Short Story

Short Story: The Short And Long Of It

Of all the chronic addictions I am going to guess that masturbation is the hardest one to pull off. And still feel good about yourself.

Stubs: # 272 – Litcrawl, Wellington, 2018

Litcrawl is Wellington’s coolest (best) literary event, a spectacular, jam-packed with ideas and showcases – and in 2018 I was lucky to be asked to be part of one of the events. Lucky. And shitting myself. Why not both? The event was called Lit-Sync For Your Life and it featured three readers – I was […]

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July 31, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

Short Story: The Declining

All play and no work makes Jack a broke boy. All play and no work makes Jack a broke boy. All play and no work makes Jack a broke boy. All play and no work makes Jack a broke boy. All play and no work makes Jack a broke boy. All play and no work […]

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June 29, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

Short Story: Back In The Loop

We couldn’t go out for a while. So we didn’t. And then we could. So we did. We walked out and about and we looked like we were taking it all with us, big strutting. Everything that is but the kitchen sink. Oh, and also, any stink or trace of when we said that we’d […]

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February 4, 2020 by Simon Sweetman

Short Story: The CV of a Music Journalist

2001: Desperate to be edgy, hoping to be relevant… 2002 – 2014: Free Tickets 2015 – 2019: Desperate to be relevant, hoping to be edgy… 2020: R.I.P.

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October 22, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Short Story: Snookered

“You’ve just got to play the long game”, he said to me, while on a break from his short game.

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September 25, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Short Story: If Bruce Springsteen Wrote Wichita Lineman

Well, Billy was a lineman working for the man down in Darlington County And he’d drive the main road, heart in his mouth, chrome wheeled, fuel injected, Searchin’ in the sun for another overload and steppin’ out over the line One day, he heard Mary singin’, yeah she was singin’ in the wire, All about […]

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September 5, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Short Story: 7 Reasons I’d Never Get Tricked by A Con-Artist

1. I don’t date. 2. I don’t relate. 3. I’ve watched a lot of true-crime TV. And now podcasts… 4. I know my onions. 5. It’s just something that happens to other people. 6. You’d have to be dumb-as-fuck! 7. I’m broke-as-fuck!

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June 11, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Short Story: Shift Arrow Down

He was 44 when he was diagnosed. Column Cancel. Dormant at first. But after 2nd, 3rd and 545th readings the growth was now thriving. It was too late. Yes, he would ask to have it removed. His editor would assist. Digitally. And though that process was painless, shift cells left, shift cells right, the column would never […]

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April 22, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Short Story: Two Lessons

The self proclaimed itself to be best, self-aware, of course and so much better than the rest. The rest stood back so as not to be self-ish.

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November 12, 2018 by Simon Sweetman

Short Story: Sit Down Young Stranger

(aka: If You Could Read My Mind…I Wouldn’t Have Needed to Write This…) Some endings are too hard to take, he said, right at the start.

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July 11, 2018 by Simon Sweetman

Short Story: Neighbourhood Fragments # 8

The man down the road stops me to talk of his cancer – sore throat, blocked ears; three separate trips to the doctor. You’re fine. You’re not fine. Strep-throat. Take a sick day. A few months on – it’s throat cancer; sorry. But he’s on the mend and he’s – massively – on the meds. […]