Short Story

Short Story: My Garden

For one couple, their garden was their green and gold refuge, a riot of colour and life. When illness took her husband away from her, she left the garden alone until it became unruly. After a crew’s unloving cutting session the garden felt different: would it ever be her sanctuary again?

Short Story: The Impudent School Teacher

When her car is vandalised and public transport lets her down, a teacher decides she’ll find her own unorthodox way to get to school, but things don’t go as smoothly as she’d hoped …

Short Story: Smoked

A little girl lives in quiet fear of her grandmother’s moods and unpredictable actions, the older woman’s smoking and staring off into space a disturbing aspect of their home life. Not even playing with her brother or the escape of school can erase the invisible pain of her existence.

Short Story: Roses The Colour Of Corn

A fateful encounter with a charming young man in the orchard encouraged the blooms of true love and visions of a shared future. Years later, when Laura left for a new life in the city and worked in a florist shop she still could not forget him or resist her longing for the past.

Short Story: Australia Is Burning

Lungs filled with smoke, John Campbell wakes to the sounds of firetrucks and the sight of his homestead on fire. He soon discovers he is not alone in his state of disorientation. Amid all the desolation and destruction, John is left to ask: do I have the strength to rebuild again?

Short Story: Wagons For The West

Mary and her family undertake a trek across the country, lured by the promise of new land. When they stop abruptly, she discovers it is because her son has been terribly injured. When the other wagons head on without them, they are left to ask if they will ever see them again.

Short Story: Going Straight

When her husband Bill went off to work in the Territory and left Liz alone with their three kids, she was lonely and resentful … until Bill’s friend, Des came around to do a few jobs for her.

Short Story: Silly Me

Nina felt powerless to help her mum when it came to her bully of a dad and she was harshly punished when she reacted the only way she knew how. Did her mother have the courage to stand up to him, before it was too late for both of them?

Short Story: Bondi Jo

Joanne is ready to put a deposit on the shop she has always wanted. When a thief tries to rob her of her life savings, she apprehends him … only for bystanders to sympathise with the robber. The day only gets worse as a cop gives her a ticket. Time to breathe deeply and say her mantra.

Short Story: The Stray Cat Café Blues

Among the daily visitors to Jilly’s café is a tortoiseshell cat, there so often it might be a permanent resident. The plight of the unloved four-legged beggar tugs at the heartstrings of one patron, who feels a strange kinship with the stray … and brings a lonely work colleague along to meet the feline.

Short Story: The Alien On The Plate

Layla and Jason’s mum is doing her best to lead her kids in a sustainable, eco-friendly life, including Plastic Free July and largely vegetarian meals. But can she, her husband, Tim and the kids stick it out when faced with a plate bearing an unappetising greyish mass for dinner?

Short Story: Candy Wings

Young Vi Ricci’s dream is to get out of Kirks department store for good and to become a makeup artist to the stars. When she gets the chance to work with the prominent David Silverman, it seems her wish might be coming true sooner than she ever expected.

Short Story: Bundle of Joy

For so long Sarah had ached to be a mother – yet that ache failed to disappear and even changed into something else after she had Henry. Why did she now feel so empty?

Short Story: Bathing

After a lifetime together and a period spent nursing her husband Peter, Maeve dreamed of enjoying a long, languid bath … or perhaps taking a solo swim in the sea. But then Peter voiced her thoughts and asked if he could be taken to the sea and immersed.

Short story: A Day at the Beach

Jess felt sad that her mum often seemed to need ‘space’ away from the family. But on a visit to the beach, her mum’s need for time away from her husband and daughter takes on a more sinister tone.

MiNDFOOD NZ & AU Short Story Winners 2021

Supporting the creative communities in both New Zealand and Australia is an important part of MiNDFOOD. This is why each month we showcase local talent by publishing a short story from one budding writer. Here are the grand winners from both countries for 2021.

Short Story: Farm Dogs

Life on the farm is unrelentingly hard for Sue and her mother. Sue can’t wait for the day she can head to Auckland, leaving her father behind. Can she persuade her mother to leave with her?

Short Story: Two Paths Crossing

She wasn’t sure who the young girl was, but she knew it was no place for her to be sitting on the floor alone. When she intervened to save the girl from potential harm, she realised she could offer a safe home environment for people like her … and change both of their lives for the better.

Short Story: The Nature of Things

Within their busy office environment, Quinn and Dan circle around their attraction to each other. What will it take for them to acknowledge their feelings and act upon them?

Short Story Winner New Zealand 2021: Blushing Bridey

It’s Sarah’s big day – her wedding to her beloved Freddy – and all the family are on hand to share in her happiness…Mum, Dad, sisters Vanessa and Sharlene. But are they actually?

Short Story: Doreen

Burt’s wife, Doreen had died following an untimely ‘accident’ some time ago. But one day, as he happily took his previously banned paints and easel out into the garden, Burt thought he could hear a familiar voice berating him from the base of the willow tree.

Short Story: The Chocolate Grail

From the tender age of six, a search for the best chocolate cake in the world had occupied the author’s mind and stomach. From England to the Antipodes, then back to Europe, the decades-long search stretched. But could that perfect slice of cake now be (literally) within reach?

Short Story: These Halcyon Days

Robert McBride was sure that when he entered The Commission building he would be granted a delay in his admission, considering his status as a prominent author. As he waited, he thought about his life, as well as his nemesis, Vernon Hunt, who was a villain in nearly all of his books.

Short Story: The Blackbird

Life in the rest home was not exactly a barrel of laughs for Peter, a former farmer who grieved the loss of his independence. Days punctuated by unsatisfactory meals and the deaths of other residents made him wonder when his own turn would come…until one day, he heard a bark.

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