Someone had let loose a ripe one. The air was thick with it. I looked out over the chaos and sighed, then set to work searching through the bodies for the culprit. “Whose child is this one?” I called out, swinging the offender through the air by his armpits, steaming buttocks as far from my … Continue reading Ella’s Party
Sometimes, the tide is rising and you have no idea. You are so busy with everything else in your life that you don't see it creeping up to overwhelm you until - too late - you're neck deep in water and struggling to stay afloat. Sometimes you get caught in a storm surge. Sometimes, a … Continue reading The Tide
The winters in Central Asia are piercing and bleak, while the sweating, foetid summers bring cholera, dysentery and mosquitoes, but, in April, the air caresses softly and the scent of all the flowering trees douses this city’s throat-catching whiff of cesspits. The Kiss, by Angela Carter It is a ghost city. For all the colourful … Continue reading Journeys
It’s hospital month, apparently. One weekend with my sister who sliced her finger, the next with my daughter struggling to breathe (bronchiolitis, poor thing). I’ve now visited seven hospitals in the Perth metro area this year, four in the past two weeks. That’s a record for me. The problem I have with hospitals is the … Continue reading Hospital Time
Sunday. We are at a family picnic. The sun is shining, the birds are warbling, the water at the dam is sparkling, but too cold to swim (probably for the best). Snags are sizzling on the BBQ. Children are laughing as they crunch sticks and leaves and gumnuts beneath bare feet. Toes scrunch in dirt. … Continue reading Ouch-ocado
EMMA LOUISE GILL 