The Extra The work is continual, to fill the spaces around you like air, the backdrop influence of the wind, the tide. Lifeblood of the day-to-day flowing downstage through streets, stores, out of mind the way sea evades the hand. I slip through the set, through memory, and construct an ambiance —The coffeeshop businessman too […]
The Quarry Journal
A journal of creative writing by students at Macquarie University
The Rider, Sonia Lal
Anya could hear the stars ringing in her ears. It had started the day the sun had disappeared, and the world became cloaked by the night. In the shadow of darkness Anya was alone and she witnessed as the world crumbled around her. Fear of running out of electricity, food, and water had driven the […]
Drown Me Out, Salvatore Pedavoli
My thoughts, like smoke, cloud my mind. I cough and splutter. It’s killing me. I’m holding the rim of a steel sink, focusing on my reflection. My heart is almost in time with the muffled music outside. I can feel it pulsing in my throat. Pull yourself together. Someone staggers to the sink beside […]
Mother Nature, Laura Bax
My suburb is, according to most people, a quiet one. It’s almost entirely suburban, has a primary school, high school, a few parks and decent local shops, even if the Coles is, according to my mother, ‘the worst Coles in Australia’. It also has a small bush reserve running through it, which is home to […]
Paper Walls, Amelia Pike
I stared absently out the front window, barely concentrating on keeping the car between the two white lines of the lane. Jason prattled beside me. ‘It wasn’t like I had planned for her to stay over last night, obviously,’ he continued, ‘but when the Uber stopped at my house she said she had no money […]
Running On, Aleksandra Zaskalkina
CW: Swearing, sexual content, emotional abuse i remember the gallery through the trees It was a warm and sunny Valentine’s Day. He held fast to her hand as they walked. Her grip was lax, distracted. He gripped harder. ‘The things I do for you,’ he joked. ‘Going to a gallery for Valentine’s.’ […]
Do NOT Read This, Alexander Lafazanis
Totally like The thing is like people in the 90’s like literally laughed at like the idea of bottled water. Who would actually pay for something you can totally like get for free out of a tap? Would you pay for petrol if you had a pump in the kitchen? I mean a plastic […]
The constant, Masumi Atul Parmar
In science we learnt about white noise. How it is several noises at different frequencies. How it drowns out sound because your brain can’t decipher it all simultaneously. How it’s loud and meaningless. My head, dense and heavy saturated beyond comprehension. I can’t take in anymore noise. I cannot understand anymore noise. But outside it […]
The Deathless, Jeremy Nigro
I signed danger to Kira and Luke using our language; a mix of traditional American sign language and the tactical hand signals used by the old military. They repeated the message down the line and the other seven members of our party squatted down amidst the dense undergrowth of the forest; our hooded, olive-green ponchos […]
Peak of Silence, Arran Paix
Part I: The City A chorus of roosters crowed outside her window, disjointed, long and loud. Her eyes snapped open and the hustle of the city outside crashed into her room, exploding her temples. Vendors shouted over each other: Bananas! Melons! Pineapples! Beef! Chicken! Fish! Carrots! Potatoes! Corn! Dogs barked, hurtling after stray cats that […]