SHORT WRITTEN PIECES

by Diane Challenor

MOROCCO 1970, A TRAVELLER'S TALE

It was Oujda, Morocco, 1970. A local had befriended us and somehow we ended up sleeping in his house. I don't remember the details of the house, I do remember all the rooms opened out into a central courtyard where others spent their days smoking dope. It was the very end of the hippie era. The energy had gone out of it and all that was left was the weed . . . more
Genre : Non-Fiction - Short Piece of Creative Prose
Author : Diane Challenor

LIFE IS A TAPESTRY OF CHOICES

Imagine this: You are standing beside a conveyor belt, similar to an airport baggage conveyor. You are the only one in the long endless baggage hall.  All is quiet except for the rumble of the conveyor and the whir of the air conditioning.  The fluorescent tubes shine down on the polished linoleum floor.  It’s a late afternoon in the Australian spring, you can see the reflected light of the setting sun on palms in the garden outside the large glass exit doors. You have faith in the world and what it has to offer. . . . more
Genre : Non-Fiction - Short Piece of Creative Prose
Author : Diane Challenor

RE-DISCOVERING ALLAN CUNNINGHAM
Botanist, died Sydney Australia 1839
Darkened by shade, slime at the edges, the pond is not appealing to look at. The water is clear, she can see the bottom, but it's black with sludge. Amongst the sludge slides a menacing shape, an eel blending into its environment. The obelisk, decaying sandstone, moss growing at the edges, sits like a neglected piece of the past in the centre of the pond . . . Curiosity has stirred. . . Is there more to the story? . . . more
Genre : Non-Fiction - Short Piece of Creative Prose
Author : Diane Challenor

FIGHT OR FLIGHT
"I'm the guy who tore the toilet door off its hinges last week". The bookkeeper looked up slowly from the invoices strewn across her desk. His voice reminded her of Lurch the butler in The Adams Family TV program, deep and throaty. Adrenaline rushed through her body producing that primitive fight or flight reaction in an instant.". . . more
Genre : Flash Fiction
Author : Diane Challenor

A BOOK LEAPT OFF THE LIBRARY SHELF
I skimmed the first page of the first chapter, as is my habit when choosing a book. Three amusing sentences bounced off the page. The first sentence that got me, is as follows, " It was in many ways purely an accident that it happened at all." The next was, "I have many heroes … mostly drawn from the world of children’s literature . . . the White Queen who made it her daily habit to believe six impossible things before breakfast . . . Dr Dolittle who sailed away in a ship with his monkey and his parrot, his pig and his duck, and bumped into Africa." Hmmm, this looks good. . . . . more
Genre : Non-Fiction - Short Piece of Creative Prose
Author : Diane Challenor

PODCASTS GIVE WAGE SLAVES
THE KEYS TO THE KINGDOM OF KNOWLEDGE
Great day, feeling good, spring in the step. Door closed behind me and I step out into a beautiful day to begin my daily walk. Earphones planted firmly in my ears, I hit the "play" button. The dulcet tones of the radio announcer says . . .this is a download from the BBC . .. more
Genre : Non-Fiction - Magazine Article
Author : Diane Challenor

FLIGHT OF FANTASY
Close your eyes. Let your imagination soar. What do you see? It's twilight and we're flying over the Hawkesbury River just like Peter Pan gliding like a gull through the evening sky . . . more
Genre : Flash Fiction
Author : Diane Challenor