Category: Issue Ten
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Fumes
By Miles Boyle-Bryant There hadn’t been a roaring engine on the track in years. But tonight the racket of drunk voices in the viewing room echoed out into the darkness of the cracked asphalt that snaked away in the dust below. In the gloom, a lone silhouette plodded along the once iconic speedway, the…
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ID
By Srinjay Chakravarti Raven-black thunderheads, the first clouds of the year’s monsoon, scudded across the slate-grey sky. Sipra stood on the verandah of their little cottage, looking with shining eyes at the harbingers of June rain. Their last paddy crop had failed in the summer, and this was their only hope now for a…
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The Witch in the Bottle
By Shannon Blake It is said that the Priory Church of Dunstable, England was once haunted by the ghost of a troublesome witch. According to legend, Sally had once been regarded as something of a harmless eccentric within the community, a strange and lonesome woman who told fortunes and dabbled in medicine. But as…
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Things We Cannot Say
By Kylie A Hough For Karolina Nada Califano It’s a humid Monday evening when I rest my fingers on the metal handrail of the hospital bed and watch my grandmother sleep. Once, she was my everything. Now, looking at her lie there, I wonder if something ever really ends once it begins. Nonna stirs…
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Black Dog
By Jane Downing ‘Anjing?’ she said carefully. Her vocabulary was largely made up of nouns and she’d double-checked the word for dog before setting out. Her hand hovered at the height of her lost dog’s head as she spoke. She was overestimating in Max’s absence. The young woman behind the counter nodded politely and indicated…
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My Apocalyptic Journey
By Zoe Sorenson Watching dystopian movies as a kid, I never really worried about what would happen if my family were separated in the event of an apocalypse—it wasn’t necessary. Let’s be real, I’m from a well-off, white Australian family from the suburbs of Melbourne. I was reasonably confident we would stick together regardless…
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Book Review: Hadithi & The State of Black Speculative Fiction by Eugen Bacon & Milton Davis
Reviewed by Angela Wauchop “Death is easier in November—New Year around the corner. Come January, you set your mind to new thinking. You leave death with the year gone. Sucks in March; you have to live with death the whole year.” ‘Hadithi & The State of Black Speculative Fiction’ is the collaborative work of African-Australian…
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Perfect Day
By Mary Pomfret A sweet young summer, all those years ago. I hate you. Tumbling tears. I hate you, Fred. I wasn’t staring at her. Punching the air. Julia, you know I only love you. Liar. You’re a liar, Fred. Running off, not looking back. But later, just as the sun was setting on…
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The Upside of Divine Intervention
By Daniela Abriola I never cared for the story of God’s angels and Lucifer’s demons, though it wasn’t like it was told much in my house. Yet somehow, I – and everyone else in the world knew the tale. Angels and demons sent to earth to guide people along their destined path. Many people…
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When I Was Eight
By Kiara Ash When I was eight, I had a pet mouse. He was called Tiny, because, well, he was tiny. A white mouse with a brown spot on his bottom – my stinky best friend. Mum took me to the local pet shop where I had first fallen head over heels for mice,…
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Close to the Edge
By Mary Pomfret When I was seven and sweet I lived on the west coast, rugged and dark Rainforest, devils, possum ringtail, hanging from the pines. Benign neglect, disguised as love, was commonplace back then. Mother would have been knitting booties for the next baby, Father tinkering in the shed. So, I…
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Cheryl
By Sophie G. Whiting The washing was left out in the rain – sopping masses of denim and wool. We blamed it all on Cheryl. Mum constantly shuffles in her seat while she records videos with her whiteboard. Her natural environment was the classroom panopticon, fluttering from one tiny desk to another. But now,…
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Over-dreaming
By Jane Frank Poems fall into my inbox from people I’ve never met home-baked cookies cool, the dog, ecstatic we’re home rolling in fallen lilly pilly flowers beneath a vibrant fickle sun the silver underside of gazania foliage sparkling with a new energy – It’s a blessing that your father…
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My husband’s grandfather, the jeweller
By Denise O’Hagan So we may find ourselves Taking on other people’s memories Slipping on the mantle of their lives Until they become part of us And walk where we walk, Second-hand shadows, Like the memory of my husband’s memory, when we went back, of that fastidious courteous man who dealt in heirlooms and timepieces…
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Paris Through Dutch Eyes
By Deni Baxas The rain pelted down against the French doors, creating a soothing rhythm that should be putting Freya to sleep. She had her hands pressed against the glass, the tip of her nose only lightly connecting to the door, staring out to the snowy City of Fairy Lights, as it was known…
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Up Cannibal Mountain
By Reece Pye He keeps his eyes on it even though he is driving, that smooth grey crest protruding from the earth like an ancient monolith. He does this because he doesn’t need to see the road he’s driving on. He’s been down it so many times now that it has become something more…
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Raindrops
By Sam Huffer She always has a problem with me cutting my hair short. Mum knows I have to force the water to stay in the bath, that washing my long hair infuriates me. And she always shouts whenever one of us kids doesn’t do what she asks. What happened to talking levelly? What’s…
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Miscommunication
By Jessica Murdoch ‘Can’t you see that everything I do is for you?’ Lily muttered under her breath. Her mother wouldn’t hear her. It seemed the skin irritation that’d been spreading across her back and shoulders was conveniently hurting her ears today. ‘Lily, you don’t mind if I leave out my hearing aids do you, darling?’ Victoria had asked as she greeted her at the door.…
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Shannon Blake
Shannon Blake was born in Leicester, England and now lives in Melbourne, Australia with one human, two cats and almost enough books. She is currently studying criminology and writes about history and folklore.
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Srinjay Chakravarti
Srinjay Chakravarti is a writer and editor based in Salt Lake City, Calcutta, India. His creative writing has appeared in over 150 publications in 30-odd countries. He has won the Salt Literary Award and first prize ($7,500) in the Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Memorial Poetry Competition 2007–08. Website: www.srinjaychakravarti.com.