If you keep walking west along the Woodend Road, passing newly built double story houses with double garages and flower pots at the front, you will come to Blue Gum Tree Lake Reserve without noticing my house. It is the last house on the street and is hidden behind large weeping willows. Overgrown apple, plum […]
The Quarry Journal
A journal of creative writing by students at Macquarie University
Night Market, Ry Feder
Circle The markets glimmer in the dark like firelight. It’s the fairy lights draped over each booth, Jamie thinks, and the lanterns that criss-cross the paths between them. Individually, each bulb is small. They don’t produce much light. But together… massed together, they’re breathtaking. It’s a nice metaphor. Jamie mentally notes it down to use […]
Until the Light, Thomas Dennis
A bleak morning shadow loomed over the city; countless sleepless lights lost within silence. Once, every candle and streetlight would dance in a warm blaze; twirling to a jumbled, disruptive symphony… But that was a long time ago. ‘That time again?’ Darren snapped up from his boots, smiling slightly at the young woman standing over […]
The Old Dog, Aislinn McKenzie
A strong breeze was blowing from the ocean, spinning the washing line into a frantic twirl, as if the old bed sheets and t-shirts were some elaborate patchwork skirt. The house groaned and whistled, and occasional pelts of windblown sand or the scraping of branches would rattle the windowpanes. An older woman struggled to attach […]
Afterlight, J. A. Phelan
WELCOME TO THE RiteWell!™ DATABANK> You have selected the following transmissions for mass erasure> CONTINUE? TIME: 3.2MPTS DATE: 980.76.34.7 USER: Navka TorlandRACE: Estian (see more USER data)CATEGORY: Audio Transcript > Personal > journalism > press releases for workTITLE: Kion and Estian Peace&Prosper Alliance Announcement BEGIN TRANSMISSION / > …okay… so… I’m […]
The Hosts, Selin Aydogar
Mask on, spray, wipe, repeat. The television on the wall sits above me playing the News. It’s always the same old thing and I prefer not to watch it, but the customers always rather watch the news than some random movie. ‘Another fifteen people from Shadow Falls in Sydney taken to ‘The Island’ today. That […]
Touched, Kimberley Carter
When was the last time you dreamed in any colour other than gold? You wish there was a dial or perhaps a valve that you could use to drain the world of that particular metallic hue. Maybe then, the world would return to the way it was before. You find the memories from the time […]
Breathe, Christine Zielinski
Breathe the earthmoss soft on barkradiant.Breathe the waterrunning fastover rocksmoothed to sand.The tang of saltlingeringon your tongue,on your skin,as it bakes brownbeside the waves. Download PDF
The End as We Thought It, Briana Symons
My name is Bri. I’ve been sitting at my desk, looking at a blank page for ten minutes as I listen to my neighbour struggle to pull out of the driveway. Every scrape of tyre against pebble resonates in my chest. My neighbour always takes ages to get out of the driveway, but it feels […]
Helios and Luna, Harry Trethowan
The screech of the apartment complex’s 6:00 AM siren pierced through concrete walls. It signalled to the room’s singular resident he was permitted to wake. The steel door constraining the man inside the room clunked as magnetic bolts slid back into its frame. It was an empty gesture on behalf of the Government in control […]