My writing career began in 2014 when I attended Christchurch's Hagley Writers' Institute. I enjoyed my year immensely and have remained friends with many of the students from the course.
Each year the Institute produces a publication called the Quick Brown Dog. The editors accept submissions from current and past students, and I have had work in a previous edition. In September 2020, my pieces, My Family in Fridge Magnets and Home Sweet Home were accepted. The publication looks wonderful and I was thrilled to read my fridge magnet piece at the book launch. I hope you enjoy my story. It is a work of fiction. Any similarities to persons alive or dead is coincidental. My Family in Fridge Magnets Garish souvenir magnets compete for my attention whenever I reach inside the fridge for milk, cheese or leftover curry. The vintage-looking magnet of a housewife holding a mug of coffee catches my eye. It could be my sister. What if my family were fridge magnets? Perhaps my sister is this woman seated above the lipstick-red word Napier? No, she’d be the Leaning Tower of Pisa, clearly out of whack. I picked up that magnet from a gelato store in Italy. She sits to the right of the fridge handle and crashes to the ground whenever I slam the door. Just above my multi-coloured Disneyland magnet, is my workaholic brother. He’s a Dutch windmill surrounded by colourful tulips. I can feel his blustering breeze—turning, turning, always busy, unable to stop. I use him to keep my weekly planner in place. My mother is I💙NY—a direct statement: no room for disagreement. I often move her around the fridge door, always keeping her below eye level. What magnets would she create? A girl in a bikini--always wear sunblock! A pile of books--will you never learn? My Windsor Castle magnet is my father. Brass, in the shape of a tower, he’s not large, but I count ten blacked-out windows giving nothing away. By the shiny portcullis, dressed in red and wearing busbies, two guards stand on sentry duty. No one can get in or out. I use him to keep track of my overdue bills. A Scottish thistle, an Aboriginal boomerang, the storks of Alsace, Harry Potter World, a London bus, the Mona Lisa, which magnet am I? That depends on my mood. Today, I’m the boomerang. No matter how far I’m flung, I’m here, clinging to my messy fridge door.
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BioI am an author and artist. I enjoy writing short stories, flash fiction and am currently working on a Biblical Historical Romance series. Categories |