Competition entries

Jenny Lynch

Playing With Fire

An icy breeze blowing ashore from the wind-kissed ocean sends chills down my spine as I huddle closer to the fire. Tiny firefly-lights escape and float upwards towards the stars, dancing in their own carefree way. I am mesmerised by the hot ribbons of flame igniting the night sky. He arrives late, but edges in beside me. Our shoulders touch, our eyes meet and instant attraction swirls between us. Hours later, as dancing embers glow and spit and as white powdered ash scatters across the sand, his tongue ignites the flame in my heart.

Josh Radwell

Not Your Invisible Boy

And for the first time I am seen, after years of quiet and lonely nights spent under the covers with books with pages dotted with tears about guys kissing guys that I had to read in secret and in which I saw myself and perhaps one day would be if I just held on a little longer. Standing outside with the sun on my face I can feel colour like a rainbow painting pride across my cheeks and I am not ashamed, and I am not afraid, and for the first time in years I am not your invisible boy.

Joyce Iles

It’s No Picnic

The family drove along the remote outback track, marvelling at the passing scenery. They were looking forward to a break along the way and after finding a suitable place, alighted with some snacks and refreshing drinks.
However, the sky overhead took on the appearance of a dust storm.
“Get in the car!” urged the mother.
They piled in quickly and her husband planted his foot firmly on the accelerator.
“I know we’re in a hurry, but let’s get there in one piece,” the mother remonstrated.
As the dust storm drew closer they could only sit tight and pray.

Tim Stalker

Decimation

Before any light penetrates my blinds, I am assaulted by the screeching of a familiar flock of cockatoos decimating my eucalypt. Discarded branches rain down on the loud tin roof as I wearily slid out of bed. In my front yard I see more than a hundred birds delivering an unwelcome wakeup call to the suburb. As the sun rises it illuminates the horizon of the ever-spreading unnatural triangles and rectangles. Soon the cockatoos will no longer be the bane of this neighbourhood, but I know when that day comes there will be no rejoice, only sorrow.

Angela Italiano

Apples

Small fingers graze the pink lady’s as a few begin to fall. Please forgive our eagerness, our mess. These brief moments slip away as quickly as they arrive. I scramble to hold each one, to never let go, to pause. I remember my past impatience, my hunger for movement and new days. Now I wish only to stay here, bare knees on this floor, reaching with small hands for bruised fruit. Please excuse our haste, our clumsiness. In an hour we will shuffle back through hospital doors. The medicine makes her sick, but apples have always been her favorite.

Aiden White-Kiely

Humans Are Trees

No really; think about it.
Our oxogen is strung through leaves, presented to us as if we were gods.
The sustenance required to move, think, love, and consider what love even is.
The nutrients can all be traced back to bark.
We plant our roots by building cities where theirs use to be.
Show our gratitude like tokenism: allowing gumtrees occasionally overhanging the sidewalk.
We bury those we loved in the ground which fuels their growth.
So that those we use to love can allow us to grow. Grow and grow until we too, become the next generation's trees.

Lisa Anne Rodrigues

‘The madwoman’s coat’

She doesn’t look mad, but that’s what it says on the plaque in size 10 Arial font. Her face is a smudged blur, romantically canted down.

In despair, perhaps.

Maybe that’s all madness is - unexplained despair.

My lover’s voice tugs at me like a child pulling at my dress.

I consider leaning my head against the painting while the world slips by. My lover will leave, the lights will go out and it will only be us two in the dark.

The plaque will be changed to ‘two mad women together.’

Instead, I brace myself. ‘Okay. Let’s go.’

Glenyse Robins-Ward

Sky

Far in the distance it looks so blue and clear, as it became closer as we walked along the beach it became much brighter. What did I look at, the sky of course?

This sky on this day looks like no other sky that had been seen before. The different shades of colours looked like you were watching it through a pond and a glass window as the reflections made your eyes twinkle.

As the day ended so did the brightness of the sky. As quick as it had become so bright, it had drifted away, and darkness had begun.

Michelle Campbell

Helpless

Even with my eyes closed the harsh lights scratch at my retinas.

I gaze across at her inert body that she has tightly insulated from the world inside her black hoodie. I want to reach out and scoop her back inside my womb. Back where I felt a natural sense of balance.

They say if a mother’s heart is injured her child's immune cells that had once migrated into her bloodstream flood to the area to help mend it.

Right now, I feel every single cell in my body flooding across the room to mend her.

Esther Krogdahl

Unwanted Memories

Hroc! The sound draws me to the open back door. The heavenly scent of my wife's prized roses greets me there. On the lawn, a parliament of rooks form a circle around a single bird.
Hroc! The accused in the centre appears to plead his case. In brutal retaliation, three rooks lunge forward pecking and scratching. My tongue grows distended, my breathing ragged. I know what is coming. “I can’t help you,” I whisper as two more rooks serve their vigilante justice. The hot terror washing over me is accelerated by frustration. I’ll never escape. These unwanted memories are everywhere.