Tanya Bell

‘People miss who I was Fay, not who I am now.’

‘No your wrong, your friends miss you!’ Faith said

Resting his head in his hands Khai stood in Elysium Park on the morning of his seventh birthday and watched his mother sleep, wishing silently that he was curled up besides her.

‘Jonah, answer me!’ Sophia’s voice rose in panic, visions of chaos and carnage danced around her imagination.

Wrenching her hand free, jagged finger nails tearing the skin on the back of her hand she spun on her heel and sprinted toward the crack of light she could see on the far wall.

To the strains of the Last Post the heavens shed tears and she stands in the rain letting her own fall freely to the ground, quietly whispering to herself Lest We Forget.

Kicking off her shoes she closes her eyes for a moment, letting the cooling night air wash over her, nudging away the last vestiges of alcohol and flirtation.

‘No-where to go this time, Anna’
Anna’s eyes flick to the doors, can she be bothered outrunning him again?

I’ll keep you safe.’ Putting the photo in her breast pocket, she pats her heart.

‘Might you look a little closer .’She quietly prays as she steps off the train and breaths in the stale manufactured air of the city terminal.

Raging red sky rises to morrow’s dawn

A willow drapes its delicate leaves
A kookaburra laughs an even beat
The river ripples on the twilight breeze
The scrub crackles in the summer time heat

She lays her petite wedding band on the dresser re-reading her note. Its not happy birthday but it will do

A short story to ease the grief of loosing someone loved

mobiles, calls, text messages. Living 500 kms away from family does not stop the interference.

Breezy, aged 3, died in her sleep, this is her eulogy

The painting of a picture leads to a lost memory

The beginnings of a novel, tracing the life of a perfectly normal damaged soul.

Playing the game, she leaves one conquest behind in the pursuit of another