“Tell the story Uncle Jack, go on.” My brother handed Jack a mug of tea. We were spending the summer holiday on Uncle Jack’s farm in the Black Mountains, in Wales. It was getting dark. We’d had fish finger sandwiches…
Losses
Mike’s jump into the unknowns of medical school in some ways was not unlike parachuting from airplanes into different countries while in the Army. He had no illusions this new experience would in any way resemble the camaraderie he’d experienced…
Touching Rim
My mom knows nothing about basketball. She never even went to any sports games until I was a kid and made her come to soccer – my first team sport, though I don’t do it anymore. I decided I should…
A Shift in Time Zones
At breakfast, she lays Harold’s place: toast the way he likes it, just turning brown; a jar of thick-cut marmalade. She doesn’t like how the rind gets stuck in her dentures, but it’s his favourite. Her son, Ben, knocks on…
Pins and Needles
Head bent, Emily stitched in the wavering candlelight, bone-weary, eyes dazzled by the glitter from thousands of sequins, creating mini starbursts in her peripheral vision. They shimmered from the piles of handmade lacy shawls, stacks of velvet evening purses, and…
The Waltzing of Matilda
Once a jolly swagman fell for the lovely Matilda. None was fairer than Matilda. Her father ran two thousand head of sheep. There wasn’t a single stockman or shearer in all of the territory who didn’t want to waltz Matilda…
