The line for coffee was longer than I expected which made me nervous. She said ten minutes and I didn’t note the time so it’s no good looking at my watch. I just have to wait while all these old ladies ahead of me in the line order what they want. Why do people take […]
China
In China, everything is big. Tiananmen Square is as big as a city block. If it were up to me to mow down protestors I would have gotten lost, even in a tank. The Chinese are probably used to big things, at least in their public areas; when we got to more private areas, things […]
Fuss
Wherever I go, I make a fuss. I walk up the ramp slowly, me and my walker, and the attendant from the agency follows me, very close, waiting for me to fall but I don’t fall. He must be very frustrated. Such a fuss, I think. I don’t like making a fuss. We reach the […]
People-watching
People walk along the footpath next to the ocean. Sometimes they do it for exercise; young girls in sleeveless t-shirts or slightly overweight girls walking with their friends to encourage them to do something about the fact that they like food too much, or perhaps the wrong sort of food. I identify with the fat […]
Walking
I wish I could walk again. I dream about it sometimes, I’m walking along and then I realise I’m walking normally, how I used to walk, one foot in front of the other and no shakiness. I sit in my car and I watch people walk. They walk down the street full of confidence, swinging […]
Choosing a Career
Maya went with her friends to the library to study for exams. It was a beautiful sunny day, everything was so green except the parts which were blue and brown and sometimes yellow and everything was shining bright but if she had to spend the day indoors, and she had to study for exams, the […]
Sophie’s Birthday
She ran up the hotel stairs because her mother had said her father would be at the top. It was her birthday so she expected her father would have a surprise. Birthdays were all about surprise, that’s why she looked forward to them. The stairs were covered in carpet so they weren’t slippery and she […]
Sexuality
When I was 20, I didn’t like the choices available to me. Gone were the fantasies of my teenage years when I imagined that the man I would eventually meet would be as invested in my future, and helping me reach it, as I was in his. When strangers told me that smiling made me […]
Cairns
Palm Cove, north of Cairns, was every bit as beautiful as my friend Pam said it would be, though not quite as unspoiled as the beach at Bawaka. I’d booked into the Peppers Beach Resort and Spa because I really did intend to spend a few days relaxing before returning to Sydney. When my room […]
Nhulunbuy
Jenny met me at Nhulunbuy airport and drove me on the grand tour through the town. It has a Woolworths, Westpac and chemist, a bunch of tourist gift shops, a Toyota dealership, IGA, a post office, library and three bottle shops. There’s also the surf club, yacht club and Arnhem club. There’s a Mitre 10 […]