I’m pretty sure my parents had got the memo and realized my mood swings weren’t just an unusually bumpy ride on a menstrual cycle. Teenage hormones can be persistent buggers, feeling autumnal wouldn’t even evaporate as the heat and humidity began to rise. That family summer holiday, a road trip to the big smoke—Gold Coast has theme parks, Annie—nowadays feels like a fin de siècle moment. Maybe that’s because it’s the last...

Once again it’s Groundhog Day; all is quiet on the good ship, AnnieWriter. Well, not quite totally silent. That bloody crocodile in our wake is masquerading as the Mad Hatter, accentuating Captain Annie’s disquiet with a scaly cacophony of tick tock, tick tock. If you knew Time as well as I do, you wouldn't talk about wasting it. I know, I know! Of course, like clockwork, this competition story had begun the usual way. A...

If you’d think the shock and awe of four Pulitzers would mute a granddaughter’s proclivity to be a smart ass you’ve not met Jenna. Though, this Christmas, she’d decided to observe her first seasonal ceasefire of banter. Neither she nor her mother moved a muscle as my arthritic fingers struggled with the reindeer wrapping paper. Perhaps they understood their Dylan Thomas; there’s no helping the stubborn raging against the...

Savour the day, embrace the warmth in life’s fire. Look, dervishes magnetically swirl in bridal pale, Rise, my friend; dance, dance till the embers expire. No future-fretting; it's shrouded, that ending you admire. Let fingers trace life’s pattern, morsels even lurk in braille, Savour the day, embrace the warmth in life’s fire. Take it from me; its new found tastes that inspire. Imbibe the draughts and dregs in existence’...

Sandra and Melanie were talented thespians. Way beyond good; no one had realized they were the best actors in the whole damn school. Melanie was such a chameleon, not even Sandra had twigged to Mel’s self-nomination for leading actress in a goth part. Sandra, though, had the more challenging role. Yet, Mel never asked herself if Sandy, acting like St Theresa’s Catholic School head girls have always acted, was an example o...

With no breeze, the glassy lake reflected winter back on itself. Though, in that chilling mirror, the bare trees were even better defined, seemingly less shrouded in mist. That was so very different from the previous time Selene had hiked to the isolated tarn. Back then, a spring breeze rustling through the budding trees had whitecaps lapping against the shore. Warmed by navigating the overgrown path up to the tarn, they’...

Snips and snails And puppy-dogs’ tails. Asleep, compliant, Momentarily silent. Dreaming of nips? Or plates of chips, Plus yogurt drops, And paddle pops? Defined. Ironic, dude You love sweet food; Sugar and spice, And all that's nice. That grin, your grin, Happy in your skin. Lock in feeling hearty, Past this birthday party. Smile, sit, crawl, toddle. You; your own role model. We don’t want peace to last, “Why?” is never i...

For the first time, a month after her twenty-second birthday, Maria, shadowed by her mother, greeted guests arriving at their seaside residential compound. Year in, year out, this was the most exclusive New Year’s Eve party on Earth. Yet one so shrouded in secrecy, that whispers had never once reached the gossip columnists’ ears. Maria was dressed outrageously; if her glamourous little black outfit hadn’t been the most ex...

Typical; should have guessed there’d be an unnerving start to Friday-the-thirteenth at Chez Annie. As my beloved girlfriend goes to fill the coffee pot, water suddenly pulses up into the air and falls waterfall-like onto the kitchen tiles. Carrie is totally shocked. But I’m not as horrified, after all, it’s just a tap going walkabout. It would be totally spooky if, down under, there’s a faucet going AWOL. The first water...

Hey, little one, don’t be coy, Take that alpha step, my boy. You’re luxuriating in my womb, Can’t stay, it’s not a catacomb. You do know what tomorrow is? I thought not; for that day is his. Didn’t think you’d bring a gift, Hopefully focused on your super-shift. So, I got you a present for your dad. Only delivered after birth, I should add. See, you shouldn’t really stay, Best you join us on Father’s Day. I don’t know why...

To everyone in the room, she seemed like just a normal girl wearing Vans, blue jeans, and a red hoodie. Except for one, for him, she’s the antithesis of normal. His baby-blue eyes focus; sartorial elegance, that’s true, but he’s hearing the clarion call of love from the heartbeat under that regular hoodie. She’s his everything; his eyes fill with tears. Then his whimper, barely heard by others, pierces her. Wrapping him i...

Eden. The word doesn’t need adornment, it just evokes the image of paradise. Except, it doesn’t in my case. Though not by any means hell, my Eden wasn’t the paradise you should find yourself praying for. For you see, my Eden was, and maybe always will be, my community; a coastal Australian town, about five hundred kilometres, though at times it felt more like five hundred years, away from Sydney. Eden was, as you might ha...

His simple question rocked her; hurt bubbling to the surface and etching itself on her face. Paul was alarmed he had spoilt their growing rapport. “I’m sorry, Sara. I didn’t mean to pry. Let’s talk about something else.” “No. It’s not your fault,” Sara replied, her smile watery, “It’s been a few months since my break-up, but I guess I am still a bit raw.” “I know what you mean by rawness. I’ve been separated longer, but s...

Mentally prospecting, Needing that perfect word. Meaningful, like frisson, Not discordant; like impact’s not a verb. My mind fog thins, achievement? Still incorporeal, maybe transient; seemingly onomatopoeia. Write it down! It dissolved, cloaked in mist, No! Cliches, here I come.

As autumn leaves fell, our lives’ hue darkened. Covid-19 grounded Sarah’s corporate-lawyer lifestyle. We fretted; could infection accompany me home from the hospital? Challenging times, despite dad’s toilet paper stockpile. It pays not to giggle when your girlfriend repeatedly tries to shoo our cat away from her Zoom meeting. “Annie, stop it!” Sarah’s tone was so testy. Scooping up the cat and depositing her on the balcon...