Sunlight filtered through the blinds of the lonely hospital room. Six-year-old Tommy Morsley lay in his bed, surrounded by sterile white walls and machines with coloured lights and dials. Above Tommy’s bed hung a sign saying “Home for Christmas”. The hospital room had been his home for the past three months. Next to him sat his father, Doctor Ian Morsley, a Professor of Antiviral Engineering working for the Health Department of the South Pacific Government. Tommy looked at the large needle in his father’s hand. “Is that going to help me, Dad?” he asked. “I’m not sure, Tommy. I hope so.” Tommy stared into his father’s eyes. “Will I be home for Christmas?” “Yes, Tommy,” said his father with a smile. “Of course you will. I promise.” Tommy tried to smile, his eyes drowsy once more. “Are you staying, Dad?” “I have an experiment to complete,” he said. “Then I’ll bring you some food. How about fish and chips?” Tommy didn’t […]
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Love Thirty
The atmosphere resembled the smell of week-old leftovers coming from the kitchen. But Sophie’s Cafe sat right next to the Northern Tennis Centre. Every afternoon, men of all ages relaxed and socialised after a game of tennis. Jenny Styles considered it the ideal place to find love, or at least a man interested in an average-looking thirty-year-old like her. She sipped on her second soy latte, scanning the room for potential targets, hoping today would be the day. Across the room, a man in his early forties, standing a little over six foot with sun-bleached hair and a perfectly manicured three-day growth rose to his feet. Several tennis rackets protruded from his bag. The back of his shirt had the word “coach” stamped upon it. The men at his table stood and shook his hand firmly, and the women kissed his cheek with adoring smiles. Jenny’s eyes met with his as he turned to face the exit. He smiled at her […]
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Old Man Langly
Roy Banner stood over the lifeless body of his friend Peter. Blood dripped from the swords in his hands. The others would have to kill him for what he’d done. The problem was, he was already dead. They watched him die. The devil took him into the bowels of hell and spat him back out to wreak more havoc. Eddie and Steve looked on in horror, crouched behind an old sixties-style sofa. “What the fuck do we do now?” whispered Eddie. “We keep going,” said Steve. “We download the file and get the hell out of here.” “What about Peter and Roy? And what the fuck is Roy anyway?” “Don’t worry. Once we get out we’ll tip-off the cops from a phone booth.” “A PHONE BOOTH?” yelled Steve a little too loudly. “When was the last time you saw a fucking phone booth?” Roy stared in their direction, his eyes white and gloomy. Steve and Eddie looked at each other and […]
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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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Let’s Dance
It was the same thing every Saturday night. Rosie prepared an early dinner and handed it to her husband who sat quietly staring at the television. “Why don’t you come too?” she’d always say. “It’s never too late you know.” Bob never dignified the question with a response. Between shovelling fork loads of food into his mouth, he silently reached for the remote control, selecting his favourite show. He couldn’t imagine anything worse than going with her. Rosie shrugged as she applied a final shine to her pretty red dancing shoes. She put on her very best dress, the same one she wore every Saturday night. It made her feel like an angel as she glided across the dance floor. With her bag packed, she gave Bob a loving peck on the cheek before heading out. She paused at the door and tried one last time. “Life begins when you learn to dance.” “Off you go,” grunted Bob. He loved Rosie […]
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