Stories

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

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

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

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

  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

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

“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

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

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

This line is the marriage line. It’s open-ended. This line is the intellect. It’s a circle inside a circle. This line is the heart line. Like the water. Lik ...More

Inspiration: High Pressure/Low Pressure by Josh O’Rourke     Rarer than gold Water shading, light dancing, greased lightning. Shimmering, loop ...More

Slip while walking onto cold, slippery tiles into the bathroom for the twentieth time. Land on your right arm break it like a twig. Or, forget to pu ...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 ...More

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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. � ...More

Miraculously the Yellow dagger Somehow appeared on the Table next to the Elevating bottle Really, this was all very strange Yet, started maki ...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

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

This isn’t the beginning, but somewhere in the middle; she’s clambering the leftover scaffold like the flying fox on YouTube she saw scaling a sky-tree, ...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 an ...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 ...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 fe ...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 kind ...More

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

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

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

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

Inspiration: Forces by Dr. Suits     Geometry at odds And connected Evolving blues and yellows Sea and sky, Community repatterning ...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� ...More