Winona trails home from work, lingering all the way. The winter evening feels like spring. She browses through a few stores, the sale racks full of rejected clothes for 22nd-century space nuns, and leaves empty-handed. Her walk home takes her through Courtenay Place – not packed with munted rowdies, as it will be on Saturday […]
Entries Tagged as 'shortfic'
The Sighting
July 19th, 2010 Comments Off on The Sighting
Willow has borrowed her flatmate’s car for a grocery run. On her way home, she pulls over to put some petrol back in the tank. At the pump, she notices that the ordinary car on the other side of the petrol pump has a back seat stuffed with quilts and pillows and duffel bags. Who […]
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Leave Town During The Film Festival? Are You Mad?
July 16th, 2010 Comments Off on Leave Town During The Film Festival? Are You Mad?
Winona is vexed. Her partner Will says that his work friend Ulrika, a Swiss expatriate inspired by the crisp, cold weather, wants them to join her and a few other people on a ski weekend. Winona can’t ski, but that doesn’t bother her. The real problem is that she doesn’t want to leave Wellington during […]
Tags: films · social mores · ulrika · will
Rusticated III: Seen At The Market
July 9th, 2010 Comments Off on Rusticated III: Seen At The Market
It is Saturday morning, time to entertain guests. Wilhelmina has taken Leona, her friend from Levin to Frank Kitts Market. A chatty stall holder switched off and lost interest when she mentioned being from Levin and remembering the stall holder from a market up there. Wilhelmina has her back up about it. Wilhelmina huffs, “I […]
Tags: food · markets · wilhelmina · will · winona
Rusticated II, or, Bacon Futures
July 7th, 2010 4 Comments
The season of guests visiting Wellington has only just begun. Across town, Winona and Will are similarly gobsmacked by their own out-of-town visitor. Owen was at university with Will. He is currently in Winona and Will’s living room, in a striped shirt and braces, his bowler hat placed carefully on a table. Twelve years after […]
Tags: other cities · science! · will · winona
Rusticated
July 5th, 2010 Comments Off on Rusticated
Having a large house near downtown Wellington, silver-haired Wilhelmina and Wilson, in their golden years, are eager hosts. Unfortunately, their current guests are testing their hospitable good nature. Once upon a time, when they lived in the same city, they had been close friends with these guests. Eventually, the friends said adieu to their kids, […]
Tags: old city · other cities · wilhelmina · wilson
Auckland Mysteries
July 2nd, 2010 Comments Off on Auckland Mysteries
Willow is in Auckland for work, just for a few days. Why are men in Auckland fawning all over her? Her Auckland friends complain just as much as she does about no good men, dismal dating, etc. Maybe it’s the recent influx of South American immigrants that she’s heard about? Not having a mirror in […]
Tags: other cities · romance · willow
If a budget falls in the forest and nobody spends it…
June 30th, 2010 Comments Off on If a budget falls in the forest and nobody spends it…
News flash – government spending is up. Way, way up. All the government departments are trying to spend their annual budgets before the financial end-of-year deadline of June 30th. Freelancers and contractors stick around town, despite the ghastly June weather. Between projects wrapping up “for the 30th” and shell games involving fungible advance invoicing, this […]
Tags: government
Our Scum
June 28th, 2010 1 Comment
Will has spent the rainy Saturday at his best mate Wayne’s place. They only left the garage for bathroom breaks. Between replacing the engine of a secondhand 4 x 4 (Will spotted and handed over tools) and dissecting the All Whites’ football performance, time has flown. The 4 x 4, with the key in the […]
Tags: beer · social mores · wayne · will
Qui Audet Adipiscitur
June 25th, 2010 1 Comment
With FIFA World Cup games airing in the deeps of the night and the early morning, the question at Winona’s office this week, is, who is going to win? Who is going to be brave and daring enough…to call in sick on Friday after the 2 AM game, New Zealand versus Paraguay? Winona breezes in […]