Daniel twitched just slightly as he sat waiting for her.  She was a bit late having to finish her chores on the family station.  Penrose was the largest property in the area for her family had been in this region since the mid-30s.  It had grown decidedly since her grandfather first posted as his squat with only a handful of sheep and sheer bloody-mindedness. His people had been here forever but the family spoke about how their grandfather had been a breaker on cattle propert

Last meeting   For the inaugural meeting for 2026, we picked the theme ‘innocence’. As ever, the prompt elicited wildly differing takes from everyone, and demonstrated that one thing none of us are innocent of is a spur-of-the-moment quirky idea. Enjoy the stories and mini-prompts here .   Member successes   David Gairdner recently wrote and directed a short film, Hiccups , which we are looking forward to seeing soon! I hope to share a link in our next newsletter.   In Decemb

Listed by closing date. 1 February: Stringybark Open Award 2026 Open themed, linked to Australia. Award pool of over $1420 in cash. Entry fee $15.                1 February: The Masters Review Winter Short Story Award for New Writers US based competition, no theme, 6,000 words, with a top prize of $3,000 USD. Entry fee $20 USD. For emerging writers, online publication and agency review.   3 February: 2026 Calibre Essay Prize Open to all essayists writing in English. AU$10,

The man peered over the edge of the station platform. The tracks stretched far away in either direction, converging at a distant horizon, eventually dissolving into a fog which seemed more like a memory than a mist. Everything was daubed in shades of grey, as if the world was bathed in ashen light. The air had a texture, almost palpable, settling on the palate with a thin, metallic zest. The atmosphere was eerie. Peaceful, yet hummed with mystery. A train rolled by with an un

The circumstance of his predicament was judgier than his preoccupation for procrastination and protestation. Not knowing his own level of self-importance and ability to talk absolute bull shit, he looked upon the other occupants of the life raft with derision and disgust just as he struggled to understand their predicament. The land, just peeking over the horizon, was coming closer with every stroke of the oars as they pulled in unison. Well, one side pulled in unison whilst

May you not know fear Nor taint your heart to outweigh The truthful feather

When I was about 10 years old there were a number of different issues that I was learning to navigate. For adult women there was a preoccupation with feminism and equal treatment. For men there was an obsession with being known for ‘having a big one’, though, as a 10 year old in a conservative catholic family, I wasn’t completely sure about what it was a big one of. And for me, the big question was, what on earth was the Ford F150 supposed to be? The F150 was big by 1982 stan

‘How on earth do you know?’   ‘I don’t know.’   ‘You mean it’s a hunch.’   ‘A kind of inner sense. Hunch sounds…uncouth.’   ‘Oh come on. Are you letting intrusive thoughts in again?’   (Mumbles) ‘Ablist trash.’   ‘What?’   ‘Potash. I need to get some more potash.’   ‘What?’   ‘The roses. They can’t live on banana skins alone.’   ‘Are you all right?’   ‘Anyway I’m sure of it. He’s bullshitting.’   ‘Hmm. And how does your inner sense come up with this?’   ‘The notebook he lent

‘I am fucking interesting!’ she yelled.   ‘I meant, perhaps you could adjust the topic of conversation to the audience.’   ‘It’s their business if they can’t keep up. Lazy fuckers.’   ‘Yes but they’re only in Year 3.’   ‘No time like the present to get educated. Best thing for them.’   ‘Anyway, the course co-ordinator suggested you might like to take a refresher course on child-centred learning techniques.’   ‘A what?’   ‘You know, just to make sure it’s uppermost in your co

The species is very curious.  It’s easy to ‘create’ beings from silicon and plastics.  Pod’s Quantum systems with replicator, can supersede a flesh being.  One that can out-smart, out everything the carbon-based muscle-and-blood-bags.  But doesn’t make them a ‘being’.  Bonn doesn’t have a ‘friend’ and he needs one.  The physics ‘essential’ to produce a replica is easy from minerals on their planet but there is something missing.  How do you make a spirit, a character, a being

Mother watches Bonn surreptitiously.  He sometimes goes a day or so not talking; not responding to anything around him.  He just sits and watches the horizon, the skies or the wide valley below their encampment.   Mother is a small-scale Flagship encompassing Quantum Computing, DNA Data and 5D Optics, but she can’t truly encompass or even assess loneliness.  Bonn is the only member of his species on planet; nothing around him is on par with him.  She watches his vital signs a

They arrived as if by magic. My relatives. The scroungers. Always on the prowl for a handout. Oh my god, I can’t stand them. Look at them.   My mother, lives with her rich sugar daddy…who incidentally didn’t end up being so rich, and not only used up any money she had left, but then had to sell his fancy house, car and boat to pay his debts. So now they both live hand to mouth, but with an aristocratic lifestyle and expecting me to pay for everything.   Here they come up the

Blowing gently…a mere zephyr moves the gentle giants that live outside my windows. They remind me that our planet is alive. They constantly keep me in touch with nature. Reminding me that in my busy life, nature is still one of the most important aspects of my life. They connect me with the planet, with the weather, with what might come.   They are portents of storms that frequently come my way.   A still day, the trees remain silent. Not moving, not talking. No noise.   The

Mother’s Puter tells Bonn that this planet, although totally different from Homeworld, has completely different but similar flora and fauna.  It doesn’t rain but water is drawn through the soil at night when the two moons pull upon the aquafer.  The largest flora is the spook-reed that has evolved into being carnivorous.  But there are extremely large mushroom forests which could be described as trees.  These fungi-types can grow up to eight metres tall with a one metre trunk

Nights are strange things on this little planet.  Under Mother’s protective laser dome Bonn can be outside the pod on sub-freezing nights.  He has abilities to leap over 100 metres in length and height; the strength of a charging Grumblebum; and easily withstand extreme temperatures, day and night. The nights are never dark for the whole sky is full of twinkling stars like a sparkling blanket of shining lights.  His favourite thing is lying on an air-mattress listening to anc

Silence, calm, serenity, nature. Peace. For me they are the natural environmental factors that give me peace. A calmness that makes me know I am part of the earth. I am a small part. Maybe I am an important part. Maybe not.   I find peace in many other things; a relaxing conversation with someone special, a fun journey of discovery, haunting music or lyrics, beautiful architecture and art, learning something from people, animals or the planet, understanding and enjoying life

There are no lollies in the Lolly Factory. There used to be! When the factory actually produced real lollies. Varieties that would turn the head of the sweetest tooth. All shapes and sizes, all flavours, and all colours. It was shut down, because, management in their blinkered, philistine, misogynist way refused to see reason. You see, they manufactured a product by the name of Ladies’ Allsorts. And, it was a big seller. The varieties of lollies was exquisite…’delicious’ woul

Mother is a space-pod, a rescue-vessel, a mini-version of the mothership.  But she wasn’t designed to raise one very young boy, on a small planet lost somewhere in the galaxy.  Her parameters are to keep him breathing, fed and safe.    Mother searches her data to help him ‘grow’ both physically and mentally.  There is little to help him grow sanely with caution and wisdom.   She finally finds a writing about more than just growth: “Caring for our metaphysical soil means carin

‘There are no words to this song, Hey lolly lolly lo, You make them up as you go, Hey lolly lolly lo.’*     Step 1. Have a brilliant idea (preferably while drunk, in love, infuriated, or all of the above) and scrawl a two-sentence outline on a napkin.   Step 2 . Earn the disapproval of the waiter for destroying the table linen.   Step 3. Purloin the napkin (they don’t care anymore anyway) and forget how you managed to get home.   Step 4. Take some Alka-Seltzer when you wak

Hmm what a day. I stood by my bowl for ALL to see…did they? No of course not. What is wrong with these humans? They can’t understand my language and they can’t even understand body language or even direct visual cues. They are moronic.   I’m starving. They haven’t given me any meat and my secondary biscuit bowl is insultingly devoid of biscuits. Do they forget that I can’t open the fucking cupboard myself? Nor open the bag with its fancy kliplok seal…who could open those stup