The Afterword

Tag: fiction

  • P Plates, No Plates

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    by

    Peter
    in

    Have you ever unintentionally broken the law? At seventeen I spent a summer working in a used car yard. I’d only just got my licence, so I was on my P plates—back when they were wired onto the number plate, long before magnetic ones made life easy. The boss told me I could take whatever…

  • Tall, Dark, and Silent

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    by

    Peter
    in

    If there were a biography about you, what would the title be? The first thing that comes to mind is something someone said about me years ago: “Tall, dark and silent.” It was meant playfully, not cruelly, but it probably caught something true about how I occupy a room. I’m naturally reserved. I don’t speak…

  • My Virtual To-Read List

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    by

    Peter
    in

    What books do you want to read? I’ve got a to-read list that, if I’m honest, looks like I’ve been downloading books the way some people buy grocery items: on the assumption they’ll be useful later. But when I line the titles up, it’s not random. It’s a self-portrait. There’s a part of me that’s…

  • Friday Night Makeover

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    Peter
    in

    If you could make your pet understand one thing, what would it be? You look beautiful when you let us brush you. Some households do Friday night footy. We do Friday night brush the dog (I know — we live on the edge). Our dog has a beautiful coat — dark on top, but with…

  • Petros

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    Peter
    in

    Write about your first name: its meaning, significance, etymology, etc. The name Peter comes from the Greek Πέτρος (Petros), meaning “rock” or “stone.” It’s one of those names with an instant personality attached to it: steady, solid, dependable. It also how the ancient city of Petra got its name — same Greek word, different purpose.…

  • The Roosters Jersey

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    Peter
    in

    Describe an item you were incredibly attached to as a youth.What became of it? The item I was most attached to as a boy was a rugby league jersey: the Eastern Suburbs Roosters (now the Sydney Roosters). These days, the Roosters are one of the glamour clubs. They’ve been successful for a long time, and…

  • The Man Who Sees the Heart of Things

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    by

    Peter
    in

    Describe a man who has positively impacted your life. Some people help you by giving advice. Others help you by asking better questions. Neville belongs firmly in the second category. I first met him many years ago when we were both working for a major bank. We were in a lunchtime Bible study together—two people…

  • The Komodo Dragon

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    by

    Peter
    in

    What is something others do that sparks your admiration? I’ve spent enough years teaching performing artists to know that they move through the world differently. They don’t just perform something—they become it. And that has always sparked my admiration. Music was my first window into this. I’ve watched musicians touch the human soul with a…

  • A Decision That Wasn’t Really a Decision

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    by

    Peter
    in

    What’s the hardest decision you’ve ever had to make? Why? Hard decisions come in all shapes. Some are true crossroads. Others pull good commitments in opposite directions. And some don’t feel like decisions at all—they’re simply heavy because of love. Eight years ago we rehomed a border collie named Dakota. Gentle, chocolate tri-colour, quiet as…

  • If I Could Meet a Historical Figure

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    by

    Peter
    in

    If you could meet a historical figure, who would it be and why? If I had the chance to meet a historical figure—even for only a couple of minutes—I would choose Henry Lawson. Not because he is one of Australia’s most celebrated writers, though he is. Not because his poetry captures the hard, unvarnished truth…

  • When the World Is Asleep

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    Peter
    in

    What have you been working on? Sometimes the work begins when the world is asleep. Last night the phone rang well after midnight — a mother, frightened and far away, worried for her son who hadn’t been in touch since early evening. Her son is an international student staying in our residential college. She couldn’t…

  • Through Many Moves

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    Peter
    in

    What makes a good neighbour? I’ve moved a lot. Different streets, different locations. Each one teaches you something about people and how we live near each other. When I was a kid, our street was full of children. We were in and out of each other’s houses all the time. There were small irritations but…

  • Beyond the Podium

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    Peter
    in

    When I think about the athletes I most respect, it isn’t the ones with the longest highlight reels or the most medals. It’s the ones who carry themselves with character—the kind of people who lift those around them, who strengthen a team rather than outshine it. Here are some who come to mind: These are…

  • Fragments from a Conversation

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    by

    Peter
    in

    Interviews don’t always flow neatly. Sometimes there are long silences, sudden changes of subject, and words that trail into the air like smoke. That’s how it was talking with Wendy. Her story is not linear, not polished. It comes in fragments, broken sentences, and pauses that say as much as the words. What follows is…

  • Just Passing It On

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    Peter
    in

    It wasn’t really my kindness, not in the way people usually mean it. Two years ago, a student from China arrived at our college.Shy, polite, still finding his feet — and his English.One Monday morning he came to see me, agitated and afraid.The story took time to piece together:he’d been caught in an online scam,forced…

  • If You Can’t See Me

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    by

    Peter
    in

    Picture a man at the edge of a crowd. Not trying to stand out, not trying to blend in. He’s the one scanning the space, not nervously, not passively, but like someone looking for a familiar voice. That could be you. You’re the one he’s waiting for. He’s a touch over six feet tall—tall enough…

  • When Everything Happens

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    Peter
    in

    One minute I’m laughing with Kate Bowler, the next I’m quiet. That’s the effect she has—a sharp observer of life’s contradictions, able to name both the absurd and the sacred in the same breath. She grew up in a Mennonite megachurch in Winnipeg—an unlikely mix of pacifism and spectacle. She now teaches at Duke Divinity…

  • The Plinth

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    by

    Peter
    in

    Scene 1: The Plinth (Tuesday) Every Saturday, the crowds came.They spilled from trains and buses, jerseys clinging to skin, faces painted in club colours. At the edge of the plaza, the bronze footballer stood frozen—one leg raised, mid-kick, triumph etched into the sinews of his cast-metal thigh. Children climbed the plinth. Tourists struck poses. On…

  • How I Overcame My Fear of Words

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    by

    Peter
    in

    Years ago, I was issued a simple challenge: do something that takes you out of your comfort zone. I had no idea how lifechanging that would be. At school, I was a maths and science guy. I loved logic, structure, formulas. Words, though? They baffled me. English was a subject I couldn’t feel, couldn’t grasp—so…

  • The Morning Delegation

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    by

    Peter
    in

    It’s early. Ridiculously early. The world is still blue-grey and holding its breath. But I’m up—by choice, no less. Dog and cat fed. Coffee brewed. Brain only halfway online. I sit down to write, clutching the warm mug like it’s the last torch on earth. This is my hour. My quiet. My sacred little pocket…