Everyone in the world woke up seeing a brand new colour. It's changing lives, mostly for the worse. Your job is naming the colour. You've noticed over the course of your career that people usually describe colours on their own mix-and-match interpretation of the spectrum: it's a purpley brown or it's definitely green but with... Continue Reading →
You're not attracted to that person. You never will be. Nevertheless you happily marry and raise a family. At the time you don't even question it. Attraction is far, far down the list of what you and your family are looking for in a life partner. Connections, health, security, youth - the list runs A-Z,... Continue Reading →
Bowling is my life. The last bowling alley in my town is about to close. I've written to the newspapers, I've taken a collection. I've organised interstate tournaments to put Pineton on the map and encourage the bowlers to linger. I've got Pineton Bowling Alley merch for sale. I've begged the bank to extend Stan's... Continue Reading →
Cheese. Nothing but cheese. I surveyed my domain with pride. Years of saving Months of planning Weeks of renovation Days of stocking the shelves and Tomorrow Miss Chee's would fling open its doors to a ravenous public! Goat's...cow's...sheep...soft, hard, smoked...marinated, mouldy...all the cheeses were ready. Plus a small selection of crackers and quince and pretty... Continue Reading →
You and a friend crash a 50th anniversary party. You figure it is the best way to get time with the ambassador to learn a bit about the man before your interview next week. You didn't count on the exquisite food and wine cellared since their wedding, nor the interesting and eclectic guest list -... Continue Reading →
In a world in which chocolate is the currency, global warming wreaks havoc. When my nest egg was a brown sludgy mess and when ATMs spewed chocolate goo like a fondue fountain, Easter was unaffordable to all but the richest of the rich and designer wallets were really just glorified Tupperware. I tried to tell... Continue Reading →
The first time I saw them, they were wearing matching sequined ski hats. They looked adorable if a little ungainly taking in their first snow experience. Together. Like they ticked off all their firsts - solid food, shaky first steps, playing in the rain. They had yet to sleep apart but perhaps that sad first... Continue Reading →
My father took just one book with him when he left us. Books were his most cherished possessions so it didn't make sense at the time. Of course he took things other than that one title - clothes, a sleeping bag, his fishing kit, the only working binoculars and one of our two knives. It... Continue Reading →
That kid running the lemonade stand? He's going to be president someday. He's brokered peace deals between the feuding neighbours in number seven and nine over cups of lemonade. He's organised a working bee for the nature strip and taught the kids in number 23 to count and make change. The stand runs at a... Continue Reading →
You wake up inside the back of a truck. The voices coming from the cab sound female and are speaking in a language you can't identify. The last thing you remember before collapsing in the dust was chattering monkeys hurling green nuts at you as you sucked at your completely depleted camelbak and they capered,... Continue Reading →
The mail carrier hides in the alleyway, reading other people's love letters. It first started as an accident. Or more accurately as the result of an accident. When his water bottle leaked on some mail he ducked into the nearest alley, opened the letters and spread them in the sun to dry. By the time... Continue Reading →
The neighbour you've always disliked has to go to the emergency room. You're the only one who can take her. This woman panics at the drop of a hat. She is always yelling at her kids, her dog and her beleaguered partner. She's neurotic and takes the term 'highly strung' into the stratosphere. Over the... Continue Reading →
The UPS truck just delivered an enormous carton. It's packed in dry ice and labeled "Open only by candlelight" ...but your anniversary isn't until next week, will the dry ice wait that long? What has he got planned this year? Last year he serenaded you, in rhyming rap no less, while you were both in sky... Continue Reading →
There's a new fitness studio called Snake Yoga. Participants watch the python and must replicate its every move. You don't think it will take off but then again in this town you've learned never to say never. When you moved to Milton six years ago everyone said you'd never last. But it's going well. You're... Continue Reading →
Words 