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

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

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

She felt the call arrive in her body. She could feel the insistence, the desperation, the intense feeling of uncontrollable rage. She walked out onto the deck and with wings outcast she cannoned into the sky.   She followed the feeling but it was strange. It was a dark feeling on a dark, moonless night. But she didn’t need light, she had the feeling emanating in her body. She began to shake. The feeling was immense. It had never felt like this before. Her body was racked with

Curved fins curved in and out of the water. Bobbing along around us. I jumped in to join them. Googles clear, no scuba. A large breath and down I went. They moved fast and slow around me. I dived to 3m and held my breath as long as I could. Watching them engage with each other. What were they thinking? ‘What’s she doing here?’ or ‘Oh how nice she came to visit us.’   I remained vertical, spinning around slowly. They came gracefully closer to me. I reached out but didn’t touch

He stared at the dead body. Its head caved in.   ‘What do we know?’   ‘Well, it looks like he’s had a heart attack.’   ‘WHAT? No it doesn’t. It looks like he’s sustained a blow to the head with a blunt object, I’d say.’   ‘Well maybe he fell and hit his head and then had a heart attack.’   Shaking his head he stared at her.   She stood calmly staring at the body and he could tell she was processing the entire event. It was her first dead body. He knew from the past, that when

The globe spun around and round. ‘Look at the Atlas children.’ ‘That's not an Atlas that's a globe.’ ‘Don't argue Tim, just do as I say.’ ‘Yes but you got it wrong miss.’ ‘Don't be so rude Tim or you'll sit in the corner.’ ‘But...’ ‘No buts.’ ‘But don't you know an Atlas is a book?’ With this the rest of the five year olds nodded their heads in five year old wisdom. ‘Wasn't Atlas a man?’ The teacher smugly asked. ‘Oh nooo,’ Little Tim said knowingly. ‘Yes he was,’ the teacher

‘Well it’s closed.’   ‘WHAT! I’m dying for dinner! That’s crap. How can it be closed? It’s always open.’   ‘Well it seems that it is. We were told if we weren’t here on time it would be shut.’   ‘That’s bullshit. That woman is a nightmare. Just because we’re a little late, SHE CLOSES!’   A lady stood at the door and smiled at them, refusing to open up.   ‘MUMMMMMMM, OPEN THE DOOR AND LET US IN. I WANT DINNER!! THAT’S NOT FAIR.’   The lady smiles more and walks off.   ‘Awwww M

The knife was held to her throat. ‘What if this is a real knife? What if the actor is really going to kill me? What do I know about her? Did I check to ensure the knife was the prop knife? OH MY GOD, I DIDN’T!’ With that Kala grabbed the hand with the knife, she reefed the arm out away from the actors body, twisted it around…and whoops, she broke it. The actor wreathed around the stage in pain. The audience applauded. The director closed the curtain to a standing ovation. The

She sat on the table watching her mother cook. Her five-year-old legs dangling and swinging as she watched.   ‘I want to sit on the bench.’   ‘You can’t.’   ‘But I want to. I can’t see what you’re doing.’   ‘Well you can’t and that’s not a good reason to put your dirty little bottom on the bench.’   ‘Why not?’   ‘Because I said so.’   ‘Well, that’s not a good reason.’   Outsmarted by her five-year-old daughter the mother continued cooking with the ferocity of someone outsmart

‘Darlin, just try a little harder.’   ‘But I am Mummy, all I can do is try my hardest.’   Mummy hated being outsmarted by her 5yo.   ‘But I just don’t think you are really trying that hard.’   ‘Oh Mummy how could you say that. I ran around the field chasing that ball and all those other players kept getting in the way…and it’s really, really hot.’   ‘Yes Darling, but you just didn’t seem to kick it very hard when you did get to it.’   ‘Well, I didn’t want to hurt anyone, and

Through a particularly brilliant piece of thinking she brought in the idea of outsourcing the reproduction of flora. What she didn’t need was for trees and plants to move about. She had considered it, but it would unfortunately disrupt some of her other terrific designs, particularly mycelium and other creepy crawlies that lived under the plants…and cicadas (for which she had not yet come up with a purpose and probably never would).   She’d create something called wind. It wo

The sky was heavy and black, but it wasn’t night time. Everyone looked up at the ominous black clouds. BOOM, Crackle, SMASH! The lightning erupted over the houses. Mother Nature looked on and said to herself, “There’s a nice bit of entertainment for you mere immortals. Instead of watching your screens, look outside at the wonders I can create. You think you’re so clever with your mechanical and electrical inventions but they are nothing. You will never surpass me.” The mortal

‘You’re a bright spark’ he said nastily. ‘Am I?’ I said proudly ‘Dont be smart with me Missy!’ ‘But my name is Jodie, not Missy and I can’t help being smart.’ ‘I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU! How dare you question me and come up with ideas in front of the other people in the meeting.’ ‘But actually, you asked if anyone had any other ideas…and I did.’ ‘THAT WASN’T A QUESTION FOR PEOPLE TO ANSWER’ ‘Oh so it was rhetorical.’ ‘NO you idiot, it was just a question you ask but you don’t ne

I’m staring out from my hidey hole. Leaves protect me. They can’t see me. Those great big fat black and white things. Munching non-stop on the leaves. My God there’ll be none left. No wonder they are soooo fat.   I look at the leaves hiding me. There are so many of them. I can’t believe they haven’t headed over to them and discovered me.   I look longingly at the leaves that are hiding me. I’ve eaten all the others around me. Time to start on these ones. It doesn’t matter if

‘I’ve tried to tell him’   ‘And what does he say?’   ‘He keeps telling me “In his experience”, if I hear that once more I’m going to stab him with my pencil in true John Wick fashion. He’s an idiot. I don’t trust him. Something is just not quite right.’   ‘Hmm I know what you mean. It’s as if he’s playing a part and saying sentences that he doesn’t understand or if he does he’s certainly not going to deliver on, but they sound impressive.’   ‘Yep, agree. He’s a Hollowman and

I’m five years old and I know what I want. I want to be a ballerina. I love watching it on telly, twirling and jumping and looking ever...

I’ve been asked if I wanted some Kefir. I knew what it was, but I had no idea that you actually grew the stuff. I picked up my jar of...

They gathered under the light of the blood moon. Well, it was a dull red light but a light nonetheless. George looked around at his...