You were nine years old you when you woke to find the dentist kissing your penis. Only he would know the extent of the activities that went on while you …
The Rattler (Daniel Young)
Billy passed back the joint, his mouth hot and dry, his brain expanding but feeling too many things at once, wanting more and more and more, but with a queasy …
The Bougainvillea Tree (Laura McPhee-Browne)
for Marjorie Barnard I saw two summers in one year once and I won’t forget it. Only once. I had started to heal by then, and often thought of no …
A Reluctant Sale (Hayley Scrivenor)
He mentions within the first few minutes he is a lawyer. That’s why he can be trusted, he says, because he has a reputation to protect. Personally, I always think there is …
Urban Alphabet (Kristen Roberts)
A is for ‘orses. And cows. But there aren’t any horses or cows around here, so people use it to mulch their flower beds instead. B is for honey. Not …
Project Bali (Alice Allan)
(edited by Jillian Schedneck) Smiles, smiles—how the Balinese can project. – John Olsen, journal entry, September 1973. Mum hadn’t left Australia in 45 years. It took us six months to …
Distant Music (Dominic Christopher)
Ella Meagher strode down the corridor of the Bon Marche building in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Her long skirt billowed and threatened to trip her up. Her …
Shop Til You Drop (Jemma Payne)
It was Dr Hope’s last day in the country. The girl selling necklaces was barely older than his twins. She wore a faded Adidas t-shirt, and when she turned away, …
Joey (Deb Wain)
You shouldn’t be hitchhiking out here on your own, she says when she leans across and opens the door of her shiny four-wheel drive. The young woman she addresses hurries …
Blokeship (on being a friend) (Dominic Christopher)
When Griff first told me about Lil, I thought: where, for God’s sake where, am I going to get a kebab? I was hungover and frankly wasn’t listening. But he …