There is a tiny fist curling around the faded-blue seat in front of me on the train to Blackburn. ~ I will reach out my hand to touch the sticky, pink fingers, and they will retreat so quickly, it will make me laugh. A head tufted with soft baby hair will appear from behind theContinue reading “First Place: Things I Could Have Done After Spending Too Much Money on a White Jacket from Harvey Nichols by Donna Greenwood”
Tag Archives: life
Second Place: Faces by Katy Yelland
I first see your face not across a room of strangers but in the queue for the number 42 bus. Your hair is pink. You tuck it behind your ear as you look quickly away then glance back again. A small smile flashes across your face. Across a restaurant table, I admire your cheekbones asContinue reading “Second Place: Faces by Katy Yelland”
Third Place: Stephanie’s Side Hustle by Clare Williams
Stephanie sat in the worn-out holding area of the police station, waiting for the nice young man who had arrested her. She had plenty of time to think about the events of the last few months. She was a respectable seventy-eight-year-old woman. In her younger years she’d worked at the local biscuit factory, starting onContinue reading “Third Place: Stephanie’s Side Hustle by Clare Williams”
First Place: Dugout by Emma Oldham
I spread my legs, drawing up my sarong, the colour of burnt dust, past my thigh. The fabric clings to my skin, wet with sweat. Every Friday, Nikola takes the long way home, circling the brittle edge of our camp in Coober Pedy like a dingo sniffing heat. Nothing’s pretty in this part of Australia.Continue reading “First Place: Dugout by Emma Oldham”
Second Place: Diva by Cate McGowan
She didn’t sweat. That was the first thing I noticed about her. This was Georgia in July. Church fans fluttering like moth wings, sundresses sticking to the small of your back. Pews tacky to the touch. But that girl, that new girl in the peach dress, stayed dry as chalk. No pit stains. No shineContinue reading “Second Place: Diva by Cate McGowan”
