Weekend Reads – The Trouble With Expectations

One of my short stories, The Trouble with Expectations, has been published on Weekend Reads. Weekend Reads brings to readers short stories that provide the perfect weekend escape – or bring a bit of that weekend relaxed feel to a weekday. But more importantly, it allows new authors to publish and promote their short stories as well as make their consumption accessible to readers.

The Trouble with Expectations is a fictional short story set in Mount Compass, South Australia. It’s about a young woman named Alexandra who moves out to the country, taking with her a secret and a broken heart where she befriends a young man. The friendship leaves her feeling vulnerable yet hopeful about the future. But will the truth destroy the possibility of new love? Find out here.

Thanks for the support! x

Poem – Unnamed

This isn’t common knowledge but I am a fan of horror/thriller movies and novels. As it had been a while since my last horror movie, I’ve been reading quite few submissions on a website called CreepyPasta lately. Some of you may already be familiar with this site. For those who aren’t, CreepyPasta is a site where anyone can submit their own writing in the horror/thriller genre. Any piece of work published on the site is called a pasta and can be deemed “delicious” or otherwise by readers. I’ve tried my hand at a thriller short story before but have not gotten around to finishing it. I’m going to share with you instead, a poem inspired partly by CreepyPasta and partly by the happenings in my life of late. You’ll no doubt detect a distinct thread of sadness throughout this poem, so I don’t mind admitting that I am going through something that is quite disappointing to me. I hope you enjoy the poem. I haven’t thought of a good title for it yet so if anyone has any suggestions, I’d love to hear it.

Husks scattered across the dirt

Membrane-thin and weightless

Thrown every which way by the wind, careless and wanton

Toyed, tired and desiccated

A sudden gust introduces specks of grit to the air

One finds your eye and makes itself comfortable

Refusing to dislodge no matter how you try

From that irritated and sore eye

The gale dissipates

The howling of the wind ceases

It’s as if all sound had been extricated from the world

But not quite all…

Don’t look back at the footsteps whispering behind you

Of little sneakers scuffing the ground

Don’t turn around to face that guileless little voice

That pleads you for assistance

There’s no one left on this land but you

And if your senses tell you any differently

That’s just the ghosts that once were

Trying to claim you as one of their own

Dad’s visit

Dad’s just left Adelaide to return to Singapore two days ago. I must admit that I miss him already. When I was a little younger, I sometimes felt irritated by his parental advice, not appreciating it for the concern it was. But I’m glad that now I’m a little older, I appreciate and love him exactly the way he is, with his little habits that used to drive me up the wall.

There is a lot of him in me and there’s a lot of my mother in me also. This week has just been somewhat emotional for me, what with my dad’s departure and other turns of events. The less said about the latter, the better, but I will just mention this: it’s remarkable that the ending should feel so similar to the beginning, marked by the same questions, doubts and fascinations. All that aside, it’s good to see some personal growth happening. I know I’m a little more mature for my experiences and that no matter how discouraged I may feel now, I am confident that I will spring back and be the cheerful, positive soul that I aim to be.

I’ll leave you all with a picture of my dad and I, taken at the maritime museum in Port Adelaide! Stay dry and warm, Adelaideans. For the rest of you who don’t live in Australia, stay cool and enjoy your summer!