The Amazing Crocodilian
The croc tour went bad before it began.
Beyond the Twilight
Brad sat at the bar. To the right of him was a large picture window.
The Girl who Swallowed a Pencil Sharpener
The smell of new stationery was in the air. The extreme dryness of refill pads and exercise books. The graphite of pencils and tang of ink.
Rite of Passage
I am Māori and I am becoming a man. It is dusk in the tohungatā moko, our expert tattooist’s, hut. My days of being a boy are ending.
Roadside Goat
There are some roadside goats, tethered to lonely triangles of tin, who used to be loved.
Speaking in Tongues
Paul reaches for Dawn’s hand and squeezes it roughly. He has a knack for interrupting her when she wants to be mentally alone.
Nights of Everywhere
I remember our first night everywhere cos Māmā always takes us somewhere special to tell us about the whakapapa of a place.
Blown off Course
It had been the wettest week since records began. Three streets away the river threatened to break its banks and, around midnight, it did.
Chicken Skin
Her skin is raw and pink, fleshy-soft like the fat chicken fillets my mother brings home from the butcher’s that I poke through the plastic bag.
The Standing Stones
As far back as we know, the babies die in August. This I will tell my girls and any grand-girls that I come to see.