Our writing….
Welcome to a selection of writing from our members. Enjoy.
Prem Dwivedi: Echo of My Ageing Mother
There’s a distinct eagerness that builds as I travel back to India.
Leaving behind Australia’s vast, open skies, India unfolds in a whirlwind of colour and movement—a world that never slows and somehow feels like it’s been waiting for me. The final stretch to Lucknow is always special. As I exit the airport, a familiar slogan greets me from the walls: ‘Smile because you are in Lucknow.’ More than a greeting, it’s a promise—this city wears its warmth like a badge of honour.
But homecoming isn’t official until I step into my mother’s house. At more than ninety-five of age, she remains its heart—her eyes bright with stories, even when the present sometimes slips through her fingers. She may forget small details, but her past is sharp, woven into every conversation.
Since 1991, I’ve taken this journey more than twenty times, yet every homecoming still carries the thrill of the first. At just thirteen I left my village, stepping into the world in pursuit of education. She never said much, but her silent tears spoke volumes. Ever since, every visit has been a quiet celebration—morning tea, lunch, dinner, each meal a ritual of love and unspoken understanding. Even in her later years, she woke early, moving with purpose, refusing to let time slow her down.
She never dwelled on her longing, but sometimes, in moments of reflection, it surfaced. ‘Why did we leave our village?’ she would wonder aloud.
When it was time for me to leave, I knelt to touch her feet—a silent gesture of respect and devotion. She didn’t cry, but her steady gaze held a world of emotions.
Back in Adelaide, I called her. ‘When will you come again?’ she asked. A simple question, yet it carried the weight of every goodbye.
If your parents are still here, spend time with them. One day, these moments will be the stories you carry in your heart forever.
Jean Stewart: That One Word
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams points to the power of certain groups who controlled what was included or excluded in the compilation of the Oxford Dictionary. The book is a novel but is well researched. The focus on gender equality, or lack of it, is fascinating. Word usage changes with time. Generational…
Don Sinnott: Enough is Enough
I was just out of university and my new bride and I had moved to South Australia for my first full-time job. We lived from one payday to the next, with essentially no accumulated savings—hardly an unusual situation for newly-weds in the 1960s. On mid-winter nights the uninsulated rental house was icy; we lusted after…
Donatella Galluccio: The Beauty of Sharp Sight
The plane had landed earlier than scheduled and my guest was ready to be picked up. I hastily made my way to the electric car, gathered its charger left lying on the ground, unplugged the other end from the car, shoved it in the boot and drove to the airport. It was dark when we…
Robert Schmidt: The Eye Test
Yesterday starts very well. I receive a letter from the Department of Transport. ‘You can retain your existing licence. No further action is required. Your cooperation in this matter has been appreciated.’ Wow, this could be my lucky day. I have an ophthalmology appointment with Dr Abdemalchamer in Dulwich that day. The name’s quite a…
Robert Schmidt: Alternative Reality
I was 15 in 1968 and in Intermediate at Concordia College in Malvern. My eldest brother, Peter, who was almost 11 years older than me, came to teach at the school. First, he taught mathematics, then music. He also coached me in football. I could not get away from him. He was music master until…
Edie Eicas: Dangerous Weapons
It’s a beautiful day, and I’m parked at the Torrens Parade Ground waiting to pick up my Japanese student and her friends to take them to a party. I’m early and I’ve opened my windows to enjoy the warm breeze. Spring has sprung, the lawn is green, the trees are flush with new growth, and…
Edie Eicas: Getting Older
I thought getting older would be a breeze. Wrong! In the fantasy of youth I believed wisdom would be the gift of ageing. Wrong! I had no idea wisdom would depend on attitude, curiosity and the ability to accept mistakes with humility. I watched my parents age but somehow refused to accept that I too…
Nell Holland: Shame
When Sammy awoke the room was still dark and Jenny was wrapped in his arms. She’d crawled in beside him at some point in the night and, as always, she’d wet the bed. They were both sodden and he was so tired. The loud music, laughter and shouting had gone on for a long-time last…
Fran Collins: Gertrud
Gertrud at seventeen years was a year shy of ending compulsory membership to Hitler’s female Youth League, the Bund Deutscher Mädel. Soon she would be free of the repetitive marching practice and the stupid domestic classes that aimed to turn her into a diligent Aryan wife and mother. Neither matched her self-image of adventurer and…
Prem Dwivedi: Samosa and Chai – A Taste of India
In India, afternoons often come alive with the vibrant tradition of indulging in samosas and chai. Imagine a lively street scene, where colourful stalls and vendors are surrounded by a rich aroma of spices. The air is thick with the scent of cumin, coriander, and sizzling oil. At the heart of this bustling atmosphere is…
Jean Stewart: Bush Telegraph
The other day a neighbour fronted me. ‘Do you know who the new family is in our street?’ ‘Haven’t a clue,’ I replied. ‘Members of the Moran family. Remember Melbourne’s gangland Underbelly killings?’ I vaguely recalled the incidents. My neighbour persevered. ‘Trish Moran has moved in with her sons and their kids. One is wearing…
David Hope: A Fork in the Road
About twenty years ago I went on a road trip with two friends to Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Three drivers, three weeks – this should be a seamless trip! Lots of things to do and places to visit. As we re-entered the Great Northern Highway after visiting Exmouth, on our first Friday of…
Jean Stewart: Pie Face
My first experience of feeling shame was at the age of twelve. My friend Nina and I were cycling home, when a raucous group of boys rode in front of us, halting our trip. Nina was an emotionally and physically advanced girl, fascinated by the opposite sex. I was young for my age, enjoying the…
David Hope: Breathtakingly Ordinary?
Across the red sand, dotted with small green bushes, a tree line marking a likely riverbed on the western edge of the view, the horizon seems to go on forever. There is just a hint of blue hills in the far distance – our destination. It seems as if we have been driving for hours…
Fran Collins: Flashback
Bendt had joined the local chapter of the underground in Köln shortly after Manuel. The lengthy briefing done for the night, the anti-fascist resistance team cajoled Bendt into playing music before their circuitous journeys home. Bendt’s fingers struck the keys of his accordion with a flourish. So deeply immersed was he in music-making he closed…
Nell Holland: The Best Years of Our Lives
When asked about schooldays, she’ll only say, ‘Finding myself took time.’ *** The invitation to the fifty-year reunion languished in a drawer until Martin discovered it and Olivia admitted she was disinclined to go. He usually avoided events that weren’t job-related, but misinterpreting her reluctance, said encouragingly. ‘I’ll come, then you won’t be alone.’ She’d…
Prem Dwivedi: Covid Period – Social Dynamics in Burnside and Beyond
The Covid era brought challenges nothing like we had faced before, but it also reminded us of a fundamental truth: humans are deeply social beings. Despite the world closing in around us, the need for connection sparkled brightly, guiding us through the uncertainty. In those threatening days of the pandemic when the entire world was…
Jean Stewart: Connecting
Adjusting to your partner’s children can be challenging. Is it easier to bond when they are young—say, three to ten—or when they are adolescents? Adults? What works for some, may not work for others. I have found young children trusting, more receptive. When I met my first partner’s daughter, she was almost four. She’d spend…
Donatella Galluccio: Eddies and Whirlpools
Packed and ready to push off. Chan in his kayak was to scout out the river ahead. Tim and Francois were to paddle and I, not being a water person, was to cook and prepare camp. When on the raft, our balsa, I was to look out for eddies, whirlpools, rapids, rocks and tree trunks…
Jean Stewart: Of Mice and Women
We have looked after my sister’s Melbourne home many times while they have been overseas. A crucial part of this house-sitting has been Maddie the cat. Loved by all—nervy, contrary, needing much attention some of the time, not at all at others—Maddie was an innate hunter. Intermittently she would bring a mouse inside after her…
Edie Eicas: Getting Older
I thought getting older would be a breeze. Wrong! In the fantasy of youth, I believed wisdom would be the gift of ageing. Wrong! I had no idea wisdom would depend on attitude, curiosity and the ability to accept mistakes with humility. I watched my parents age but somehow refused to accept that I would be…
Robert Schmidt: Brian
When I was young, I went to St John’s Primary School where I had a black-haired friend, Brian. We were inseparable. He lived in Fisher Street, two or three streets away. One day I am sent on an errand by my older brother, David, to get a pack of cigs at the local deli. I…
Edie Eicas: Spooked
Perhaps it was the fairy tales where the prince rode a horse or maybe it was my subconscious need to feel powerful through the agency of the animal that sent me in pursuit of ridinginstructions. A gentle horse that walks around an enclosure is a lovely experience and can fool an enamoured teenage girl about…
David Hope: The Sagacity of John Bannon
In 1983 Radio 5DN advised the SATAB it intended to ceasebroadcasting horse racing. Approaches were made to the other Adelaide radiostations to take on the role, but none of them had the least interest.Shortly after that Radio Station 5AA came onto the marketand the TAB saw an opportunity to acquire it to broadcast the races.…
Don Sinnott: Secrets
Samantha was bubbling. The bridge-climb was just what she and her husband Dennis needed. She’d seen the daily tourist processions across the arch while taking a break from the Sydney conference. Why not? She called and booked tickets for the following day. Dennis was to fly over from Adelaide, to share an indulgent weekend. The…
Edie Eicas: Secret
I haven’t told many people, but I was a palm reader. It started when I found a book on palmistry. I wanted an escape from my teenage anxiety, wanted to know who I was outside the dictates of my family. Then, when I got older, it became a party trick. While living in Melbourne, Tony,…
Nell Holland: Lucy Anstruther’s Mother
She’d never been out of the confines of her parent’s farm before, and Lucy was silent, overwhelmed by every new thing she saw. She was wearing a coat, with a matching bonnet tied under her chin, and her mother held her hand tightly. She kept Lucy so close to her side that Lucy’s hat rubbed…
David Hope: Doppelgänger
As I raised the coffee cup to my mouth, I heard a voice calling to me from across the square, ‘Hi James! What are you doing here?’ I peered quizzically at the person shouting at me. A total lack of recognition on my part! But he must know me as he called me by my…
Jean Stewart: That Good Old Gut Feeling
How often have we said to ourselves and others: ‘I always rely on my intuition…it never lets me down!’ Our memories are selective. Those times we’ve been completely inaccurate fade like clouds melted by sun. When we’ve been spot-on, we recall these moments at length, re-telling and embedding them into our thoughts. Conversely, how many…
Fran Collins: Missed It By Minutes
Gertrud had a small bundle of her pamphlets left to deliver. It was nearing 7pm and a shroud of darkness was descending upon the city. She knew she should have started earlier, but it couldn’t be helped. An icy wind was flapping at her coat and whipping her hair about. A rumble of thunder raked…
Donatella Gallucio: We Missed It By Minutes
The water was rough and I felt nervous. Crispen steered the boat while his two leery companions joked and laughed at us. How could they let our balsa raft, made of 10 logs strapped together, float freely down this stretch of the river? Tim in his kayak was hopelessly trying to control the raft, but…
Karen Agutter: We Missed It By Minutes
Coming in to land at Heathrow my mind was full of ideas for the days to come. Five days to catch up with friends, visit the latest exhibitions, re-walk my favourite stomping grounds around Hamstead Heath. So many ideas, so little time. Such a pity that Wayne would have to work for two of those…
Don Sinnott: A Warning
The sound from the engine-house was varying—‘hunting’ he called it—the note of the big diesel rising and falling on a cycle of about 20 seconds. A hundred metres from the engine-house and inside the well-insulated living quarters Dave was normally only subliminally aware of the faint throb. Until the note changed. Damn, why does this…
Jean Stewart: Double Trouble
He watched the group of tearaways move stealthily along the supermarket aisles. The retired policeman in him was sorely tempted to act. It was not hard for an experienced eye to spot their pilfering. Perhaps a creative outlet was needed for these kids. Surely some community program would be out there? Maybe he should become…
Donata Galluccio: Leaving Italy
I am so excited! Papa’ is leaving for America this morning. My older sister, Cristina, and I race ahead to the fountain intersection where the bus will take him and two other men to Naples to board their ship. At the fountain we look back at them walking abreast, each carrying a small suitcase. I…
Edie Eicas: Medea
I mull over the character of Medea. In the myth, Jason of the Argonauts goes to Colchis to retrieve the golden fleece once owned by Zeus a justification for stealing. Medea, the King of Colchis’ daughter, through her knowledge and magic, helps Jason. Her act betrays her father and her country and, as they flee…
Robert Schmidt: Moon Landing – Truth or Myth
My father, Johannes Carl Schmidt—yes, that was his full name—was head patent attorney at Collison and Co in the 1960s and 1970s. With his scientific background it seemed only natural that he would become focussed on the television and saw all the moon landings between1969 and 1971. He was particularly riveted watching Neil Armstrong…
Nell Holland: The Watchers
Everyone watches. But who really sees? Two women animatedly talk about their charity shop purchases as they walk towards the café. Buoyed with the delight of the bargains contained in the bags swinging from their hands, they’re looking forward to sitting down. Their gossip and laughter last as long as the coffee and sugary cakes…
David Hope: Working for Brian
I went to Perth a couple of weeks ago to help my brother-in-law, Brian, start to empty his large shed of computing and industrial equipment as he is not well or fit enough to do it.Over a 10-day period we (largely me) filled 11 Naly bins, four 240 litre waste bins, sundry boxes and plastic…
Don Sinnott: An Audience with Elysus
Jason stepped with infinite care. He had waited at the threshold of the tomb, hoping his eyes would adapt to the darkness. But in vain: he could make out nothing. Only the sensation from the tentative sliding of his bare feet revealed anything about his surroundings. Sand, no obstacles; his outstretched hands encountered only air.…
Jean Stewart: Tackies
People have been using footwear for over 30,000 years. Prior to this, humans walked and ran barefoot. Fashionable footwear that altered the foot’s shape developed over ten centuries ago. In China around that time for example, foot binding was common among women of status, stunting and deforming their feet. In medieval Europe, extremely narrow pointed…
Edie Eicas: Lithuania Teutonic Knights
She knew they were coming. It was gossip from Vilnius. Some listened while others ignored. Her village prayed, hoping Deivas protected them. Fear swept through Kaunas as news of the Teutonic Knights’ massacres reached them. Stories of carnage arrived with fleeing villagers, and many began to worry. These murderers were stomping through Lithuania from Prussia…
Don Sinnott: The Best of Times: The Worst of Times
Is it the good times or the bad times that stay with us? Is the mental glue stronger for joy or for sorrow? For me, Grade 4 is doubly anchored by that glue. My teacher that year was a disciplinarian with an emphasis on rote learning. Memory has never been my strong point; I developed…
David Hope: Nightmare
Eyes. Blink open. Mistake! Sun. Blindingly bright! Unbearable. Tight shut eyes. Great pain. Whole body pain. Last memory. Walking. Mountain track. Falling. Tumbling over rocks. Big rocks. Water. Rocks. River. Pain. Cold. Glacier cold. Move body. Bad idea. Sit up. Black out! Wake up. More pain. More cold. Must move. Agony to move. No black…
Jean Stewart: Doing What Comes Naturally
Doing What Comes Naturally I turned into Gulf Parade, driving well below the stipulated 50kmh. I was used to keeping the speed down, as Saturdays were always frenetic around the oval and community barbeque area. A still, sunny day. Dogs on leads, wet and panting from their beach romp. Children sprinting across the oval, returning…
Anne McKenzie: Kangaroo Island
We’d planned a 3 day ‘plonk’ holiday on Kangaroo Island. You know, the kind of holiday where you book into some pleasant accommodation with great views and spend most of your time reading and gazing at the natural beauty of the spot. After a tranquil ferry trip to Penneshaw and a 45-minute drive to Kingscote,…
Nell Holland: We Are One Aren’t We?
In Australia, we are bombarded by folk telling us about all the wrongs committed by previous generations, for which we must apologise. Well, I haven’t heard any apologies from the people of Rome about their invasion and take-over of my homeland in AD 43, when they took some Britons as slaves. Or even from the…
Rossana Mora: 8.1
Marco hadn’t slept well, the thoughts of his shortcomings at work kept him awake. This time he was not going to be lucky. The big bosses were going to be there, and he was going to be on the spot. Why did they have to come today? If they had chosen Friday instead, I wouldn’t…
Robert Schmidt: Is That a Blueberry Flan?
Is that a blueberry flan? After an appointment, my wife and I decided to have a light lunch at Utzi Café at the Burnside Village. We both ordered rolls. Jane also ordered a skinny mugachino. I ordered a pot of English Breakfast tea. You are given a number for the food; and a buzzer for…
Jean Stewart: A Search for Night Tranquility
Those fortunate enough to have nights of deep uninterrupted sleep are a select group I have envied for a long time. There was a time when I could be counted among such a group. My childhood and adolescent years brought nights of feather-quilt comfort and the security of knowing my parents and boxer dogs would…
David Hope: E-Book or Hard Copy
Many of my friends and, I suspect, some among you, express a marked antipathy towards eBooks. Their most frequent expressions in the discussion are: ‘I like the touch and feel of a physical book.’ ‘I like to turn the pages.’ ‘I like the smell of a book, especially a new one.’ ‘I love to be…
Rossana Mora: The Bridge II
At this new property a similar pattern developed. As men came and went, neighbours gracefully turned a blind eye. The less they look, the better. Some did it for their own sake, not to be tempted; some others because they simply didn’t approve and preferred to pretend they didn’t know what was going on behind…
Jean Stewart: Monkey on Her Back
No-one could say she’d not tried to tame her struggle early. After that devastating evening when she’d lost $1,000 in an hour, and continued playing her favourite machine into the night, she knew something was wrong. Those nights after her husband’s death had been so excruciatingly lonely. Their much-loved pub was around the corner from…
Edie Eicas: Shopping Adelaide Arcade
I like to think my humour comes from my parents, particularly my mum who had a wicked, sarcastic, confrontational sense of humour. When the kids were little, I played a lot of jokes on them, that part of me contained an element of my family’s wickedness. When the kids were in primary school, I was…
Don Sinnott: A Holiday with a Difference: Part 1
October 2004. With funding for me to attend a three-day conference in Toulouse, in the south of France, my wife and I opted to build this into a shared four-week French holiday, including a week cycling. Cycling? What were we thinking? Neither of us was more than a very occasional cyclist but we committed to…
Jean Stewart: Food Glorious Food
Good food, like deep sleep and unpolluted air, is one of life’s great pleasures. Yet many of us have such an ambivalent relationship with it. ‘There is nothing more delicious than hot buttered toast,’ my mother once said. Experimenting with what we’d put on top was even better: mashed banana with cinnamon sugar; peanut butter…
Anne McKenzie: Lemon Meringue Pie
Guests for dinner, no worries. Barbecue followed by my go-to favourite dessert – lemon meringue pie. It’s a bit fiddly to make, involving three stages: pastry crust, lemon curd filling and meringue top — but it’s never let me down. Marie offers to help but I say I have it all under control. First, you…
Rossana Mora: Journey
I like to take my time, I don’t like rushing. When it comes to food, I like to taste every bite and enjoy the flavours. For the first 23 years of my life, food was just food. It didn’t matter if it was a balanced or healthy meal, if it was good quality, or if…
Karen Agutter: An Accident on the Stairs
I sat, transfixed, barely aware of the tread of the stair, the polished wood, cold and hard against my thighs. Bizarrely fascinated, I examined the scene below. Surely the angles were all wrong. Did legs really bend that way? Where was his left arm? And the blood. So much blood. Spreading slowly across the floorboards,…
Edie Eicas: Split
I have two sides. The life I lived and the one I didn’t dare pursue. It took years to understand how the unconscious controls our lives. We think we have free will but it’s an illusion. We have no freedom until we accept we have no will, and then start questioning the programs that make…
Lawrie Stanford: The Apple Story
On an aimless stroll down Rundle Mall one Sunday, I come across it—the Apple Store. Yes! I thought, I can sort out that confounded iCloud issue on my phone! So I enter. Looking around, I see a crowded hall and cheerful Apple consultants chatting to customers. In the crowd, there was a consultant waving at…
Jean Stewart: Stalked
He is leaning on someone’s letterbox when she opens her gate to walk past him. Cross-legged and smoking, his gaze penetrates. Her voice is breezy and carefree. ‘Just moved in? Welcome!’ His half-closed eyes survey her. With a strong Middle Eastern accent, he replies: ‘I’ve seen you already; your unit is in front of mine’.…
David Hope: Mistaken Identity
It’s a dark night in Whitechapel in August 1888. Through the gloom, an observer watched the two figures struggling. Martha Tabram was fighting for her life on a staircase in George Yard. A fight she was losing as her assailant stabbed her again and again. The knife rose and fell, rose and fell, on and…
Rossana Mora: The Bridge
It was 6 am when the alarm went off. She opened her eyes and automatically jumped out of bed. In no time, she was walking around the neighbourhood. Two blocks away from her house she came across a small pedestrian bridge. Underneath there was a running creek. She started crossing the bridge but stood in…
Jean Stewart: Ambition
‘Pull tighter while I hold my breath, Macy!’ The maid blushed as she strained the corset strings; this girl would surely faint. Cressida had sipped only a cup of morning tea and a bowl of soup at midday. It was the eve of the most important ball of her young life. In the spring of…
Nell Holland: The Journey
This fictitious journal was inspired by Malen Rumbelow, passenger on the former convict ship. His diary was partially reproduced in the 1977 “Chronicle Cameos” publication The houses and people were smaller each time I turned my head to look, until all that remained was a curlicue twixt sea and sky. The shore receded, but our…
Anne McKenzie: Noise
I’m at a Crows AFL game on a Saturday afternoon and it’s getting to me again. No, not the prospect of another lost game – although you never quite know with the Crows. It’s not the heat – we’re in the bleachers and the sun is baking down. It’s the noise. From the moment you…
Don Sinnott: The Birdsville Track: 1978. What Could Possibly Go Wrong
The bitumen stopped at Maree. We had driven our Holden Kingswood sedan, towing our camper trailer, to the only fuel outlet in town. Our friends, in their borrowed much-travelled Land Cruiser, waited behind us for their turn at the pump. We drew some comfort from travelling in company with a four-wheel drive vehicle as we…
Robert Schmidt: Poor Robert
I rang the Fullarton Lutheran Homes for a visit with my sister Pauline. ‘That will be fine,’ the secretary said. ‘No RAT test or appointment?’ ‘Just put on a mask and head visor when you get here.’ Half an hour later, I cheerfully arrive at the front door. There is a certain amount of red…
Humble Pie: Jean Stewart
I hobbled to the pounding at the front door. ‘Elsa from the agency!’ A portly, pony-tailed woman breathed heavily. ‘I use all me own equipment and cleaning materials. Don’t worry showing me around. Bath and vac mainly is it?’ ‘Pardon? Oh, yes,’ I replied meekly. Already I was regretting this request for help.…
David Hope: Memory and Loss
‘Hi, David, it’s Karl. Sadly, I have bad news. Ian Willis died last night, probably from complications from serious surgery.’ There is a little moment when things seem to stop, and belief is suspended. Then reality is back. ’I just spoke to him three of four weeks ago, Karl, and was organising to catch up…
Edie Eicas: Ticket to Ride
When I was very young and the urge to be someplace else was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch. They lied. There’ve been many times when I wished the floor would open up and I would disappear, preferably to some beach in Hawaii. When I was younger,…
Jean Stewart: Luck of a Green-Eyed Cat
Who could be thoughtless enough to knock on her door at 7 am? The entire street knew she worked early shifts. Billy next door, holding a black cat with green eyes, glared. ‘Judy’s died and it’ll be put down if no-one takes it. You’re the only one in the street without any dogs or cats.’…
Nell Holland: Time Travelling
I see me with Dad, both of us squinting into sunlight, as Mum pushed the button on the Brownie. I was five years old and on my first seaside holiday. He sits on the beach wearing his weekend trousers and a sleeveless vest; I wear knickers and a hair bow. We just had clothes. No-one…
Karen Agutter: Walking Home
As she approached the bottom of the hill she stopped, placed her bag of shopping on the ground, took a deep breath and readied herself. ‘Come on old girl, nearly there’ she chaffed, in a half-hearted attempt to jolly herself on, but this was the worst part. Trudging slowly upward, she noticed that the fog…
Fran Collins: Obsession
It’s interesting how a singular activity can become an obsession. Sometimes with good outcomes. Sometimes not. My particular obsession provided all things positive. It was born in 1988 and was a personal challenge to reduce the time it took me to reach the top waterfall of Edith Falls, south of Darwin. After four years of…
Lawrie Stanford: News From Home
(Day 4 of COVID isolation in a caravan, July 2022) Being confined to a caravan 24/7 gives you time to reflect. Receiving a piece of news from home during this time certainly gave me cause. The news came from Melody, my daughter. She said in an email… Last Friday, I was picking up Rory from…
Edie Eicas: Armchair Traveller
I’m an armchair traveller. I once did a great deal of travelling on my own, but found that without the company of another, some pleasures were denied. I’m also not good on water, I get seasick. I suffer with vertigo and tinnitus and a moving ship that rolls from side to side or up and…
David Hope: Donna
Donna was late. As she walked into the office, appearing slightly breathless, heads turned towards her. Slowly at first, then more rapidly. Normally, she was well-groomed and confident. Today she seemed to be slightly deshabille. Not dishevelled, but just looking as if she had dressed in a great hurry. She was flushed, as if from…
Nell Holland: I Was Just Thinking…
Quote by John Steinbeck;- When I was very young and the urge to be someplace was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch. Why is it called an itch? I experienced it as a painful, unnamed ache, too deep to be eradicated, and a source of irritation to…
Robert Schmidt: What Happened to The Kia
I had agreed with Allianz to return my free Commodore car to Budget Car Rentals on Marion Road by 10am. After this date, I would pay for my own rental. On Wednesday afternoon, I contacted Alliance. They were going to contact Budget to get a cheap rental. “No worries” they say. Within minutes Budget rings…
Rossana Mora: The Shack
The family trip started late in the morning. It was going to be a long drive before arriving at a waterfall that promised to be just spectacular. Excitement was in the air; the whole family was singing, playing games while sharing snacks. Landscape after landscape—it seemed that mother nature had just more and more to…
Don Sinnott: Anchored in Thames Estuary – September 1843
The story so far… John, the carpenter on a ship leaving London bound for Adelaide, has noticed an attractive young woman, Bess, on deck among the steerage passengers who boarded the day before. He’s approached her and tried to impress by referring to their route, with apparent knowledge, to the colony of South Australia. She…
David Hope: Cabal of Cats
It was a dark and stormy night. The cabal of cats was meeting to plot their various schemes against the humans who attempted to enslave them and limit their freedom. A number of them had slunk into the meeting bedraggled and infuriated with the terrible storm. Oscar, who was hosting the meeting, smugly enjoying the…
Edie Eicas: Surprise
I’m a tabbie given to Andrew and Robbie by their mum when they were going through a hard time. They saw me when they visited a school friend and he showed them my mothrer and the litter she’d just birthed in his cupboard. I was the runt, the last one left and would be delivered…
Nell Holland: Heidi
It was a warm and dreamy, summer afternoon when even the flies hovering around the cattle seemed dazed by the balmy air. Heidi watched from the shaded area under a tree as four-legged blobs, like dirty cotton wool, moved methodically across the English meadow. The sheep moved in unison with heads bent, cropping grass…
Georgette Gerdes: Fields of Gold
Eva sat in the driver’s seat of her convertible and peered at her face in the rear-view mirror. Beautiful. Well ok for today. She pouted her lips and dragged the bright red lipstick across puckered skin. Perfect. She was meeting Arnold, the architect with his long dark hair and rather midcentury trousers, he was after…
Robert Schmidt: UFO’s Humbug
Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) have fascinated me all my life. We often would talk about them around the dinner table. We talked about life on billions of planets, numerous sightings through to the 1947 Roswell, New Mexico, ‘flying saucer’ claims and conspiracy theories.My Dad was a brilliant patent attorney with the full name Johannes Carl…
Georgette Gerdes: Camellia
pink ‘n prettywith your delicate petalsso exactsymmetricalflouncing with the morning dewyou bask in the sun or dappled shadeoh how you tease Madam Japanese princesshow I have worshipped yousung your praisesgiven you wateryet you deny me brown buds ladyit ain’t fair yet a single bloomin all these months is worth the wait
Anne Mckenzie: Ghosts
‘Do you believe in ghosts, Anne?’ Jan says. We’ve just seen a rerun of the ‘Ghostbusters’ movie at our local theatre so it’s not a wholly unexpected segue. ‘You do?’ I say. ‘Well, not so much ghosts but rather spirits. Yes, I do. For instance, I believe my mother is still very much with me…
Don Sinnott: The Boss
Charles swivelled from his screen, his face a mix of irritation at the interruption and resignation about his open-door management policy. Edmond Brice stood in the doorway. ‘Sorry to interrupt you, boss, but I need to talk. If it’s convenient. Maybe it isn’t…’ He had read the look on Charles’s face. ‘Sure, come in Ed.…
Fran Collins: Hiding in Plain Sight
Xavier pulled up at the kerb and parked his 1995 Holden in leafy Rosewater Street,where his aunt had resided for decades. His rangy long legs cleared every secondstep leading up to the front door. He rang the bell. No response. He rang the bellagain. No response. He pressed the bell a third time holding it…
Rossana Mora: Darkness
‘You must walk one hundred steps now, don’t do anything stupid like turn around, run, or scream,’ he said. ‘Or, a bullet would perforate the back of your head.’ As he spoke, he gave me back my briefcase by pushing it against my chest while pointing in the direction of the darkest street anyone can…
Robert Schmitt: The Guest of Honour
My birthday on the 24th March 2022 was planned to be low key. It was to be in the Honeypot Café at Fullarton Lutheran Homes. Only my two elderly aunties, Wilma and Lotte, cousin, Karen, sister Pauline and my wife Jane were invited. The party was set for 2.30pm. It’s only a few minute drive…
Don Sinnott: Houseboat Holiday
It ticked all our boxes: an indulgent few days on a luxury Murray River houseboat, with guided walks each day over sections of the cliffs and floodplain, restaurant-quality meals and a comfortable bed. We found ourselves a generation removed from the other seven guests (and two generations from the two guides and the boat manager)…
Nell Holland: Friday’s Toast (Part 1)
The evening of laughter and testosterone-fuelled noise was a great success as far as the partygoers were concerned. No one outside this group would have understood jokes the men passed around in quick-fire bursts, nor the indulgence shown by their wives. No one in the room was yet thirty-five, and the buoyant confidence in the…
Edie Eicas: Raising the Dead
There was no pleasure in getting old. It appeared there was no respect for the elderly and what they had done for the country. Frank Martin was anxious contemplating his situation. This was the third tenant who had threatened him and with this show of aggression and, after a conversation with his stepdaughter, he decided…
Anne McKenzie: Scooter
Denise and I had been finger training our young pet budgerigar, Scooter, for several weeks. Now he stepped onto the proffered fingers quickly and confidently. Such is trust. And it was a thrill to feel his little warm feet gripping our outstretched fingers. But now the time had come to take him out of the…
Nell Holland: Patient 41
2022 The nurse changed my bed linen at lunchtime. It should have happened hours before, but a patient had demanded to be discharged and then changed his mind. This had doubled her paperwork and she found herself hopelessly behind schedule. She’d sighed an explanation, ’Paperwork is the worst thing, ever, for a nurse.’ Paperwork? Really?…
Robert Schmidt: Poor Robert
I rang the Fullarton Lutheran Homes for a follow-up visit with my sister Pauline. ‘That will be fine,’ the secretary says to me over the phone. ‘No RATS or appointment. Just put a mask on and then a visor when you get here.’ Half an hour later I cheerfully arrive at the front door. There…
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