Stories

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 on it. ...More

To read previous chapters go to Stories 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 ...More

To read previous chapters go to Stories Upoko Tuarima I te kāinga, ka pākōkō a Pāpā ki roto i te kuaha. “Paiā! Te kaha hoki o te ua i waho r ...More

On the first night, Grace dreamed of country music. Traditional troubadours like Hank Williams, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson. She woke up with the t ...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 ...More

  He whakamāoritanga i te pukapuka o Puripāha nā Witi Ihimaera mō ētahi whānau hoariri e rua ki Te Tairāwhiti. Ko Puripāha te tapang ...More

Feijoas roll down the roof to be pecked by the birds startling the rats which scurry above. A grimy workbench dusty with tools next to a soggy, wet lead che ...More

  Extract from Mazarine published by Penguin Random House   Twelve I hadn’t expected Sophie Greenaway to be at work in the middle of the s ...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 hi ...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 on ...More

She is heavy on my bedroom wall. I reconstructed her, slapping mortar between each brick, but my room is not big enough so she is reduced to eyes, ...More

She lay in bed, eyes tight shut against the grey light, trying not to notice it as it becomes paler and paler through her eyelids. “Concentrate” she ...More

We rode with the wind at our backs. Cut across Mr Sandbird’s yard even as he yelled at us to get off his property. Gave him the finger and laughed and ...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 mote ...More

When I pick her up she feels warm and frail. She’s like a giraffe sticking her neck high above the canopy searching for a decent snack. When she ...More

Ka kuhu atu a Ari ki roto i te māhanahana o ngā hīti me ngā paraikete. Ka kumea ake e ia kia pūmahana a roto. Te koa hoki ōna kua hoki pai ia ki tōna a ...More

Ka moemoeā a mō tana noho huna, tana noho koropuku. Ka rongo ia i ētahi tangata e kimi ana i a ia, e karanga ana i tōna ingoa. Kātahi ka huhut ...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 would make ...More

Sitting on the small brick fence outside the night shelter, watching the early morning commuters. Thinking about the dream he had last night. He was in the h ...More

To read previous chapters go to Stories Chapter Seven “Ari,” his father said. “You and I know this water, mate. When I say ‘Jump!’ I want you to go ...More

To read previous chapters go to Stories Chapter Six In his dream, Ari covered his head with his hands and crouched down, hiding. He could hear people ...More

To read previous chapters go to Stories Chapter Four Ari watched the hands on the clock move towards three o’clock. He knew he had to get away fro ...More

To read previous chapters go to Stories Chapter Five Back at home, Ari’s dad came thumping up the steps and burst through their front door. Woohoo! It� ...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?” Sh ...More

To read previous chapters go to Stories Chapter One Ari lay on his bed, balancing his sneaker on the tip of his big toe, counting how many seconds he c ...More

To read previous chapters go to Stories Chapter Two Emmy flew through the school gate ahead of Ari, disappearing in the direction of her classroom. She’ ...More

“E Ari, e taunga ana tā tāua mōhio ki ngā wai nei. Ka tae te wā, me peke koe i te taha, hikina o waewae kia māpuna tō mānū i te wai, e hoa. Kei muri ...More

Meet her in the forest You’ll find her fascinating She may not welcome you but she has no choice in this The tree which she is forever linked to cr ...More

Drexel relaxed in the beat of swiping inner seams of jeans as the heft of cans tapped a pattern against his spine. In the chill air of just-before-dawn, ...More

A gripping new novel from one of our leading writers. A compulsive and chilling novel about subjugation, survival and the meaning of family. “U ...More

Large brown seals dot the craggy flat like giant cigars spilled from a box. They roll and scratch against the rough rock, big blobs blending in w ...More

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

Grayce huddled in the dark of her bedroom. The slithering sound came again, something scraping, knocking. Scrape-knock-knock-slide-slither. Somewhere in ...More

To read previous chapters go to Stories Chapter Eight Ari slid his feet under the sheets and the warm covers. He pulled the duvet up to his chin and ...More

Nobody knew who he was. Or where he came from. Only that he lived on the traffic island in the middle of the intersection and had one arm. When h ...More

To read previous chapters go to Stories Upoko Tuatoru Ka māma te wairua a Ari i tana kitenga atu i a Māmā e whanga ana ki a Koro i te hōhipera. ...More

I remember the clock He liked to count down Whether we liked it or not, Whether we smiled or frowned He hung in my house On the nursery wall We saw him as b ...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 began ...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 ...More

Right in the middle of trying to keep the schnitzel from burning and the broccoli from becoming a waterlogged mess and while Lucy fed the goldfish and ...More

To read previous chapters go to Stories 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 ...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 gently wi ...More

The photo shows two dozen red and yellow beetles inside a dog’s mouth. A trail of ladybug-like insects thumbtacked to the roof and wedged behind ...More

“What do you intend to do about this disgraceful situation?” Alison Carrington seethed. Mayor Harper stared at the outraged, elderly woman, like a man abo ...More

Today, my feelings are too big for my body They catch and hold fast in my throat They stream down my face And burn on my skin May they emerge as k ...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 – yello ...More

Abstract An eighteen-year-old alien moves to Dunedin to study. There she eats minerals, deconstructs, ingests poison, disintegrates, and ultimately, ...More

Leila stood in the doorway, her little legs shaking in her blueberry pjs. “I don’t want to, Daddy,” she whispered. “Come on, sweetheart,” Michael s ...More

The Strange Sagas of Sabrina Summers Saga 1: The Uncooperative Flying Carpet Prologue It was a terrible day for a wedding. The rain slanted down by the bucket ...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 dramatically. � ...More

When Mo was born her mother fractured into tiny pieces, her father disintegrated and her family broke up completely. Mo was left in the care of a variety o ...More

To read previous chapters go to Stories Upoko Tuawhā Ka mātakina e Ari te karaka i a te wā ka whakatata atu ki te toru karaka. Me puta tere ia i te kura ki t ...More

I am lost in countless dizzying turns and endless corridors. A bare light bulb flickers as I pass beneath it. I flinch involuntarily. Ping! The familiar weig ...More

Out on the road, no one speaks, everything talks. Hard-drinking, foul-mouthed, and allergic to bullshit, Jean is not your usual grandma. She’s never been ...More

To read previous chapters go to Stories Chapter Three Ari was really relieved to see his mum waiting in the emergency room when they got there. Koro had been ...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 mor ...More

You can do it for fitness You can do it for play You can ride your bike All of the day When you drive in a car It creates pollution Join with me Start ...More

A seagull stands still, eyeing humans who are finishing their fish’n’chips. It perches upon a dark grey hard-edged rock, its white plumage flickerin ...More

So, there are two people walking up View Street after the five o’clock session. He is walking ahead. She is walking behind. View Street is steep ...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 fil ...More

Chapter 1 Anna looped bubble-wrap around her father’s favorite sculpture: a peacock made entirely out of mirrors. The only upside of moving out of the ...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 ...More

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 down the s ...More

There was the hand to hold and he held it. Beau’s hand, big, bold, Beau’s hand and he felt happy and proud and self-conscious and amazed all at once. The ...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 ...More