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 becomeContinue reading “Jean Stewart: Double Trouble”
Category Archives: Fiction
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 cakesContinue reading “Nell Holland: The Watchers”
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.Continue reading “Don Sinnott: An Audience with Elysus”
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 PrussiaContinue reading “Edie Eicas: Lithuania Teutonic Knights”
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 blackContinue reading “David Hope: Nightmare”
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 behindContinue reading “Rossana Mora: The Bridge II”
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 fromContinue reading “Jean Stewart: Monkey on Her Back”
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 wasContinue reading “Edie Eicas: Shopping Adelaide Arcade”
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 butterContinue reading “Jean Stewart: Food Glorious Food”
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,Continue reading “Karen Agutter: An Accident on the Stairs”
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’.Continue reading “Jean Stewart: Stalked”
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 andContinue reading “David Hope: Mistaken Identity”
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 inContinue reading “Rossana Mora: The Bridge”
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 ofContinue reading “Jean Stewart: Ambition”
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 ourContinue reading “Nell Holland: The Journey”
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 fogContinue reading “Karen Agutter: Walking Home”
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 fromContinue reading “David Hope: Donna”
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. SheContinue reading “Don Sinnott: Anchored in Thames Estuary – September 1843”
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 grassContinue reading “Nell Holland: Heidi”
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 afterContinue reading “Georgette Gerdes: Fields of Gold”
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 meContinue reading “Anne Mckenzie: Ghosts”
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 itContinue reading “Fran Collins: Hiding in Plain Sight”
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 decidedContinue reading “Edie Eicas: Raising the Dead”
Robert Schmidt: It’s All Part of the Act
I welcome my guests at the entrance of the Burnside Ballroom for our Words, Wine and World Music event on the 10th November 2021. I sit down with them, fairly close to the stage. At about 6.55pm Sharon, Anne, Georgette and I go and sit on chairs on the left of the stage. I feelContinue reading “Robert Schmidt: It’s All Part of the Act”
Nell Holland: Post-Christmas
How many more cards with Christmas greetings will keep arriving? They were posted last year in the UK, and it’s now the end of January. Some cards are even postmarked from the end of November. When I look at the postage-price Louisa paid for her card picturing a classic Nativity scene, I’m horrified to seeContinue reading “Nell Holland: Post-Christmas”
Lawrie Stanford: Conversations with Mary—When the chips are down
I eyed the bowl of chips carefully and selected the smallest, crispiest chip. Hmmmm, I thought, just how I like them—the crunchy feel, the fluffy cooked potato, the tang of salt and the moist, smoothness of cooking oil. I dived in for another. ‘When did you order them!’ Mary exclaimed, ‘You must have done itContinue reading “Lawrie Stanford: Conversations with Mary—When the chips are down”
Nell Holland: Iolaire-The Gaelic Eagle
The most venerated date for all Scots is Hogmanay, the last day of December. It’s the night to feast the old year out and welcome in the new one, and in no place is it more celebrated than the Outer Hebrides. By the end of the Great War, the Isle of Lewis had lost overContinue reading “Nell Holland: Iolaire-The Gaelic Eagle”
Don Sinnott: Murphy’s Law
Of course he was familiar with Murphy’s Law: ‘If anything can go wrong, it will.’ And its corollary, ‘If something can go wrong in multiple ways, it will go wrong in the worst possible way.’ Brett found these thoughts unsettling as he ruefully surveyed his crumpled car. Both Murphy’s law and its corollary seemed toContinue reading “Don Sinnott: Murphy’s Law”
Don Sinnott: January 1844*
A sailing ship, the Augustus, leaving Adelaide under a captain Duff and scratch crew has grounded off Encounter Bay and the captain has returned to shore in a rowboat to seek more crew members. The previous captain, Hart, and his crew have left belongings aboard which now must be retrieved. The two captains rent aContinue reading “Don Sinnott: January 1844*”
Anne McKenzie: On The Bus
‘The Department is a bus about to set out on a long journey, and I’m driving’, says our new Chief Executive Officer. We’re at mandatory leadership training for Supervisors and Managers—for middle management. She’s been with us for about two weeks and this is the first time we’ve met her. ‘Let me put this simply’,Continue reading “Anne McKenzie: On The Bus”
Edie Eicas: Aurora
Aurora, basket in hand and smelling of Brasso, had just finished her weekly clean of the golden plate that announced the house name, Hendun. It was a meditative job, the polishing, the day’s early ritual before summer’s heat overpowered. The weather prediction for the coming school holidays was storms, a release from the building humidity.Continue reading “Edie Eicas: Aurora”
Nell Holland – The Book Launch
She was dressed completely in black leather. Black blouse open at the neck and a short, tight jacket straining at the bust. An equally tight mini skirt struggled to control her stomach, and the spike-heeled boots were thigh high. From behind, she appeared a young woman with red tresses falling below her shoulders. Then sheContinue reading “Nell Holland – The Book Launch”
Edie Eicas: Long-Range Weather Forecast
A Short Story Lennox Walker’s long-range weather forecast held no joy. The Miller family looked despondently at one another recognising the reality they prayed for would not materialize. No rescue for the farm in the grip of drought, Walker’s predictions promised more of the same: the El Nino weather pattern had set in and thingsContinue reading “Edie Eicas: Long-Range Weather Forecast”
Sharon Apold: Dark Secrets
The woman sat down heavily on the time worn bench. It felt hard and cold beneath her thin skirt but somehow reliable, comforting. The day had been challenging. Neither young, nor old, on a good day, she could be beautiful. More from what shone in her eyes than the physical. On a bad day theContinue reading “Sharon Apold: Dark Secrets”
Nell Holland: The Twin-Tube Tale
Their first washing machine, a Twin Tub Hoovermatic (TTH) bought in 1960, was invaluable when two babies arrived in two years. Then, in January 1965, Tom said they were going to exchange their Scottish existence for tropical heat. Molly had no idea where the Solomon Islands were but the thought of sunshine, rather than iceContinue reading “Nell Holland: The Twin-Tube Tale”
Don Sinnott: Zooming the Branch Committee
The ‘old-timers’ had memories of smoke-filled rooms, with big-bellied men, shirts dishevelled and slackened ties askew, shouting over each other as they jabbed the air making their point. Clay had no experience of that era but, even in the more civil times in which he had joined the local branch committee, he’d known some roughContinue reading “Don Sinnott: Zooming the Branch Committee”
Nell Holland: One Man and His Dog
It was the distant view that he liked. He could stand on this ridge and look over the tree canopy as far as Outer Harbour on a clear day. But not today. Today, the sun created stippled shadows, through trees flanking the path he’d just walked with the dog. The light occasionally blinded him, asContinue reading “Nell Holland: One Man and His Dog”
Nell Holland: Calladine
The Calladine brothers volunteered to fight in World War 2. Albert and Sid were killed, and George returned without legs. Tommy was ‘lucky’ with no obvious wounds, though his mind was gnawed with distress; folk called it shell shock. In 1940 Tommy had been a self-assured eighteen-year-old, charming old ladies attracting girls and breaking hearts.Continue reading “Nell Holland: Calladine”
Nell Holland: Best of Times
The baby-breath touch of the zephyr lifted her hair, whispering softly over her cheek. She felt in harmony with this land, but she’d forgotten this summit was so popular. People had gathered to enjoy the view at this time of the full moon. and most were couples, just as she and Gavin had once been.Continue reading “Nell Holland: Best of Times”
Lawrie Stanford: I’m a Corona-Conspiracy Theorist
Sitting at my desk this afternoon it became clear where the coronavirus came from. As my vacant gaze drifted across the desk, the design on a box of tissues forced itself into my consciousness. The origin of the coronavirus was revealed! It was in fact trumpeted by the perpetrators—Kimberly Clark the producers of Kleenex tissues! Continue reading “Lawrie Stanford: I’m a Corona-Conspiracy Theorist”
Don Sinnott: COVID Daze
Dan wasn’t a party a party animal. Never an expert in small talk, at social gatherings he either kept to himself or found a soulmate for a one-on-one chat. At work he was more attuned to planning business strategies in his own headspace than to the interactive ‘brain-storming’ sessions his management periodically called. His firmContinue reading “Don Sinnott: COVID Daze”
Nell Holland: A Great Party
Too many friends had died. She needed cheering up, so Tony proposed a party. But the day arrived, and Ann still felt miserable. Preparations completed, she took ten minutes to try to find some serenity. Her eyes closed, and slowly she relaxed. It seemed seconds later when guitar music opened her eyes. Howard and RickContinue reading “Nell Holland: A Great Party”
Lawrie Stanford: Stranger Danger
The officer was polite but firm while her male companion had a look that was more firm than polite. The female officer was the first to speak. ‘Sir, you’ve heard of stranger-danger, haven’t you?’ Earlier, I arrived home late from work, a little before 7pm. As I walked through the front door, I could hearContinue reading “Lawrie Stanford: Stranger Danger”
Burnside Writers Group 