My short stories
Castaway Island - Fiji
Castaway Dreaming
A lifetime ago Suzanne fell in love with a Fijian man while on holiday at Castaway Island. She accepted his proposal of marriage but on her return to America – to tidy up her affairs – reality hits with a vengeance and she doesn’t return to the man she loves. Years later she finds herself in a position to return to Castaway and while exploring old haunts discovers more than she’d bargained for.
A lifetime ago Suzanne fell in love with a Fijian man while on holiday at Castaway Island. She accepted his proposal of marriage but on her return to America – to tidy up her affairs – reality hits with a vengeance and she doesn’t return to the man she loves. Years later she finds herself in a position to return to Castaway and while exploring old haunts discovers more than she’d bargained for.
Simpson Desert sun set
Run from the Sun
Peta loves her life in the desert and wants her fiancée Alex to experience her love and passion. As a photographer, he loves the colour and diversity of life, but an encounter with a snake leaves not only his life in the balance, but their future.
"The ochre sand dune jutted above the desert plain and from where I sat atop my mare, Twilight, the surrounding view of the barren landscape found here in far north South Australia, left me breathless. The Desert Oaks and Spinifex held together the fragile earth and offered shelter to many small creatures. The diversity of the land continued to captivate me, and I couldn’t think of anywhere else I would rather live."
Run from the Sun is also available in the By My Side short story collection.
Peta loves her life in the desert and wants her fiancée Alex to experience her love and passion. As a photographer, he loves the colour and diversity of life, but an encounter with a snake leaves not only his life in the balance, but their future.
"The ochre sand dune jutted above the desert plain and from where I sat atop my mare, Twilight, the surrounding view of the barren landscape found here in far north South Australia, left me breathless. The Desert Oaks and Spinifex held together the fragile earth and offered shelter to many small creatures. The diversity of the land continued to captivate me, and I couldn’t think of anywhere else I would rather live."
Run from the Sun is also available in the By My Side short story collection.
The Blue Mosque - Istanbul
Love in Istanbul
Sally didn’t plan on falling in love with a Turkish man but when she met Mos it was love at first sight. When his visa expires, Mos returns home with a plan to emigrate to Australia. When his correspondence stops, Sally and her best friend Dorothy go to Istanbul to find him. The challenge to find one man amongst twenty million leaves Sally desolate and despondent. However, Dorothy finds a lead and they face a challenge of a different kind when they follow it.
"‘Suck it into your lungs!’
I stared at my best friend, Dorothy, and frowned. ‘I am.’
‘Not enough,’ she giggled. ‘Oh for goodness sake, Sally, give it back to me.’
I handed over the water pipe. ‘It’s okay for you, you’re a smoker.’
She laughed. ‘You do it like this.’
I watched her pop the hose tip into her mouth and draw the smoke deep into her lungs. She looked at me from across the table as she expertly blew smoke rings at me."
Sally didn’t plan on falling in love with a Turkish man but when she met Mos it was love at first sight. When his visa expires, Mos returns home with a plan to emigrate to Australia. When his correspondence stops, Sally and her best friend Dorothy go to Istanbul to find him. The challenge to find one man amongst twenty million leaves Sally desolate and despondent. However, Dorothy finds a lead and they face a challenge of a different kind when they follow it.
"‘Suck it into your lungs!’
I stared at my best friend, Dorothy, and frowned. ‘I am.’
‘Not enough,’ she giggled. ‘Oh for goodness sake, Sally, give it back to me.’
I handed over the water pipe. ‘It’s okay for you, you’re a smoker.’
She laughed. ‘You do it like this.’
I watched her pop the hose tip into her mouth and draw the smoke deep into her lungs. She looked at me from across the table as she expertly blew smoke rings at me."
Diamond Trails
Eringa water hole - Outback South Australia
Edward Petersen finds more than he bargained for when he stumbles across a campsite on the Cooper Creek that is occupied by the woman he ran away from years before.
"Two kilometres away, on the dusty plain, a thin line of smoke caught Edward Peterson’s eye. Through his binoculars, he watched it rise through a wall of dense shrub that followed a line, Edward guessed marked a section of the Cooper Creek."
Diamond Trail is also available in the Came as Me left as We short story collection.
"Two kilometres away, on the dusty plain, a thin line of smoke caught Edward Peterson’s eye. Through his binoculars, he watched it rise through a wall of dense shrub that followed a line, Edward guessed marked a section of the Cooper Creek."
Diamond Trail is also available in the Came as Me left as We short story collection.
Sucba diving Asia
Adrenalin Rush
When Cindy’s husband Mark talks her into a scuba diving holiday in the hope of re-igniting their tired relationship, she never thought she would be instrumental in saving his life.
"It was meant to be the holiday of a lifetime, a trip with friends and time together to bring back the old magic we’d once shared, my husband Mark won me over with his words. It wasn’t that we were unhappy, but after twenty years of marriage, we’d lost the old spark, and life had got in the way, as it does in many marriages, with the challenge of bringing up children and balancing a career. And so I said yes to the dive trip."
When Cindy’s husband Mark talks her into a scuba diving holiday in the hope of re-igniting their tired relationship, she never thought she would be instrumental in saving his life.
"It was meant to be the holiday of a lifetime, a trip with friends and time together to bring back the old magic we’d once shared, my husband Mark won me over with his words. It wasn’t that we were unhappy, but after twenty years of marriage, we’d lost the old spark, and life had got in the way, as it does in many marriages, with the challenge of bringing up children and balancing a career. And so I said yes to the dive trip."
The Sound of Thunder
Eringa water hole - Outback South Australia
Outback station owner Nicola Hunt thought she had it all, until she returned home unexpectedly and found her husband in the arms of her best friend. On her stallion Silver Thunder, she raced against the desert elements to escape the nightmare scene.
"It was twilight, that special time between sunset and dusk, with the distinctive quality of ambient light so sought after by photographers and painters and known to them as the blue hour.
Nicola Hunt recognised none of these qualities only the shadows dancing across the track she rode her stallion along. She did know she needed to reach her destination before she lost all light, and it was fading fast. It was the way in the desert of outback South Australia during the winter months, the nights drew in as did the cold."
"It was twilight, that special time between sunset and dusk, with the distinctive quality of ambient light so sought after by photographers and painters and known to them as the blue hour.
Nicola Hunt recognised none of these qualities only the shadows dancing across the track she rode her stallion along. She did know she needed to reach her destination before she lost all light, and it was fading fast. It was the way in the desert of outback South Australia during the winter months, the nights drew in as did the cold."
Two Worlds Collide
Portaferrissa Barcelona
A rich girl, a butcher's son, a baby and two worlds collide.
"The icy wind came over the sea, lashing the street in sleeting rain and forcing Paul back to the doorway of his father’s butcher shop. As the wind sliced through his fleece, he hunkered down further into it, hands deep in trouser pockets and chin lost beneath a thick red scarf bunched around his neck. The scarf, a gift from his girlfriend, rarely left his neck during the week’s cold snap".
"The icy wind came over the sea, lashing the street in sleeting rain and forcing Paul back to the doorway of his father’s butcher shop. As the wind sliced through his fleece, he hunkered down further into it, hands deep in trouser pockets and chin lost beneath a thick red scarf bunched around his neck. The scarf, a gift from his girlfriend, rarely left his neck during the week’s cold snap".
Crusing
Azamara Quest
Julia Morgan takes a journey on a luxury cruise liner to help heal her past and move into the future. And then she meets Anthony, a waiter on the ship who awakens feelings she thought were long dead.
"Julia Morgan stood framed in the doorway of her balcony suite and gazed across the azure waters of the Adriatic Sea. In the distance, the ancient city of Zadar glistened in the early morning sun. She dropped her vision back to the information sheet. It told a sad story of a city torn apart by hundreds of years of war and conflict. The people of Zadar had suffered, and along with the beautiful city, deserved a breather."
"Julia Morgan stood framed in the doorway of her balcony suite and gazed across the azure waters of the Adriatic Sea. In the distance, the ancient city of Zadar glistened in the early morning sun. She dropped her vision back to the information sheet. It told a sad story of a city torn apart by hundreds of years of war and conflict. The people of Zadar had suffered, and along with the beautiful city, deserved a breather."
Diamonds are Forever
Broken Hill - NSW
Alexander Henderson is forced to revisit his past when the woman he loved and left, turns up to buy his gold mine.
"A little before sunrise, while the land lay white and delicate in the grip of frost, Alexander Henderson hunkered down into his woollen scarf and plunged his hands deep into the pockets of his fleece. It was the time of day that brought with it the cold wind that chilled a man through to the bone."
"A little before sunrise, while the land lay white and delicate in the grip of frost, Alexander Henderson hunkered down into his woollen scarf and plunged his hands deep into the pockets of his fleece. It was the time of day that brought with it the cold wind that chilled a man through to the bone."
Monaco Connection
Monaco waterfront
Suzanna Grimaldi never doubted her husband, until she found him in the arms of another woman.
"‘Suzanna, Suzanna, please will you listen.’ Roberto called from the deck of his yacht.
Suzanna Grimaldi, heard his voice evaporate into the distance, as she fled from the yacht. She needed to put as much space as possible between herself and her husband. How could he have betrayed her in this way? He was her love, her life. What had he been doing with that woman? She felt devastated."
"‘Suzanna, Suzanna, please will you listen.’ Roberto called from the deck of his yacht.
Suzanna Grimaldi, heard his voice evaporate into the distance, as she fled from the yacht. She needed to put as much space as possible between herself and her husband. How could he have betrayed her in this way? He was her love, her life. What had he been doing with that woman? She felt devastated."