With the Click of a Mouse

by hidayat | Sep 18, 2021 | Short Stories

Theresa entered the Computer Lab with great trepidation. She wasn’t aware of it, but her eyes were large in her head, causing her to have a startled look on her face. She was a forty-three-year-old mother of two boys, and this was the very first time she was going to...

One Last Hope

by hidayat | Sep 6, 2021 | Short Stories

This story was entered in the Furious Fiction Competition held every first Friday of the month by the Australian Writers’ Centre. The prompts were: no more than 500 words; the story had to be set in an attic or a basement; it had to feature an insect; and it had...

When Wishes Come True

by hidayat | Sep 4, 2021 | Short Stories

Dillon clearly remembered that his Grandma Sarah had told him that the Wishing Tree never gave any wishes without taking something in return, but he still knew he just had to make the wish. His need was too great to ignore. The Wishing Tree was set deep in a forested...

Everyone’s A Critic

by hidayat | Aug 7, 2021 | Short Stories

The following is a short story I wrote for a competition. The requirements were: no more than 500 words; I had to use the words paint, shift, wave and toast; I had to include something being shared. Please let me know what you think of my attempt. Thank you. The hole...

Heart of Gold

by hidayat | Aug 4, 2021 | Short Stories

Mark learned about his terminal illness on a day that seemed made for vibrant life, not the Pale Horseman. When his oncologist told him in a tone of great sorrow that his brain tumour was inoperable, and that he would have only two months to live, the ray of sun...

My Inner Galaxy

by hidayat | Jul 30, 2021 | Short Stories

They talk about me as if I cannot hear or see them. I may be quiet, reticent and inwardly-focused, but I am normal – at least, to myself I feel normal. The doctors say I am an autistic child suffering from Asperger’s Syndrome, and I am helpless to ask them not to...