My estranged parents flirted cautiously from opposite ends of the table. Dad crept his hand over the faded tablecloth like a drunken mouse in a maze, working his way through the green patterns of vine leaf and grape. He paused this hand in front of Mother’s. After a few hesitant seconds her fingers crawled in under his palm. He focussed on her. She shrugged, as if trying to hide under her own shoulders. They seemed like strangers meeting for the first time. Perhaps they were.
I cleared the table and put the dishes into the sink. The plates rarely needed to be scraped and there was never enough left in the pots for second helping. Over the slow flow of the tap, I could hear Dad murmuring. The words were unclear, but I knew what he was saying, or at least what he was thinking. He had Mother by both hands, his eyes wide and glazed, with a glint of love, or lust, for Mother.
Mother’s cold hands and arms folded around me, my own hands in hot water, trying to wash away the last memories of the evening. I felt her lips press on my cheek before a shy, almost apologetic “goodnight” fell from them. She took a deep breath and sighed, as if trying to suck the words back through her teeth. “Goodnight,” she said again.
Another “goodnight” echoed down the hallway. Mother followed it. I heard their bedroom door shut. I cleared the ashtray and the empty bottles from the table. There was still wine in Mother’s glass. Dad never left for bed without his.
Shy streaks of moonlight pierced through the trees and into my room. I watched the shadows play on my walls and dance over my bed. Through the thin asbestos walls I heard my father’s grunts and my mother’s moans. Sleep never came easy on these nights. Sleep never came easy.
Not long after the sun stabbed its beams through the windows did I hear Dad pull out of the driveway. I listened to the old Datsun, puff-puff-puff, as it idled while Dad closed the gates behind him. Then, Dad was gone.
In the kitchen, the kettle whistled. No sugar. Only a little bit of milk. Strong, the way Mother likes it in the morning. I took the coffee to her room. She held out a bruised arm to take it. “I’ll just put it down,” I said. “And bring a cold cloth for your eye.” She tried to smile, or say “thank you” but she couldn’t.
Category NMIT Students: Honourable Mention
Rest Stop by Chloe James
Dust finds its way into all the gaps and crevices, fills the cabin with a dry humidity that burns my nostrils and sticks in my throat. I imagine, with each shallow breath, the orange particulate coating the sacs of my lungs, so that even when I leave here, I’ll be carrying a piece of this strange land within me.
The bus potholes and bounces us out of our seats. I’ve been on this rollercoaster for seven hours. The dust, the scratchy seat covers, the filthy squat toilets and the persistent heat would be just-bearable if it wasn’t for the need for hypervigilance – my backpack strap secured to my ankle and a hand over valuables at all times, has made this awkward, uncomfortable ride, anxious as well.
Hour ten sees us stop at a roadside restaurant. It’s a shack really, with pots of cold curry – sitting outside and uncovered for god knows how long. Not hungry enough to trade nourishment for ill-health, I turn instead to a side stall selling bamboo filled with sweet sticky rice. The woman looks weather worn and tired but she smiles. She holds up two fingers, and I hand her the 200 Riel – fifty Australian cents. She runs her eyes over my pale skin and hair – and beneath her scrutiny, I self consciously adjust the band of my ponytail.
In the dirty restaurant I peel the bamboo and gouge the sweet sticky rice from it’s hole. There’s not much to it but it’s filling.
An emaciated old dog weaves around the rubbish and two small boys – one, a baby wearing just a t-shirt, the other, older, dirty-chested and wearing just shorts – play amongst the piles of refuse, apparently content, their laughter no different from a child’s back home.
The familiar chug of the ‘motos’ announces a young man with a brace of live ducks hanging from his handlebars. I notice one duck – it’s motionless amongst its peers, blood running from its ears.
A pretty young-woman runs over to meet the motorbike. Her skin the warmest hue of brown, she has the-by-now familiar, almond eyes and heart shaped face of the Khmer peoples. After handing the man money, she strides away with the wriggling, squirming ducks. Passing the two little boys, she calls to them, before dropping the ducks at a piece of old board by a bucket of water. As the two boys run to her, the woman, whom I assume is their mother, has knife in hand. Sunlight flashes from the blade and I hear the struggling flutter of wings and squawk of frightened birds. I open my eyes to the gushing neck of the knife’s first victim. The woman nonchalantly tosses the billed head in to the bucket. Then a second duck’s decapitated and it’s head drops into the bucket. The mother squawks at her children, passing them down a duck’s carcass, which the children eagerly set to de-feathering for their dinner.
I sit pale faced in my plastic chair, head spinning and put aside the sticky rice; I have no stomach for it now. With a honk, the bus signals the continuance of our journey.
Aboard the bus I look out again on the family preparing their food and the line of ducks’ heads, oozing gently, their eyes blank and staring out at nothing.
NMIT Bachelor of Writing and Publishing
If you want a career in the creative industries, or simply love to write and want to improve as a writer, NMIT’s Bachelor of Writing and Publishing is for you. The course is intended for people who already have abilities in these areas but want to develop them further. Employment possibilities include: professional writing, editing, design, and many other publishing positions, print or web-based. There is also an industry placement component. This course is unique in Australia as it is the only undergraduate degree in writing and publishing.
Gain skills and knowledge in:
• advanced fiction and non-fiction writing
• book and magazine production
• project management
• advanced editing and proofreading
• an understanding of the publishing industry
• critical analysis of texts
NMIT’s Bachelor of Writing and Publishing develops creative, practical and critical skills for graduates who want to pursue a career in writing and publishing. The bachelor degree offers three years of specialised study in two strands: Writing and Publishing.
In the writing strand, students explore a range of fiction and non- fiction genres, read a wide range of texts, examine the creation and interpretation of texts and undertake commissioned writing projects and industry based work experience. The strand teaches creative skills in composition, methodologies and work practices to become proficient writers in both fiction and non-fiction. NMIT has an expansive library network and houses the Doris Leadbetter Collection which contains more than 1,300 course related titles.
In the publishing strand students participate in aspects of book and magazine publishing including: commissioning, structural and close editing, writing cover briefs, writing design briefs, liaising with authors, costing and managing projects, and planning and working to deadlines. Students learn grammar, editing, production, design and project management skills. A course component is the management of a series of publishing projects in NMIT’s publishing studio Yarra Bend Press which produces a range of student led projects including literary magazines, books and digital media.
For more information about NMIT’s Bachelor of Writing and Publishing degree:
Web: www.nmit.edu.au/bwap
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 03 9269 1833
NMIT Bachelor of Writing and Publishing
Yarra Bend Press
NMIT’s Bachelor of Writing and Publishing’s Yarra Bend Press operates as a live work studio providing students with an in-depth understanding of the workings of a publishing house through the delivery of real production based experiences. The studio engages students in authentic projects with commercially defined outcomes while facilitating indust
ry and peer to peer consultation including workshops, functions and seminars.
By allowing students the opportunity to be involved in producing commercial quality publications aimed at enhancing their future academic and employment possibilities, Yarra Bend Press addresses the problem of diminishing work experience opportunities within the publishing sector.
Yarra Bend Press student based activities include work flow management and the coordination of all aspects of production related activities; acquisition and maintenance of commercial publishing opportunities from the tertiary, public and private sectors; selection and liaison with suppliers in a professional capacity; maintenance of financial and business records associated with studio activities; liaison with clients, suppliers and industry representatives; development of an online presence as a vital tool in the promotion of live work folios for potential employment; the planning, development and production of a range of print and digitally-based publishing projects; estimation, print production, process and control; researching, cataloguing, ordering and recording ISBN, CiP; and copyright issues.
Yarra Bend Press also instructs students on day to day publishing issues including dealing with authors; editing practices; design principles; typesetting; digital v traditional printing; book structure; numbering; imprints; rights and responsibilities; legal deposits; barcode and DW Thorpe; press releases; advertising; promotion; selling; online stores; search engine optimization; RSS; blogging; networking; distribution; terms; freight; SOS; returns; discounts; GST; faults and returns; and so on.
For more information about NMIT’s Bachelor of Writing and Publishing’s Yarra Bend Press:
Web: www.nmit.edu.au/ybp
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 03 9269 1833
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Time To Write: 2013 short story prize Page 8
