1. Max Tanner sprinted across the tarmac. Airport security launched the pursuit, screaming into their radios as they ran. The Boeing 737-800 made a deafening sound as it accelerated along the runway approaching take-off velocity. Max looked over his shoulder making a slight directional adjustment, praying his calculations were correct. Whatever the outcome, he’d have to deal with it on the other side. He had no more cards to play. The younger, healthier security staff had almost caught up when an airport police vehicle came up beside him. A man in a grey uniform sat in the passenger seat waving his arms and yelling out the window. Max didn’t understand a word he said, but knew exactly what he suggested. He continued running as fast as he could, looking over his shoulder again as the 737 lifted off the ground with a roar. Within the next three seconds he needed to be in the space the police car occupied. With no […]
Continue readingMonthly Archives: February 2019
In Better Hands
Ryan sat quietly in the rain, clenching his hands tightly in his lap, listening but not really paying attention to the spoken words. Could there be a more sombre occasion? Many would say yes. Only a few would remember the funeral of Fran Wilcox. A total of four enhanced the occasion with their presence. Two aging, scruffy looking women stood back under the shelter of a weeping willow, gently sobbing. They played bingo with Fran on a Thursday night and were the sum of her recent social partnerships. Their tears were genuinely sympathetic to her passing, but they were unaware of the real hardships and sorrow Fran endured during her troubled life. One of the other two attending was Fran’s only son, Ryan. He sat politely listening to the two-dollar priest give his two-dollar service. With a glaze over his eyes, he stared deeply into the final resting place of his dearly beloved mother. His mind sifted through the bad memories, […]
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As The Crows Fly
Alice stared through the rear window, frightened out of her wits. What she desperately needed sat in the shed, fifteen perilous metres from the safety of the house. Her husband’s words echoed repeatedly through her mind. “He started all the killin’. He started all the killin’.” There was truth in what he said. If she had wings she could simply fly away. Then again, if Alice were a bird, who knows how she would have reacted? Three months earlier, Alice and Jeff retired. They bought a quaint old wooden house in Kangaroo Valley, south of Sydney. The five acre country property backed onto the river, about two kilometres from town as the crow flies. Most of their land was cleared, except for a group of mature gums circling the house. Alice used to camp in the valley as a much younger woman, always dreaming of someday living there. Alice also dreamed of making friends with the local birds. She made Jeff […]
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The Edge Of The Forest
Death comes to many in the relentless task of defending and sustaining Boldanthium. It is not considered tragic, and if those who die have done their job well, there will be many more to replace them. Achieving old age is rare. The only certain way to die is to disobey the orders of our Queen. As soon as the age of participation is reached, it is our non-negotiable duty to join the army and seek out all that is required to maintain our colonial existence. We fearlessly venture across the vast forest, and for the lucky ones, return to Boldanthium with the spoils of our journey. We are small in size, but strong and agile. Our sheer numbers help overcome and bring down some of the larger creatures occupying the forest. Many of them are simply too large and powerful. They pick us off one by one. But our army is large and we spread ourselves wide across the landscape. This […]
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