Tall And True Short Reads

Cassie lay perfectly still in bed, staring at the shadowy shape on the ceiling overhead. A bulky body and eight legs, a spider, but this wasn't Incy Wincy. It was a huntsman with long hairy legs, needle-sharp fangs, and a jump so powerful that if human, it could win gold at the pole vault without a pole. In Her Head is a short story from the Tall And True writers' website, written and narrated by...

I discovered microfiction when I reviewed Loopholes by Susan McCreery in 2017. By definition, brevity is the key to good microfiction. The stories in Loopholes range from several paragraphs over one or two pages to only three short sentences. With no room for plot and character development, every word must count. Tall And True Microfiction Anthology is a blog post from the Tall And True writers' w...

"Roses are red, violets are blue, I spend my day, thinking of you." Davey reviewed the poem in his exercise book. "Thinking" is what you did at school. It wasn't romantic enough to attempt Mission Impossible with the girl of his dreams. That's it! "I spend my day, dreaming of you." A Better Poem is a short story from the Tall And True writers' website, written and narrated by Robert Fairhead . Rea...

It's only early spring, but I'm starting to sweat in Mum and Dad's back garden. I wore my dark English suit for Dad's funeral, and if etiquette permits at wakes, I'd like to slip off the coat. Looking around the garden for guidance, I struggle to recognise elderly aunts and uncles or my fellow middle-aged cousins. And I have no hope of placing their children and grandchildren. Some Things Change i...

It's a chilly winter morning, and the central heating has barely warmed my flat. I'm rugged up in a jumper and Ugg boots, and the kettle's boiling. There's a knock at the door, and I know who's there without checking the peephole because I've learned to mark events on a calendar to help remember things. Some Things Change is a short story from the Tall And True writers' website, written and narrat...

It's a hot summer afternoon, with no sign of the Freo Doctor. Despite the heat, I'm climbing the tree in Gran's backyard with my brothers and boy cousins while our girl cousins chat in a circle in the shade of the back veranda. Like the other boys, I'm in shorts with no shirt or shoes. Our tomboy cousin's up here, too. And though she's wearing a dress, she's also barefoot. Some Things Change is a...

Season Four will start with a multi-part, longer short story I wrote in June 2023, Some Things Change, consisting of three vignettes set in different locations and times but with a common thread: a pair of cousins from Perth, Western Australia, exploring Australia's troubled history and relationship with Indigenous peoples. Tall And True Short Reads is a storytelling podcast featuring short storie...

I fell in love with live theatre when I saw my first London West End play as a newly-arrived backpacker in 1987. Over the next eight years, living in Brighton and Windsor, I attended countless professional and amateur productions. But I didn't think in 1987 that one day I'd be up on stage, too, taking a bow. Taking a Bow is a memoir blog post from the Tall And True writers' website, written and na...

I'm in the middle of a dream, though it might be nearer the beginning or end. Who can tell with dreams? I'm on a rocket, and the final countdown's begun. "10, 9, 8 ..." Then I look down at myself strapped in the seat and see I'm wearing pyjamas. "It's only a dream," I reassure myself.   My Dreams is a short story from the Tall And True writers' website, written and narrated by Robert Fai...

I was weaned on Wimbledon in Australia. Year after year, I'd stayed up half the night to watch the finals on TV. And here I was in the northern hemisphere, able to witness the match in broad daylight for the first time, with an Aussie in the final, for goodness sake, and Mrs B wasn't interested in tennis! My Most Memorable Wimbledon (originally titled Wimbledon Lost in Translation) is a travel blo...

Dylan woke with jackhammers pounding in his head and a tongue so furry it felt like it needed waxing. "Last time," he croaked, rolling onto his back and resolving to quit drinking again or, at least, to stop bingeing. He stared up at the low ceiling of his studio apartment and replayed the office drinks. Past Demons is a short story from the Tall And True writers' website, written and narrated by...

The brief for October 2021's Furious Fiction was to set the short story in a COURT, include a character who measures something, and the words BALLOON, ROCK and UMBRELLA. So recalling Ernest Hemingway's advice to write one true sentence, I wrote, "The policewoman at the front of the Court is trying to catch my eye." Writing True Sentences is a blog post from the Tall And True writers' website, writ...

Mum's up first, though she doesn't like looking at her reflection nowadays. She splashes her face and turns away from me with a towel. Over her shoulder, I watch Mum gaze out the bathroom window. And when she turns back, Mum's wearing her pained expression again, like she's failed to solve the riddle of life. Family Reflections is a short story from the Tall And True writers' website, written and...

I met Harry when he was six months old. He was the last of his litter, hiding under a kitchen table. And when the breeder dragged him out, Harry flopped his head on my leg and looked up at me with worried, brown eyes. At that moment, a bond formed between us, which lasted for just over twelve years. My Good Dog and Muse is a blog post from the Tall And True writers' website, written and narra...

Jennifer swivelled her chair away from the laptop and stared at the lights receding into the distance beyond the high-rise office window. Her eyes had welled up reading Stephen's unexpected emailed demand, and she reached for a tissue to dab at the tears. "Twenty years," Jennifer exhaled softly, wiping her eyes. Decisions is a short story from the Tall And True writers' website, written and narrat...

After living and working in England from 1987, my wife and I returned to Australia in 1995, overland. Michael Palin's 1991 BBC series, Pole to Pole, inspired our journey and route, travelling from north to south for eight months. And along the way, we revisited Berlin, as I recorded in my travel journal. Two Visits to the Berlin Wall is a travel memoir from the Tall And True writers' website, writ...

In 2019, approaching the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, I found a timely book in a secondhand bookshop: The Berlin Wall, 13 August 1961 – 9 November 1989 by Frederick Taylor. The book inspired me to write about my two contrasting visits to Berlin as a backpacker in 1987 and 1995. Two Visits to the Berlin Wall is a travel memoir from the Tall And True writers' website, written and...

Handcuffed in the police car, I wished the lamp hadn't been magical. "That, sir, is a genuine antique," the stallholder had asserted when I'd stopped and inspected it at the secondhand market. The oil lamp looked like a prop from Disney's Aladdin. And I thought it would polish up and earn me a tidy profit. The Magical Lamp is a short story from the Tall And True writers' website, written and narra...

Henry Rollins said, "A great way to learn about your country is to leave it." And I learned a lot about Australia while living overseas from 1987 to 1996. Books like Alice Nannup's When The Pelican Laughed (published by Fremantle Arts Centre Press in 1992) helped my education. And from her memoir, I learned about the Stolen Generation and a connection with my Nan. Please note: Aboriginal and Torre...

Eighty is the new fifty, or so I'm told. But my back wasn't this dodgy when I was fifty, and my knees lasted longer than a circuit of the park with the dog before seizing up. And I wasn't caught short so often that I needed to memorise the location of the nearest public toilet for emergency pit stops! The New Fifty is a short story from the Tall And True writers' website, written and narrated by R...

I'm taking a short break from writing and podcasting over the Xmas/New Year holiday period. But as a special treat for podcast listeners, I've put together a Kris Kringle collection featuring three "festive" episodes from the Tall And True Short Reads archive: The Gift, The Special Tree and The Spirit of Xmas. The Kris Kringle stories first appeared on the Tall And True writers' website and were w...

The writer John Banville observed, "Memory is imagination, and imagination is memory. I don't think we remember the past, we imagine it." I have vivid memories of my early childhood (I believe they're memories, not imagination), which is why the #5YearOldSelfie hashtag challenge on social media caught my eye. Memories and Imagination is a memoir piece from the Tall And True writers' website, writt...

"Are we there yet?" Milly whines from the back seat. "I'm bored," adds Tyler. "Oh, for goodness sake!" I snap, eyeballing the pair in the rear vision mirror. "It's only been two hours." Kids nowadays! The drive has been smooth and fast compared to the narrow, windy roads of my childhood family holidays. Are we there yet? is a short story from the Tall And True writers' website, written and narrate...

I dread mornings like these when Facebook floods my timeline memories with posts and photos of Jas and the kids. On social media, we're still a happy family. Whereas in the real world, I live alone and only see the kids on weekends. But that's not Facebook's fault. It's just an algorithm. Timeline Memories is a short story from the Tall And True writers' website, written and narrated by Robert Fai...

One fine October Sunday in 2020, I returned home from the morning dog walk to be greeted with the news our annual council clean-up was happening on Monday. After previous clean-ups, I thought we had nothing left to throw out. And I looked forward to a long productive day of writing … until I checked the attic and shed! Council Clean-ups and Recycling is a blog post from the Tall And True writers'...