APRIL 1918 Loose soil, mud and clay, dropped from his head and face as he raised his shoulders and chest. Legs still buried, he struggled to free them. Dirt-blurred eyes viewed devastation. Slowly, ears reached beyond a ghostly silence, to take in harsh distant explosive noise. Clearing vision saw distant flashes. His mind would not tell him where he was, why he was half-buried, what had happened. A bare arm lay close to...

As covetous Death circles, knowing he has no dominion, the wraith smiles back smugly, wearing his bramble crown, sitting on his throne of dusted bones. Thought you could defeat me? Time to bow down to your tormentor, King of broken dreams in this realm of washed up glory. Where is your victory now?

Charlie maneuvered through the throng of county police, shoving her badge into the face of anyone who tried to stop her. Close on her heels was her squad's best forensic analyst—who grumbled in dissatisfaction the moment they arrived. "What?" "The heat," Claire answered, clutching her kit to her chest to relieve her shoulder of its bulky weight. "TOD is going to be off..." "Sheriff!" Charlie called, greeting the man as he...

28th of February – Season 3 DEVì Devì was not new to giving to charity. She knew the game: it was a publicity stunt. Giving to charity had nothing to do with the needy. It was about the person giving money or food making themselves feel better. But if one could get some free publicity from it, then why the hell not. That's why when Savana had challenged her to an exhibition race (the term being Moodswing's idea, not their...

On the 21st of June 1935, a murder was committed, a murder that would go down in history as one of the great mysteries of its time. John Simmons was shot and killed inside a locked and bolted room at his home. No weapon was found and the killer was never caught. As a man, Simmons was not known to have had any enemies and this strange crime appeared to have been committed without a motive. What made the mystery even more e...

A'an never let his mother's words drift too far away when he wandered through the Lif, though she was right there cradling his head between her breasts. The heady mix of clay, sweat and musk always accompanied her. It wasn't often that she could sneak off to hold him. Caution, caution, she liked to whisper in the middle of the fairy tales she recounted when his were the only ears there to listen, and it was always then th...

21st of February – Season 3 Solomon Magubane wasn’t known for being impatient but today seemed to be testing the theory as he’d been waiting at the petrol pump for what felt like ages. He was currently at the Sasol fuel station, showing some solidarity for his Auto One team. But when he looked across the street at the Shell fuel station, he couldn’t help but wonder if it wouldn’t have been better to go there. It wasn’t li...

When I was younger, my father called me his little nest—his little heir. My earliest memories were of him holding me close, like he couldn't bear me being too far away, like I was the lightning rod that kept him grounded in the middle of a thunderstorm. His skin always smelled of freshly tilled soil and mint leaves; his hair of the honey-and-fruit scented pomade that my An'na specialized in making. Other warriors reek of...

Silent slumber, like death, yet the voices won’t be silent. Hurt to see if I still feel. Cut to see if I still bleed. Fuelled by my desire to escape, stained by my own blood. Pain, my drug of choice, pouring through my veins reigniting every flame my soul had once consumed.

14th of February – Season 3 As Savana sat at the back of the black BMW 320d, she wondered if she wasn't overdressed. She managed a smile thinking about the irony compared to what she was thinking on her first night on Fuel. Savana looked over at the man who owned the car. Except he wasn't just a man. He was also her lover. He had a dark smile but it was one that lit up something in her; a fire. And while she looked at him...

13th of February – Season 3 TWO WEEKS AGO A cup of coffee. That's all it was supposed to be. That had been the idea when Savana sat down at the booth of Kieck's Kitchen. But then he walked in. Savana had been surprised considering that back on Fuel, he and Jim Kieck were not friends. Neither was Savana. When he'd sat down at her table, she'd asked the most basic question: "What do you want?" "He wants us to play lovers."...

7th of February – Season 3 Penny Potgieter stared at the mirror with tears welling in her eyes. The doctors had only recently taken her bandages off, having told her, thankfully, that she would not be losing her eyesight. Of course, she'd figured this out a week ago when she'd taken the bandages off prematurely so that she could watch a travesty unfold before her burnt eyes on last week's episode of Monday Night Fuel. Pen...

Fear You’re scaring me shitless when you speak of your pain, that hurt deep inside that the Doc can’t explain. All they can do is to put you through tests like they did years ago when it formed in your breasts. Mysteries hidden that must be revealed by rays and injections that flag what’s concealed. Our minds tend to wander from what we can’t see to a place that’s most likely the worst it can be. I know that your pain ten...

It was just another New Year’s Eve for Melody. Her thirteenth one to be exact and completely unremarkable. Her mother stuffed her into a dress two sizes too small, accompanied by the furrowed brows of disapproval and invasive pokes and prods over her tummy. “Have you been stealing chocolate from the candy jar again?” The accusation stung quick and sharp. Trying not to furrow her brows in anger in response, Melody sucked i...

It was between him and her, and her and her, and like always I was caught in between, a bottle of bourbon trapped between my thighs while I nursed the glass—the alcohol burned fresh paths down my throat, drawing parallels with the scars that ran down my arms. This was the way things would always be and the clock constantly ticked at the back of my mind, because this was it—this was my last chance. "I love you." To my whis...