Short Stories

Some of life's most valuable lessons come when you least expect them. From those that you might think least likely! Professor Bruce ‘Kar-arrk!’ Two red-tail black cockatoos glide low along the river. Strange! It is surprising to see these large birds, for they are generally found up high in the old forests where you would count yourself lucky to see one.  ‘Kar-arrk!’ slow and periodic, ‘Kar-arrk!’ like an alarm, warning all the inhabitants of the Kalang river valley.  Kalang means ‘beautiful’ in the first nation peoples Gumbaynggir language. A lush, green valley, flanked by densely forested hills. The slow moving river serpentines towards the coast, cutting a broad path etched into alluvial flatland. Occasional deep pools lie beside rocky outcrops that have stood resistant; helping shape the course of the flow and creating the odd swimming hole. Ancient collections of worn rocks, rounded and smooth, pile along the length of babbling rapids.  ...

Separation in times of crisis is always difficult. Imagine a time before mobile phones and widespread internet. Mistakes … I’ve made a few! ‘Well off to meet up with the criminals again are you’? ‘Ha ha’!  Jill rolls her eyes, as in, that gag, again!  Truth of the matter is she is going to her monthly crime book club. Okay, I admit to overuse of my in jest provocation but there is something about a room full of people enthralled and committed to discussing fictional crime that intrigues me. The fact that apparently it is the most popular book club at our favourite bookshop adds more grist to my curious mind. After all, it generally involves harm and damage to life and property, in many instances towards the extreme end of human suffering.  My version, (having never attended), is that the room would be like a criminal hookup or a seminar series; ‘Evading police roadblocks’, ‘Create a false identity’, ‘Money laundering: the self help guide’. I...

The mere use of one’s eyes in Venice is happiness enough. Henry James, ‘Italian Hours’ A feast for the senses with a surprise encounter to challenge the tourist. A Walk to the Beach Nearby, a bell tower chimes. From our third floor window, our neighbours are no more than two metres away across the street. A friendly smile and ‘Buongiorno’ greets us most days. We lock our apartment with the huge old key, turning the lock twice, clunk, clunk!  Off to the beach - blue sky, warm sunshine!  Centuries of foot traffic have worn down the stone stairs, the vagaries of natural stone mean the treads now have unique curves and characteristics. Rounded and misshapen, I have become aware of which ones to be careful with; third step on the second floor the worst, sloping towards the middle, slippery and cracked, so easy to loose your footing. Our street, Calle Erizzo, has four floors of apartments on either side. The buildings are, shoulder to s...