Stories

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 ...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

“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 dra ...More

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

The baby’s finally asleep.  The father is home from work. I haven’t been alone in days. This is it…. “She’s asleep”…”I’m just off ...More

If you are on the bus, go to QR Code 0007 to read this chapter in English or QR Code 0016 to read in Te Reo. To read previous chapters go to Stories Upoko T ...More

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

If you are on the bus, go to QR Code 0007 to read this chapter in English or QR Code 0016 to read in Te Reo. To read previous chapters go to Stories Ch ...More

Get your daily dose of words for those who can’t live without them or who don’t usually have time to read. Find a QR code on a bus, scan it and re ...More

To send a letter you must have something important to say. Got it? Good, now write it on a piece of paper, then pop it in an envelope and seal it ...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 came ...More

Pull-my-Finger the Giant only had one joke, probably like your dad or grandad. But he was very fond of it and he told it as often as he could. This was it: “ ...More

I was two years old when I got my first bike It was better than your little trike We found it in the bushes My dad fixed it up for me He welded it ba ...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 ...More

“Come on, Moon, it’s time to hunt.” Sunrise went first to check if there was any danger. Moon tried to go before Sunrise had said the c ...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

The car drove up the highway, the inside temperature was like 1000 degrees. .             “Mum ….” came the nagging voice of my bratty sist ...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 scale ...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 kindness As c ...More

Find the hidden sequence of words: the first letter of each makes the puzzle answer. e.g. he offers trust = HOT Sometimes fresh air feels like waking ...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 loa ...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’ ...More

Kiss frogs. Sleep for 100 years. Turn into a human and not speaking. Sneak out late at night. Change your mum into a bear and back again. Lose your sh ...More

Help us build a map! We are mapping real places in New Zealand mentioned in books. Rivers, mountains, towns and cities, famous buildings and monu ...More

Zzzzz ….. zzzz ……. An annoying noise was causing hindrance to my much desired afternoon nap. I somehow manage to open my eyes partially, and with ha ...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” sh ...More

Walking across the multi-story car park, her heels clicked and echoed amongst the few silent vehicles. The sound vanished into the dark exit ramps. Her footste ...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 younges ...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 flies ...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 ...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, crie ...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, ...More

  The Commuting Book presents Paint n’ Pen, a creative writing programme in collaboration with Christchurch City Libraries, The School For Young W ...More

Google maps you take me though the underpass fast on my bike in the night my lights flash on the shapes of down and outs the louts, layabouts who shout obsce ...More

Being the middle child of five girls and three boys in 1940’s and 50’s in my native Ireland, I never had the chance to actually own a bicycle in my ...More

The trick is to hear the voices in the rain but not to listen. What’s the phrase? Feel the fear and do it anyway. Well not only can I feel the ...More

Take some Milky Way dust Mix in some galaxies Wrench some light from inside a black hole It should be spaghettified and tender Knead in some rusty coloured M ...More

My Granddad is a strange old man. He is cheeky, but yet, so serious, like a monkey, a very old monkey. A very old monkey who can’t climb, and who ...More

because of their size they gather crystals and clouds sharp and sparse collections of sun-catchers until that first nasty week in June then they look soft – ...More

If you are on the bus, go to QR Code 0007 to read this chapter in English or QR Code 0016 to read in Te Reo. To read previous chapters go to Stor ...More

Trailing my clackity clack bumblebee Golly in the other hand, I follow the tall back of my Dad down the garden path. Full of questions, I shadow him into h ...More

knitted scarves wrap around her neck while legs freeze beneath leopard-                                print leggings ...More

The murmur of voices Are symphony to flashing lights Tapping keys Coloured lines of code Changing Adjusting Advancing. Jumbles of letters Make up words ...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 c ...More

Oh bicycle, Oh bicycle, I shall call you Amelia. Amelia, Amelia, I love you so. You carry me around. Amelia, Amelia, Riding you is divine. You are the reaso ...More