
Mary sinks a ball into the hole on the practice green. There are 30 minutes before her tee time. She will be …
14 Min Read
You can’t bring her back you know. In the gloaming we queued, awaiting our deliverance from another week. The bus arrived just …
7 Min Read
Mike strained as he planked, trying to resist the pull of gravity on his belly as it pulled on his tensed abdomen. …
30 Min Read
Deedee’s been losing weight. She stands and watches herself in the mirror. Runs her hand down the sides of her nightie …
10 Min Read
APRIL’S COLLECTION OF 100 WORD STORIES BY THE MOVING PEN AUTHORS * * * * * * * * Meeting by Rob …
6 Min Read
Just a few days into the swimming program of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, the world was astonished to see the …
13 Min Read
Days and days and days and days have passed – years really – and yet people still look at him strangely when …
8 Min Read
Ring Ring. Ring Ring. The phone shrieks. “Don’t pick up the phone.” Dad calls out. “Why?” I asked. “It’s grandma. She is …
8 Min Read
Howard Hodgson paused at the entrance to the laneway to enjoy the busker who was belting out a blinding rendition of On …
19 Min Read
Aine scanned around the dimly lit hotel ballroom. The bejewelled curtain backdrop behind the empty top table sparkled under the glow of …
7 Min Read
The packed beer garden buzzed with the sound of Friday evening revellers. Office workers keen to shake the formality of the week …
4 Min Read
Fermanagh, Ireland, 1593. The deluge washed every extremity of Hugh’s body while fresh mud camouflaged his legs to the thigh with …
13 Min Read
Mike sat in the community hall and tossed up whether to tell the truth. It was shocking, he knew, that he was …
6 Min Read
Jett pressed play on the CD and You ain’t Nothin’ but a Hound Dog rocked out across the empty rehearsal room. Normally …
8 Min Read
O, this one was a beauty. A brilliant brazen mane, an enormous head, my god the power in those jaws as he …
10 Min Read