Story Archives - Page 7 of 20

I Left Far North Queensland With a UTI and a New Family

My eyes are blurry from the tears and I'm squirming in my seat. My nose is a faucet under my facemask. I'm struggling to control my sniffling so my neighbours don't think I have the spicy cough. Staring intently at the seatbelt sign, I yearn for the light to dim so I can run to…

ByNikki RichardsonSeptember 6, 2021

Australia Story

Naked, Sandy and Slightly Afraid

It’s 9pm on a Saturday. Joel and I sit on the couch in the shared common room of a North Queensland hostel. I tilt my head back and close my eyes, remembering a night four years ago when I was just 18 years old, drunk in one of my hometown nightclubs. “After that it all…

ByTyla McDuffAugust 25, 2021

Story

The War on Terror is Ending in Afghanistan. But the Terror Will Not End.

Every night my father awaits news on Afghanistan. He listens to Al Jazeera report that western troops have withdrawn their occupation of the country. He interchanges between news stations. He turns off the TV and switches on our Afghan Satellite box to find out what’s happening directly.

ByHosna EqbalAugust 15, 2021

Story

“Absolutely Not An Alcoholic”

Am I an alcoholic? Some might say that if I have to ask myself this question, I probably already know the answer. I sit here writing this with a margarita close by and a small child watching my every move, sipping on her juice box. She’s got dark curly hair framing her face…

ByLauren JonesAugust 5, 2021

Story

A Roadtrip From My Bedroom

I had just stepped off the ferry on Minjerribah – or North Stradbroke Island – when I discovered my home state South Australia had slammed the borders shut to Queensland. Bonnie, a girl I had met 30 seconds prior, broke the news, spiralling any plans I had for the foreseeable future down the drain. “I’m…

ByZara RichardsJuly 14, 2021

Story UK

How Lockdown Turned My Bustling Seaside Resort into a Ghost Town

I was sitting in the living room with my parents when the news of the first lockdown came out. The three of us, clutching onto coffee cups like lifelines, stared up at the screen as history unfolded before us. There’s something chilling about your mind being stuck in a loop of paranoid questions, and ours…

BySasha SemjonovaJune 14, 2021

Australia Story

Sober, Single and Saucy

I woke up on the 1st of January this year in a double bed spooning two of my friends in their dad’s apartment in a small town just out of Sydney. I’d spent New Year’s Eve doing the coffee table dance competition with my top four Myspace friends after the COVID restriction hammer was dropped…

ByLucy SmallMay 20, 2021

Japan Story

The Curious Case of the White Man’s Dick

My capsule hotel had bigger beds and cheaper rates than anything else in the area, but it didn’t have walls around its showers. So as I stood in the steam of the sento – the communal bath shared by guests – realising what the next week would have in store, I started to believe that…

ByEugene YangMay 12, 2021

Australia Story

All You Need is Love: What It’s Like to Live in a Van With Your Fiancé

"I need to buy some bin bags to shit in or there'll be an explosion in the night," said my fiancé of one month, roughly three-and-a-half minutes after we’d packed our life's possessions (and dreams) into our little commuter van. This suddenly brought to my simple mind a question. Do you really know the person…

ByCassandra ClarkMay 10, 2021

Australia Story

Michael the (Snake) Charmer: a Month in a Nimbin Commune

When I arrived at his dilapidated treehouse, I complimented Michael on the taxidermy snake he had draped on his kitchen window sill. I found comfort in its lifelessness, its alien body, the intricacy of its scales. Michael, slowly dragging on his cigarette and puffing out dragon-like smoke, crossed one thin leg over the other as…

ByTawney BevilacquaApril 12, 2021

Story

I Was Exploited on National Television by Channel 7

We smiled and thrashed around in the pool because they told us to. We yelled out "Schoolies!" with our drinks in the air because they told us to. When asked if we were 18 -- without having to produce ID -- most of my friends lied and drunkenly signed contracts forfeiting our rights because they…

ByAlysha CozensApril 6, 2021

Story

How to Scam Wal-Mart For Free Camping Gear

This is a tale of how five young boys took on the corporate giants, putting the no-questions-asked refund policy of Wal-Mart to the ultimate test. Could the purchased items survive a three-day festival in the middle of the desert and be returned for a full reimbursement? There was only one way to find out. Preparing…

ByBilly HatfieldMarch 18, 2021