I typically avoid hard foods. These mantou are under-fermented: as if someone has poked a white ball with a needle, leaving it pockmarked and deflated. Biting into it might be tough, without the softness I prefer, but I don’t want to try. This results from my inexperience—uncertain about the right amount of water to add.…
As children, wild and unwatched in the streets of Kerman, we played dodgeball religiously. Every day, no exceptions. Those days our bodies were still as swift as hummingbirds, as agile as fish, swooshing away from the yellow ball thrown at us as if it were a comet on fire. The most glorious moments of the…
When you see your ex with a baby strapped onto him for the first time, don’t act surprised. Even though you haven’t seen him in years, obviously, and you’ve just bumped into him outside the cafe where you both used to sit with your laptops, attempting to study, but too distracted by each other, legs…
Tommy threw an inflatable inner tube and rope into the boot of the Holden, on top of the crate. The bottles clattered together. It was Saturday. We had all finished work for the morning and were heading up the back of Lake Tekapo, to the canals, to camp out. ‘What’s that for,’ asked Jed, ‘you…
She gripped the stainless-steel handrail and planted her feet wide apart, stabilizing herself as the tram traveled over the uneven tracks. With her other hand, she shook her wet umbrella, adding a layer of moisture to the already damp floor. The tram came to a halt and its mechanical doors swung open to a flock…
1 Last August, I bought a one-way ticket to Mexico City where I stayed in a hostel and spent nine days losing myself in anything and everything I could. I drank happy hour margaritas and did lines with my new friends and went to raves downtown. Still sparkly from the booze and the drugs, I…
He cuts into his steak. It’s rare. He told me in the car that he’d asked around and this was how everyone told him to have it. There’s no point having it any other way, they’d said—it’s got to be bleeding a bit. ‘Are you really only having chips?’ he asks. ‘They don’t do anything…
We decide to go up the hill on an autumn evening. It’s your idea—you want to watch the sunset, and I’m always happy to go along with your ideas. The climb is steep, and we are both sweaty and puffing when we reach the top. The sun is still sitting above the horizon. I feel…
Everyone has places they don’t dare go. When we were kids, one of those places was Mr. Dombrinski’s yard. He was our neighbour across a low, wooden, stockade fence. Sometimes an unlucky bounce or an errant kick would sail a ball over that fence into his yard. ‘Go get it!’ someone would yell at the…
It was around census time that he decided to take things into his own hands. Change the situation for good. He’d cleared the kitchen table after tea one night and was stooped over the purple form, staring at it, tormented by the very first question. The cat hopped onto the table, feigning support. Here we…