The Afterword

Tag: fiction

  • The Man Who Sees the Heart of Things

    —

    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

    —

    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

    —

    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

    —

    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

    —

    by

    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

    —

    by

    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

    —

    by

    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

    —

    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

    —

    by

    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

    —

    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

    —

    by

    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

    —

    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

    —

    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

    —

    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…

  • Woman Announces She Will Be Seeing the Outside World Again, on a Trial Basis

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    Two months after retreating into a semi-permanent relationship with her phone, local woman Clare Montgomery has announced plans to give “offline life” another go. In a statement released from her kitchen bench—via Notes app screenshot—Clare confirmed that she’ll be attempting to reintegrate with real life, as long as it doesn’t require group activities or being…

  • The Day Mackenzie Scott Emailed Me

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    (Or, How I Almost Became a Billionaire in .ru) It was a regular Tuesday. I was sorting through my inbox like a digital archaeologist—sifting through newsletters I don’t remember subscribing to, birthday discounts from cafes I haven’t visited since 2017, and the occasional existential crisis triggered by seeing “Re: Just checking in” from someone I…

  • What I Can’t Stop Writing About

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    So here we are: blogging about my blog. A reflection on the reflections. I know—it’s a bit meta. But I think there’s something fitting about pausing to ask, What am I really talking about, underneath all this talking? Because the truth is, I like to write. And in all these stories and afterthoughts, there are…

  • Before & After – Mark 4:35-5:43

    —

    by

    Peter
    in

    Desperation,raw and unfiltered,crashes like waves against the fragile ribs of a boat.Fishermen, seasoned by salt and storm,shake in terror.A storm that silences courage,a darkness that devours hope. And yet—He sleeps.Not indifferent,but unshaken. “Don’t you care if we drown?”They cry out,as I have cried out,when the winds rise and the waters rise and I riseonly to…