Stories


What will you read today? If you don't have time to read now, bookmark your favourite ones and check your Reading List later. If you are taking the bus, find our posters, scan and access a curated collection, part of Stories on the Go

Stories are copyrighted material and shared here with explicit authorisation from authors and/or publishers. Copyright in each work remains with the author.

Stories for Quick Read
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Inspiration: Kaitaki by Fin Dac     Ōtautahi I am the guard  Keeper of the land protector of my children Teacher of my students I am the embo ...More

Inspired by Street Art
Katelyn Gee

1 min read

Published by Paint n' Pen Submission
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Yessssss, I thought the first day of Lockdown Breakfast was yum on the first day of Lockdown It was cloudy School was out on the first day of Lockdown We went ...More

Young Writer
Zara Rooney

2 min read

Published by WRITE ON Magazine
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Inspiration: Artwork by D Side     Cluck, cluck, cluck, A pirate digging. Dig, dig, dig, Deeper in the sand. Brr, brr, The tree leaves sw ...More

Inspired by Street Art
Selena Budiyanto

1 min read

Published by Paint n' Pen Submission
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don’t you find this world absolutely hilarious? one second, the globe is turning and earth’s on the brink of extinction: the next the world is sti ...More

Young Writer
Portia Bishop

2 min read

Published by WRITE ON Magazine
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  Emotions are messages from your heart, they tell you what you need. Some of them are BIG feelings, and some are very small indeed. Imagine your feel ...More

* STORIES ON THE GO, Picture Book
Rebekah Ballagh

1 min read

Published by Allen & Unwin
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Hazel leaned over, brushing her lips against her sister’s forehead. “Goodbye.” She fumbled with the window, shoving it open, greeted by a gu ...More

Action & Adventure, Drama, Young Writer
Emma Warwick

3 min read

Published by WRITE ON Magazine
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“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 coast was cl ...More

Young Writer
Bronnie Homer

4 min read

Published by WRITE ON Magazine
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Despite the Lockdown the tides continue to tumble and dance against the land’s surfaces each trying to reach their destination. Each grit of sand flows ...More

Young Writer
Zoe Barson

2 min read

Published by WRITE ON Magazine
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Inspiration: Artwork by Richard “Pops” Baker   Don’t hang me on the wall of your lounge Freeze frame frozen in time I need undil ...More

Inspired by Street Art
Published by Paint n' Pen Submission
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Inspiration: High Pressure/Low Pressure by Josh O’Rourke     Rarer than gold Water shading, light dancing, greased lightning. Shimmering, loop ...More

Inspired by Street Art
Fern Mercier

1 min read

Published by Paint n' Pen Submission

Inspiration: Artwork by Berst Artwork location, details and photo credit https://watchthisspace.org.nz/artwork/456   Picture this ……. Cal ...More

Anne Forne

1 min read

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

Young Writer
Srinika Guha

4 min read

Published by WRITE ON Magazine
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Losing her daughter to the Christchurch earthquake sends Lily back to her childhood village in Northern England to scatter Charlie’s ashes. It’s a place o ...More

* STORIES ON THE GO, Historical Fiction
Sandra Arnold

5 min read

Published by Mākaro Press
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Inspiration: The Hector Dive by Telmo and Miel     Take me with you, Dolphin, let me Clasp tightly Onto your jagged fin Breath through your gil ...More

Inspired by Street Art
Published by Paint n' Pen Submission
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Inspiration: She came from the stars by Vexta   Cracks in calm conversational contrast A headstrong song holds on as They play along She’s fine ...More

Inspired by Street Art
Alia Govin-Fowler

1 min read

Published by Paint n' Pen Submission
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The strap pinches my neck. My fingers poise above the keys. Moonlight highlights the skeletal frame of my alto saxophone. I stretch my eyes out int ...More

Young Writer
Monica Koster

3 min read

Published by WRITE ON Magazine

Inspiration: Artwork by Anne McDonald Artwork location, details and photo credit https://watchthisspace.org.nz/artwork/770 Scratching on a hair ...More

Inspired by Street Art
Selena Budiyanto

1 min read

Published by Paint n' Pen Submission
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Flowers. There are a lot of flowers. Every day someone crouches by me, one hand on their heart and the other holding a bunch of flowers. Lilies, lilacs, roses ...More

Non Fiction, NZ History, Young Writer
Olivia Ruland

1 min read

Published by WRITE ON Magazine

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 ...More

Fiction
Helen Heath

2 min read

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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 with b ...More

Drama, Fiction, Maori & Pasifika
Jenna Heller

4 min read

Inspiration: Artwork by Jacob Yikes Artwork location, details and photo credit: https://watchthisspace.org.nz/artwork/454   Construction, the thoug ...More

Joy Howard

2 min read

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Inspiration: Artwork by Jacob Yikes   The afternoon sun has made Alice sleepy. She follows White Rabbit down a different dark, mossy hole and e ...More

Inspired by Street Art
Alice Li

2 min read

Published by Paint n' Pen Submission

One by one he turns the pages of the book. The paper rustles against his dry fingers and I swallow in anticipation. He reads the words and his face cracks ...More

Psychological Thriller
Marie Muhl

5 min read

Inspiration: Artwork by Haruko Furukawa Artwork location, details and photo credit https://watchthisspace.org.nz/artwork/775 The sun settled as it drifted acr ...More

Amor Budiyanto

2 min read

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 ...More

Non Fiction, Travel & Environment
Melanie Dixon

1 min read

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 mo ...More

Fiction
Heather McQuillan

2 min read

  Prefabricated tilt-slab with steel reinforcing shipped from a Guangzhou factory a city street long. Delivered by a bevy of cranes criss-crossi ...More

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Inspiration: Artwork by Cracked Ink   Cluttered clouds brimmed the bleak sky. Rain Rapidly drenched the buildings. The gusty wind Accelerated fur ...More

Inspired by Street Art
Amor Budiyanto

1 min read

Published by Paint n' Pen Submission
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Inspiration: Artwork by Owen Dippie Ballerina twirling past me dressed in a beautiful blue. Two girls invite me to play their game of hide and see ...More

Inspired by Street Art
Cleo Hopkinson

1 min read

Published by Paint n' Pen Submission
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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 creaks ...More

Drama, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Fiction, Young Writer
Sophia Williamson

1 min read

Published by WRITE ON Magazine

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 ...More

Action & Adventure, Biography & Memoir, History, Non Fiction
Catherine Byrne

4 min read

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I miss you, Life Outside the Gate. ​My gate isn’t very high, but now it feels like the top is touching the clouds. ​Whenever I think about before ...More

Young Writer
Betty Mackay

1 min read

Published by WRITE ON Magazine

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 for a ...More

Drama, Non Fiction
Jennifer Rankin

1 min read

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  Six centuries ago Polynesian explorers, who inhabited a cosmos in which islands sailed across the sea and stars across the sky, arrived in ...More

* STORIES ON THE GO, History, Non Fiction
Anne Salmond

5 min read

Published by Auckland University Press
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I shuffle forward, cautious of not popping the two-metre bubble that surrounds every person around me. I look behind and see people lost and confused. Some ...More

Young Writer
Bianca Rees

4 min read

Published by WRITE ON Magazine

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

Humor & Comedy
Raewyn Dawson

1 min read

Inspiration: Artwork by Berst Artwork location, details and photo credit https://watchthisspace.org.nz/artwork/456 A strange creature followed me. Ench ...More

Inspired by Street Art
Selena Budiyanto

1 min read

Published by Paint n' Pen Submission

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 an ...More

Action & Adventure, Drama, Fiction
Jenna Heller

2 min read

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 fe ...More

Ciaran Fox

2 min read

Ozmond had a round head; he was floating, dreamed he was on a wave with other round heads. When his head fell off, his eyes sprang open. A group of peop ...More

Gail Ingram

1 min read

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Inspiration: Kaitaki by Fin Dac Feathers rising high above the clouds Powerful wāhine warrior, our guardian Watching and waiting Protecting Chris ...More

Inspired by Street Art
Published by Paint n' Pen Submission
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knitted scarves wrap around her neck while legs freeze beneath leopard-                                print legging ...More

Young Writer
Elizabeth Steel

1 min read

Published by WRITE ON Magazine
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Inspiration: High Pressure/Low Pressure by Josh O’Rourke   Dragons fly easy High streams of sibylline light Lazy loops of gold Cerulean mys ...More

Inspired by Street Art
Fern Mercier

1 min read

Published by Paint n' Pen Submission
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Inspiration: Forces by Dr. Suits     Geometry at odds And connected Evolving blues and yellows Sea and sky, Community repatterning ...More

Inspired by Street Art
Jo Sharp

1 min read

Published by Paint n' Pen Submission