Monthly Archives: April 2014

April 30, 2014 · 9:59 PM

Wax on. Wax off. (Friday Fictioneers)

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She let it burn. And it melted. And spilled over onto the floor.

‘Shit, Janet! Look what you did.’

I crouched down to catch the dripping wax. While my fingers burned, she rolled her eyes.

‘Lighten up.’

And that was all she said.

It wasn’t the first time she’d said that. But it would be the last.

The wax would dry hard into the rug. The cabinet would be marked forever. The scar across my knuckles: visible until the day I died.

Before she left, she pouted her lips and blew out the candle, leaving me alone in the dark.

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To read more from Jessie Ansons, follow her on Twitter @jessieansons

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Friday Fictioneers is a challenge set by Rochelle Fields where writers around the world create 100 word stories inspired by the one image. For more information see:

http://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/2014/04/30/2-may-2014/

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April 23, 2014 · 8:41 PM

The passionfruit brulee (Friday Fictioneers)

Image by Björn Rudberg at http://brudberg.wordpress.com

Image by Björn Rudberg at http://brudberg.wordpress.com

The blind date is going well until the passionfruit brulee arrives.

Inspired by the dessert and committed to getting deeper than small talk, I foolishly ask, ‘What’s your passion?’

‘What do you mean… passion?’

Passion.

The man in the corner, eyes closed, strums his guitar. The chef in the kitchen licks the spoon before adding one more pinch of salt. The woman outside swears into her phone. The taxi driver blasts his horn in frustration.

My date shrugs and says, ‘I kinda like cake.’

Cake.

I let out a long sigh.

‘Waiter! Can I have this brulee to go?’

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Friday Fictioneers is a challenge set by Rochelle Fields where writers around the world create 100 word stories inspired by the one image. For more information see: 

http://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/2014/04/23/25-april-2014/

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Like to read something longer from Jessie Ansons? Check out her recent blog post entitled Back to the daily commute.

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April 23, 2014 · 5:11 PM

Digging with my dad (ABC Open 500 words)

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Me and my dad in our backyard at Kurri Kurri

This is my April 2014 contribution to ABC Open 500 words (topic: FIRST MEMORY). Read about what digging for ants taught me about life.

Here’s the link:

https://open.abc.net.au/explore/49he9hx

 

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April 17, 2014 · 5:06 PM

Back to the daily commute

Everyone hates traffic right? The words ‘daily commute’ send shivers down spines. People dread traffic jams; they bang their head on the steering wheel, blast their horn in frustration and tear actual chunks of hair from their head.

Traffic sucks.

Well, not necessarily. Over the past 8 months I actually grew to miss it. Call me crazy, but in my experience ‘you don’t know what you’ve got till its gone’ can even apply to the daily commute.

Is it possible to enjoy the daily commute? Image by Peter Blanchard at https://www.flickr.com/photos/peterblanchard/3061822151/

Is it possible to enjoy the daily commute? Image by Peter Blanchard at https://www.flickr.com/photos/peterblanchard/3061822151/

You see, Prince G was born in August last year and I gave up work for 8 months. I gave up meetings, documents, difficult stakeholders, staffing issues and cake. I didn’t use a desktop computer for more than half a year (nor a desk come to think of it). And I also gave up driving to and from work five days a week.

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April 16, 2014 · 8:14 PM

Little Rabbit’s home (Friday Fictioneers)

Image by Douglas M. MacIlroy at http://ironwoodwind.wordpress.com/

Image by Douglas M. MacIlroy at http://ironwoodwind.wordpress.com/

Big Ted has a temporary house made of cushions from the lounge. His car is parked out front. He uses a tea-towell for a bed, and a tissue box for a chair. Jemima lives in the fully-furnished doll’s house. It is spacious with two storeys and a pool.

Little Rabbit is on the carpet between the houses. He doesn’t really have a home anymore and he doesn’t want to choose. It was easier when Jemima and Big Ted lived together.

Under the tiny cotton nose on Little Rabbit’s face, someone with a permanent marker has drawn a big black frown.

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Friday Fictioneers is a challenge set by Rochelle Fields where writers around the world create 100 word stories inspired by the one image. For more information see: 

http://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/2014/04/16/18-april-2014

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Like to find out more about Jessie Ansons? Check out her recently updated ‘Achievements’ page here.

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April 9, 2014 · 8:09 PM

La Siesta (Friday Fictioneers)

Image by DLovering at http://40again.com/

Image by DLovering at http://40again.com/

During siesta the city sleeps. The streets are silent; not a soul to be seen.

During siesta a young girl cries in a phone booth. A toddler plays with his trucks. An old woman watches Days of our Lives. Two lovers make love.

During siesta a doctor treats his patients. A mother sips her coffee. A girl braids her sister’s hair. A man changes a light globe. A woman vacuums the rug. A baby cries for a feed. An old man dies.

During siesta the streets are silent.

And the city is very much alive.

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Friday Fictioneers is a challenge set by Rochelle Fields where writers around the world create 100 word stories inspired by the one image. For more information see: http://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/2014/04/09/11-april-2014

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Like to find out more about Jessie Ansons? Check out her recently updated ‘Achievements’ page here.

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April 7, 2014 · 7:39 PM

E-Book Launch – Mirrors

This beautiful eBook contains short stories from a bunch of local talented authors I met at a WEA creative writing course (and my own story ‘The straight and narrow’) I will be attending the official launch tomorrow night (Tuesday 8th April 2014), 6pm at WEA Hall in Cooks Hill.

The Writers' Life

Mirrors The Cover Mirrors
The Cover

The long awaited collection, Mirrors, will be published tomorrow night!

The authors have put up their feet now, and so can you while you enjoy the read. Here’s a taste of what you’ll find inside the cover.

Mirrors is an anthology of short stories, creative non-fiction and poetry from nine Australian writers. Set in cities, suburbia, and the Far North these authors explore the desires, the humours and the sorrows of life.

Each story is the shard of a mirror that reflects the lives of the ordinary people in extraordinary ways. A man exposes his desire for celebrity and greatness. A girl discovers a dragon in her backyard. A one-way mirror reveals a horror no mother should ever witness. Borrasca is an exotic and flamboyant woman but her true identity is shrouded in dark secrecy. The unlikely friendship between a Chinese gardener and a young girl…

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April 3, 2014 · 11:53 AM

FREE EVENT: Live reading of 500-word stories – ABC Open, 11:15am Sun 6th April (Newcastle Writers Festival)

Event details

Date: Sunday 6th April 2014

Time: 11:15am to 12:45pm

Where: Mulubinba Room – Newcastle City Hall, 290 King Street Newcastle

Cost: FREE

This Sunday I’ll be doing a live reading of one of my ABC Open 500 word short stories from 2013-14, along with a whole bunch of local talented authors. Me? Performing at the Newcastle Writers Festival? Now, this is exciting!

It sounds like it’s going to be a lot of fun. ABC Open has been running the 500 word projects for a while now, and I’ve been contributing stories for the last year. ABC Open chooses inspirational topics each month and writers from all over Australia send their stories in. The range of contributors is fantastic: from young budding writers talking about their complicated lives to 90-somethings reminiscing about the old days. They are all true stories and all written in first person.

I’ve found you can learn a lot about someone in just 500 words.

Here’s some of last year’s topics that stood out for me:

An act of rebellion – I wrote about how every Friday night my parents would play loud music, drink beer and consider getting tattoos when I wanted to do was study for my HSC

Failure – I wrote about how I thought my partner would love a bright blue ukulele for Christmas

The things we do for love – I wrote about the pain of having to drink a litre of water before an ultrasound but how it was all worth it when I saw what was on the black and white screen

If you’re in the Newcastle area on Sunday make sure you come along. The short stories you’ll hear are quirky, funny, heart-warming, heart-wrenching and absolutely unique.

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April 2, 2014 · 6:57 PM

The darkness above the lights (Friday Fictioneers)

Image by Ken Bonham at http://wmqcolby.wordpress.com/

Image by Ken Bonham at http://wmqcolby.wordpress.com/

Hidden in the darkness above the lights and perched on a dusty beam he watches her perform. She throws her body across the wooden floor: the passion, the pain, the sorrow of lost love.
Next to him sits a little grey mouse.
They wait for the audience to leave.
Then, the mouse scurries along the beam and hops to the floor, hoping to find something to eat.
He swings down too, hoping to catch her before she leaves. Hoping to tell her how he feels.
Hoping to find dropped food.
Hoping to find lost love.
But they find neither.

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Friday Fictioneers is a challenge set by Rochelle Fields where writers around the world create 100 word stories inspired by the one image. For more information see: http://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/2014/03/25/28-march-2014/

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Want to read more from Jessie Ansons? Check my post on our recent trip to Singapore called Is travelling with a baby difficult? Not necessarily… 

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