Short Stories
The Crunch
Disclaimer: The following story is in no way intended to mock any person or body shape. It is meant for entertainment purposes only. To say that Kenneth was short would be an understatement. A pony is short. A donkey is on the short side. Even a Great Dane can be...
The Visitor
It was the sound that awoke Dustin from his slumber. The noise was barely above a whisper, but it was unfamiliar, one that was not part of the usual night sounds of the darkened flat. It was not the soft hiss of the refrigerator running through its cycle, nor the loud...
A Beautiful Life
Yasmina dragged her exhausted, worn-down body up the three flights of stairs of the tenement building in Manenberg, her knees throbbing painfully with each heavy step. She sighed quietly, grateful that her incessant back pain of three days ago had finally subsided....
Just Ice
“Zethu, you must always measure the milk carefully before you give them to the customers,” Lubabalo told me on the morning misfortune scratched at the door flap of our mud house. I was his baby sister, but to me he was my universe. We had lost our parents in the...
Bliksemed
Idris looked at Brenda irritably. “Why don’t you keep your nose out of other people’s business? It’s like you’re only happy if you can talk kak about others,” he stated. Brenda’s face instantly purpled and turned splotchy in rage. She was a large woman in every way:...
Forever Is Never Forever
Patricia celebrated her thirty-fifth wedding anniversary with Hamilton by surprising him with a vacation in sun-soaked Greece. He had always told her that it was a destination he wanted to visit, and she felt elated that she could make his dream come true. It had...
The Choice
Ali knew his extended procrastination had come to its inevitable end the minute his father said, “It’s time, son. You need to decide tonight, or wallah, you might as well forget about it.” He had been trying to avoid and postpone having to make a decision for nearly a...
A Woman’s Strength
Anil was younger than Surita by four years, but the age difference was inconsequential, as far as the two lovers were concerned. Surita wasn’t overbearing or dominant; in fact, she adored Anil to such an extent that she was prepared to do anything for him. He was only...
With the Click of a Mouse
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
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 to...