Stories

First, find a location. Find a shabby farm that keeps its neighbours at arm’s length. Find a house with a rusted roof, with guttering that dribbles do ...More

Five travellers in a small Ford travelled across the Ardennes. The Hautes Fagnes. The High Fens. The fifth traveller, strapped in a car seat, cried with hung ...More

“And the prize for the bravest pirate goes to …” Greybeard, the oldest of all the pirates, held up a piece of paper and waved it around dramat ...More

Hermione’s pockets may contain Pickled cockroaches, eel brain A collapsible telescope, brand new Flame in a jar, shines bright blue Socks for Dobby, sadly ...More

Another bullet hissed over the dump. Ricky missed the seagull by a mile. He reckoned he shot good, considering the gun was tall as him. Jem wasn’t al ...More

Upoko Tuatahi Ka takoto a Ari ki tana moenga, ka whakataurite i tōna hū ki te pito o tōna matiwae-nui, me te kaute i te roa o te noho o tōna hū k ...More

Chapter Three Ari was really relieved to see his mum waiting in the emergency room when they got there. Koro had been given some medicine for the pain and h ...More

At my father’s funeral an old man in a crumpled black suit gets up to speak. He rises slowly on old man’s legs from among the dark suits and neatly co ...More

On Monday night I dream about Charlie Brown. He stands at the window watching Snoopy sleep on top of his kennel. Snoopy’s little tummy moves up and ...More

Upoko Tuatoru Ka māma te wairua a Ari i tana kitenga atu i a Māmā e whanga ana ki a Koro i te hōhipera. I hoatutia ki a Koro he rongoā hei kaupa ...More

It was a glimpse into Paradise. The sun caught the old town first, its jumble of faded pastels glowing like the gilded ceilings of the Vatican – yell ...More

Chapter One Ari lay on his bed, balancing his sneaker on the tip of his big toe, counting how many seconds he could keep it balanced there for. .  ...More

When Ronald McGourvey and his family of shape shifters caught the 47 to Scarborough, nobody noticed. Timothy McGourvey had perfected becoming nitrogen-fi ...More

His hatred of cordyline australis was spawned in his ancestry. When the council planted them along the coastal path he couldn’t sleep, so strong was his lo ...More

The man finds the boy in a drainpipe and when he asks him what are you doing in there? the boy looks at him as if he should already know and says I’m looking ...More

‘How’s Alex?’ Hope said. She and Molly were sitting in a café by the river in early spring drinking tea from the same pot. Molly sighed, looked out the ...More

It’s been nearly 70 years since my children left home. That sounds ridiculous but I am 120 years old. When they left, my house felt empty. I be ...More

She chewed her biro, and read the evaluation form. “On a scale of one to five, five being highest, how much did you enjoy this activity?” One. “On a sca ...More

Once I was riding on a weekend group ride. We were strung out along a straight, flat stretch of road. It occurred to me that the cyclists ahead of me wou ...More

John paused and turned away from his screen to glance at the steaming cup of coffee. Something felt a little off but he couldn’t place his finger ...More

Chapter Two Emmy flew through the school gate ahead of Ari, disappearing in the direction of her classroom. She’d turned five during the holidays, and she w ...More

I ate my brother. I was always fond of him, looked up to him. He was older than me. I measured myself against him. We stood back to back. At first I only c ...More

Upoko Tuarua Parahutihuti ana tā Emmy oma ki te waha o te kura, ka waiho mai a Ari ki tana puehu, ā, ka hemo ki tua o ngā akomanga. Kātahi anō ia kia timat ...More

The time had come. In the warm darkness of his egg, the flamingo chick moved. Crack! His mother stood up. She fussed about, touching the egg gent ...More

Jerry and his friend, Ross, were playing in Jerry’s sandpit. Charlie appeared. “What are you playing?” Charlie asked Jerry. “Planes.” Je ...More

Eve is busy setting the long thin tables – fork knife fork knife fork knife – and doesn’t see him approach. “Do you want some help?” She thinks it i ...More

The dragonfly’s eyes are made up of multiple hexagons. Inside each hexagon is a black and white picture of my face. I’ve printed the photos from my ...More

It was spring and the valley would shine if the winds weren’t battering the place. From his armchair in the attic study, Philip Fetch could look out the w ...More

They’d been walking for about an hour. They’d started in Madras Street, at the office. William was down for the week, the presentation had gone well and ...More

A woman and a child in a boat. Her child, and her other child, and her other. Her three children. And one life jacket. She puts it on her youngest but ...More

Extract from Mazarine (Chapter Twelve) Twelve I hadn’t expected Sophie Greenaway to be at work in the middle of the summer break and so soon afte ...More

The car drove up the highway, the inside temperature was like 1000 degrees. .             “Mum ….” came the nagging voice of my bra ...More

It’s morning. I know this because the clock says 7.23 and a finger of light is trying to pull back the curtains. My room faces east. So that makes it m ...More

It’s what I could do to help Fleur out. Family is family. The last Friday each month, we’d drive into the city from opposite directions, and in the m ...More

I went to London, once. I’d never seen snow before and on the first night it came spinning through the light of the streetlamps. I’d fallen for a guy ...More

I never touched the gorilla, I say. I got better things to do. Then the park ranger plonks his canvas bag on the table and pulls out a tranquiliser gun and we a ...More