Roadhouse – Chiang Mai, Thailand
The house band kicks off the evening with some slick prog rock, and then segues into blues and R&B standards. I jump up on stage, first chance I get, and it’s great fun. Everyone is relaxed, and happy to jam out…
The Amazing Kindness Of Strangers
“This place is amazing Nev, thanks man” I tell him. “It’s been a couple of days since I had a hot shower, so I’m really gonna enjoy this.”
“Well I didn’t want to say nuthin’, but you do stink a bit” Nev quips, with a wink…
Ring My Bell
…Before you moved in there was druggies running a meth’ lab in that place. There were hookers turning tricks in there, fights, non stop fucking problems. I had to call the cops one night ’cause this guy climbed my fence and fell asleep in my back yard…” I lived in Redfern for a while, in…
New Year Breakdown – Springbrook, Australia
“When I was eighteen, I just went off and travelled… I didn’t have anybody watching me, or criticising me. I didn’t really have any money, but it didn’t seem to matter. People were so helpful and generous. My family reported me as a missing person. The police saw my truck parked in the street. They were like: ‘why don’t you call your mum? She’s worried about you.”
A Ghost Story – Perth, Australia
I notice that the windshield is spider-webbed with cracks. The glove box lid is missing, and all the seats are torn. There is a heavy layer of discarded food wrappers on the floor, and the car has a slightly unpleasant odour. I’m getting a bit of a crack-head vibe off the guy…
A Puppy & A Bin Bag – Moulamein, Australia
…So where you headed then, mate? I ask him, hoping it’s somewhere really close. He jabs the point of the scissors close to my face, his arm shaking, the point of the scissors bobbing an inch from my left ear. Mind your own fucking business, he snarls, his voice shaking with rage. I keep…
Rainbow Found – Mole Creek, Australia
I hear something move a few metres away. A crackle of shifting twigs. It’s closer now, just on the other side of the tree. I whirl around the trunk, spear ready…
The Jock – Tullakool, Australia
…I’m fifty feet up in the air, thinking, well, this isn’t gonna end well. I hear the loose coil sliding along the steel edges, and I look over me shoulder, and it’s coming straight at me. It must have hit me, but I don’t remember that. The next thing I remember is being eight or…
A Surfer – Ulladulla, Australia
…I am woken by crunching gravel. I blink into the blinding beam of a powerful flashlight. Oh, sorry mate. Didn’t realise you were sleeping in there, says a nervous young voice. The flashlight beam moves off my face, and I see an embarrassed looking young cop, with his hand still hovering over his gun holster……
Dangerous Mind Games – Cocklebiddy, Australia
…Nick rolls his eyes with delight. Madam, he purrs, you are making me quite excited with your aggressive behaviour. But let me tell you what your problem is. You are a woman who thinks like a man. You are… He never finishes his sentence. Tara is out of her seat and clamps her hand around…
Big Smoke Traffic – Chiang Mai, Thailand
…The driver still has the joint in his hand! He is holding it just below the edge of the window, so the cop can’t see it, but the smoke is curling up around his face, and the cab stinks like bong water in carpet. ‘I am going to prison’ I think to myself… …
Newbie – Sydney, Australia
…”That’s Belanglo State Forest isnt it?”, he muses out loud. He glances over at me with a “did i say that out loud or just think it” sort of expression on his face, and theres a tense silence for a few moments as we both stare out the windshield. For a few seconds the…