Christina’s gone. In the corner of the bedroom are the cardboard cartons to be sent on to Brisbane, where she’s gone to be with her family again. The day after …
A Dog’s Name (Paul Adkin)
I got him second-hand. His first owners had called him Kafka, which I had to change: an ennobling name for a dog, but demeaning for the great Prague writer. I …
One Perfect Day (Amanda Marx)
It was just a glimpse I caught of you Not quite enough to fill the gap Between the knowing and déjà vu My mirror image to unwrap Reflected there behind …
Enlightened (Autumn Royal)
Susan started smoking when she was sixty-three. She was bored with crossword puzzles, vacuuming carpet, and yelling through the tiny holes of the telephone. While zapping her routine Thursday-night Lamb …
Rare and endangered (Robyn Cadwallader)
Her parents had named her Dale. Dale Bailey Collins, but at home they called her Bailey, each claiming it was the other one that had wanted Dale. And so, Bailey …
Ogres are like Onions (Kyle Leong)
The stars saved my life, it’s true. I had the whole thing planned out. There is a table by the lake. Sort of. It’s either an uncomfortable piece of picnic …
Down the Main Trunk Line (Denise Young)
It’s seven o’clock on a newly minted Auckland morning when I step on board the Overlander for the twelve-hour journey to Wellington down the Main Trunk Line. The announcements begin …
The Cold Submission (Paul Adkin)
Dear Mr Collector, I am sending you this unsolicited package containing my latest work, with the hope that you will deem it worthy for display in your museum. That you …
Photocopier (David Cohen)
An accountant – call him Accountant A – occupied a modest office in a modest accountancy firm. Even though Accountant A’s office was one of the smaller offices, the Boss …
How My Father Got His Robotic Hand (Jacqui Dent)
It was in the summer of 1995 and my father was working in a top-secret IBM water lab off the coast of Wollongong. Thanks to classic films like Deep Blue …