At dusk, just when the blisters on Lila’s feet were bordering on unbearable, Rivan raised a muscled arm for them to stop. Thinking he was wanting to make camp for the night, Lila let out an audible sigh of relief. She was shushed immediately. Hidden in the shadows was a creature nothing like anything Lila […]
The Quarry Journal
A journal of creative writing by students at Macquarie University
The Chameleon and the Tiger, Ellise Artery
Labord tip-toed swiftly through the silent morning streets of Raipur. The pale dawn light provided him with ample shadowed doorways and inlets to conceal himself from the undesirable early-risers walking by. The day was already warm, heralding the heat that the sun would bring. Labord wiped his sweaty hands roughly across his dirt stained shorts […]
Dirt, V.Y. Catto
The truck had the company name on the side, done with a home-made stencil and pink spray-paint: TOBY AND BINAAR: REMOVALIST SERVICE Dina rode in the truck all day with the two happy young men and listened to their enthusiastic singing with bemusement. They had a fondness for Cheryl Cole. The trip took under an […]
Kingdom Animalia, Simon Emmerson
For decades before he died, a man living in New York fed sick and parasite infested pigeons. This man was a germaphobe, well known for his propensity to shun any and all things unclean. He would often wear clothes only once, before throwing them away. And yet, for all this, he reveled in the pigeons […]
Hush Little Songbird, Sophie Ormshaw
Avelina curled up in the corner of the room, shaking as the stone walls dug into her back. It was cold and every so often the wind would come through the opening in the wall. She looked out and remembered what the tower looked like from the outside. High above the rest of the house, […]
The search for Lycaon pictus, the African wild dog, Keira Chrystal
Egypt, Naqada III: Cosmetic Palette Addax bulls clashed by the acacias, trampling the savanna. They gnashed and snorted, grumbling up dust, and leaving pits in the dirt. Females and non-contenders ruminated around them, as if oblivious. Giraffes observed from their troop, swishing their tails, and smacking their jaws. Before the pharaohs of Egypt, wild dogs […]
Loud Crashes and Booms, Annabelle Serisier
Trotting rain pounded the tin roof in a deafening rhythm Puffs of dust exploded as drops hurled from A sky furious with drought Black and grey bubbled against the fuchsia of the afternoon sky Streaks of light shot through clouds As the sun became a hidden nucleus of light caught within a churning darkness And […]
Ode to Phineas Bunting, Anneliese Smith
My story begins seventy years ago, in the year 1885, when I met a woman who lived in an isolated part of town, at the bottom of Marsland Valley. I didn’t know it then, but this meeting was to leave a lasting impression on me as years went by. I was just sixteen years old […]
Mr Rigby’s Elephant, Conrad Fuller
Pieter De Wet was Pretoria Zoological Gardens’ chief elephant keeper, and it was certainly his abilities with calming the beasts which excused the amounts of scotch he drank before arrival each morning. * On my first day, I was met by a young woman named Lerato, who insisted I call her Lera. With six years […]
Neah Bay, Bryana Innis
*Trigger Warning: mention of suicide. Neah Bay, Washington, 2019 Alana felt a soft sense of dread and apprehension settle in the pit of her stomach as she drove into the familiar seaside town. She was now twenty-three years old and hadn’t been back to this place for four years. She had been able to avoid […]