A Short Story By jec. young I arrived in the bleak midwinter of a country without sunlight. The orange street lamps seemed as though they never turned off. I didn’t understand how to cope with the cold, so I sat with my back against the radiator constantly, and I slept in everything I owned. I walked […]
Short Stories
First Second Chance
A Short Story By Lauren Jacobs I tugged at the shoelace strings that held my shoulders. The humid air smudged my face as I walked the lazy, old streets of Bath in the British countryside. I shifted my weight as my mother, sister in law and I took another photo in front of the intimidating […]
Old Gold on Trains
A Short Story By Kris Van der Bijl “Do you think we can smoke in here?” “You want a cigarette as well?” My friend Michelle and I were taking the train to Cape Town. The coastal track offer sights of rocks. The sea breeze bellows to one’s nose and carries the grains of eroded sand to […]
The Roses
A Short Story by Shameelah Khan I don’t understand isiXhosa, but this is a dialogue. He stood in-between the books A look of tenderness Bodies Bound by The un-fixing of spaces Traces of Chapman A forgotten library Preserved African knowledge Prayers Documented in the tongues, of the returned land, And Isixhosa A poem by an […]
Wisdom, Understanding and Courage
A Short Story By Mandla Phakathi It’s a sunny day, clear skies give a clear view of the sunlight. Dust rises in the park that kids have turned into their own soccer field. They run around until the sunset forces them home. They run until the street lights come on. They run until the ball […]
The Confessions of St Anger: Of Ghosts, Snakes and Sleeping dogs
A Short Story By Marguerite Ward “I want a dog” “We have five dogs already” “No. You have five dogs. I want a dog that’s mine” Scary. Scary and grumpy. Those are the words most typically used by strangers upon meeting my beloved St Anger. I teased him once about his first impression, describing him as […]
The Confessions of St Anger
A Short Story By Marguerite Ward The Confessions of St Anger Of drugs, prostitutes and steamers “And that scar?” His body is covered with marks, like a retired fighting dog. I heard a cat referred to as having a face like a fist with fur on, he comes close. Only on him, it makes him roguish, […]
A Mad Woman’s Song to Self
A Short Story By Meshalini Govender I look at her and see all the things that I am no longer. She smiles, with a complacent confidence-it boasts sincerity and vitality borne of youth and innocence. Her eyes are glazed with the far-flung horizons of promise; promise that she strides towards with definitive unwaveringly infinite hope. Looking […]
Mother
A Short Story By Sarah Leck 「孩子，你看你堂哥的儿子这么可爱！」 “Child, look how cute your cousin’s son is!” My mother held a phone to my face, hers beaming with familial pride. On the screen was a picture of a boy about a year old with cherubic, pink cheeks, smiling guilelessly. 「对啊，可爱。」 “Yeah, he’s cute.” I meant it, but […]
Petty Thief
A Short Story By j.e.c young I am a petty thief. I like to steal. I don’t need to, but I like it. I only take books, but it’s enough to make me feel like I’ve had a rebellious phase. I walk through bookstores and I look at the names of dead authors and I think […]