67
“That’s the first moment of genuine, non-medicated calm I’ve felt since…”
The sentence decayed into silence and Pat found himself looking out the window as if looking to see where the rest of it had gone.
“Since…?” prompted the doctor. Continue reading
66
Pat had adopted his usual posture with his back hard up against the armchair as if it were a wall. One foot was stood on top of the other and his shoulders were hunched, like a vulture’s. Continue reading
65
“Afternoon, mate,” said Wally, tapping his racquet against the heel of his shoe as Pat walked through the chain-link gate and onto the court. Continue reading
64
Rita’s building reminded Pat of the extra-terrestrial hotel room at the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Continue reading
63
Rita broke off the gaze, taking the straw from her glass and laying it by. She sipped from the glass itself this time and when she put it down, the rim was marred with lipstick.
62
“Rita, does it always have to be so hard?” Pat shifted in his chair, wanting to leave.
“Don’t be like that,” she said with a grin. “What are you drinking?” Continue reading
61
The door to the Re:Public was half open when Pat came down the darkened alley. He went inside in the hope of finding company to help take his mind off himself. The room was dark, but the lights behind the bar were on. Continue reading
60
Nat had a scarf in the back seat of the car. Before they set off, she wrapped it around her neck, tucking the tails into her jacket before zipping it up. She walked past the car and down the stairs that led to the sand. Pat followed. Continue reading
59
The drove out to Frankston, not far from the club Pat had worked at a few weeks prior. She parked in one of the small bays set into the scrub that created a natural divider between the sand and the road.
“Do you want to go in here and eat?” asked Nat, pointing up at the restaurant perched above the sailing club. It was built from panels of glass that glinted in the sun. The rails and fixtures, however, were a muted steel grey that refused to reflect the light. Continue reading
58
Natalie pulled up to the corner of ACDC and Flinders Lane in a grey Mitsubishi hatch. Pat opened the passenger door. It weighed a fraction of what the long, heavy coupe doors of the Valiant did. When he pulled it to, it slammed. Hard. Continue reading
Theme Park at its Darkest 