Elliotte eyed the trees through the kitchen window, flecks of ash scoring the glass. The morning was long, not that they weren’t all long. And as she stared at the knotted forms of the trees, she switched her mind off to the lukewarm water that rushed out of the tap, hit her hands and filled…
I’m 27 and I’m tired. I have a pair of yellow crocs with fineliner drawings scrawled messily on top of them, I sometimes feel like I am living inside a blue curling wave with air bubbles just big enough to breathe inside, I miss waking up to the taste of another’s hair swiped around my…
The sky is black, red, and blue like a bruise. I press on it a little just to feel it ache. It spins above me, the world smearing into streaks of paint. I roll over just in time as the second wave of vomit rushes up to greet me. I hongi the sidewalk, pressing my…
Ori is born on a Tuesday. I tell myself that people do this everyday, and the thought steadies me. Cara catches him as he slides free from my body, scooping him up to rest in my arms. He is slippery and purple. His face is pinched. He has fine, dark hair slicked to his head.…
I moved out on a Thursday. As I packed the last box in the trunk of my hatchback, the sun greeted me as if it was our last encounter. I turned back to take one last look at the house I convinced Noah to buy with me. But somehow it was me who was leaving. …
Arthur lives at the edge of town. His house is rife with infestation, with weeds and aphids and pests of all varieties. The house is tucked away by the end of the court. It is the scourge of your street. * Arthur’s front yard is full of birds. He used to tend vegetables there, ripe…
i) Did you know, she said, There’s a theory our universe might exist inside a black hole? Really? he replied. Pass the salt. The flurry of salt he shook onto the already seasoned steak flaked the surface like snow. When he sliced the meat, she felt it, almost. A slit down her spine. Her meal…
‘Are you going to this book club thing, or not?’ The husband swats onions around the pan. ‘I’ll probably be the oldest, straightest one there. God, how depressing. Maybe I won’t go.’ But the wife is pulling on boots, looking for her handbag and scoffing a cheese cracker. ‘But you’re not straight,’ he gloats. ‘Well…
On the beach my belly rippled, thick with the baby… I watched a child’s head go under, and not resurface. Where was the mother? Gone. Unthinking, I ran into the waves. Gentle they were, like silk around my bairn. I struck out towards the darkened hair. Behind my closed eyes, lies the curve of the…
Somewhere two kids are leaving the kitchen. Somewhere, a mother has given instructions. Can you two do a job for me? Go and pick up the milk from the gate. It’s one of those days where the Southerly has swept the sky clean. You’re wearing denim dungarees. The label on the front says SKIN JEANS.…