Mark Nero

“The Second Star To The Right” by Mark Nero

Submitted to Contest #130

Sleep. I had slept for a very long time. Three years to be precise but I was meant to have slept for five, while hurtling through space in the star ship Endeavor before being awoken at New Europa.  A colony located on Exoplanet Alpha Centauri A-a, which spun around Alpha Centauri A. Well, that was the official designation, before it was changed to Tera, to help the public get a grasp the fact that it was our new home. For some of us… The mission was to ship supplies to New Europa then on our second run, we could stay. It was the ...

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“Unexpected Guests” by Mark Nero

Submitted to Contest #129

Climbing season seemed to have begun quietly this year. Maybe it was because Fall had lingered longer than normal. Maybe it was because the economy wasn’t particularly healthy but either way, I was down on hotel bookings. I had a cousin who was a whiz at web design, so I decided to call her and ask if she could help improve my web-page but, in the meantime, I thought a good Spring clean was in order. Or, a Fall clean, if I was being accurate. My little hotel consisted of ten rooms, a restaurant, meeting room, reception area and was situat...

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“Russian Tea House Roulette” by Mark Nero

Submitted to Contest #128

Tea… I don’t like tea. I’m an espresso, macchiato type of guy so why am I in a Russian Tea room at the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney?! My contact who selected the time and place, must be some well to do sort of guy. As opposed to me, who came from the other side of the tracks but since I was there, I ordered myself some tea, otherwise I’d look like a tool. Even I’m not ‘that’ uncouth! A few hours earlier, I was at a strip join in Kings Cross, having a drink and a lap dance when my boss called me. He very rarely called me directly...

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“The Faun” by Mark Nero

Submitted to Contest #124

Being a young faun wasn’t easy. Especially when you had three older brothers who loved tormenting you. My brother Adalwolf was the largest and strongest, Alfwin, the smartest and Ansovald was the fastest but I was none of these. Even in my dreams, there was no escape from them. At least twice a week for the last year, I had a reoccurring dream that seemed to become clearer the more times that I dreamed it. In my dream, I’m surrounded by tall hedges and was walking toward a shiny object, lit by moonlight. It was a dark, cold night and a li...

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“The Wrong Kind Of Love” by Mark Nero

Submitted to Contest #123

Drama, drama, drama… It’s ironic that even though I was an aspiring actor, I normally shied away from drama. I liked to use the word ‘aspiring’ rather than ‘tried to be’ or ‘hoped to be’ because, it sounded grander, but I’ve tried to become an actor for some time now – hoping for a big break. I thought that part of my problem was that I’m Japanese, as it limited the roles that I could be considered for. There weren’t many directors or producers who thought that I’d be suitable to play Hamlet… or Macbeth but I can’t stop trying. Not yet… ...

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“Giving Thanks” by Mark Nero

Submitted to Contest #121

People like to be appreciated and being thanked. For being acknowledged for doing something good or heroic or just plain useful! However, a lot of people do and say things just for the acknowledgment and to be ‘seen’ as doing good, like someone giving a meal to a homeless person then taking a selfie with them. Just so they can post it in Instagram or Facebook, without thinking of the shame that the person receiving the meal actually feels. The point is that giving or doing good, should be its own reward. What does it say in the bible? ‘Nev...

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“La Primavera” by Mark Nero

Submitted to Contest #119

 “La Primavera” or “The Spring” in English, is probably Vivaldi’s most popular piece from the “The Four Seasons” violin concertos. Or “Le Quattro Stagioni” in Italian. It was composed between seventeen eighteen and seventeen twenty by Antonio Lucio Vivaldi during the Baroque period, which was my favorite classical period. I preferred the basic structured approach to the Baroque period, versus the Classical or the Romantic but that’s just me… It’s a popular piece at weddings and if you you’ve ever been to a function that had a string t...

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“The Refuge” by Mark Nero

Submitted to Contest #118

Is this the beginning or the end? Have my girlfriend and I, stumbled into a horror movie or have we been blessed beyond all understanding? Never in a million years would I have dreamed of being in this dilemma and it really put into perspective my piddly little problems in the scheme of… the universe! A week earlier, my girlfriend and I were at a bar in Glebe. An Inner West suburb of Sydney and an easy walk, drive, bus or light rail from Sydney CBD. We lived around the corner in our old one-bedroom apartment and had been together for ab...

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“I Am The Night.” by Mark Nero

Submitted to Contest #117

I ‘love’ this time of the year! All Hallows Eve… or All Saints’ Eve or… what we call it today, Halloween. I mark my calendar ever year for October thirty first, as it’s the only night of the year that I can be truly myself among normal people. Who am I? I’ll start with who I was… My name was William Smith and I was born near London on the eleventh of January 1666, during the Great Plague of London. My mother Constance had contracted the virus before I was born and fought it with all of her might, for the sake of her unborn baby. People w...

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“Hi, Facebook friends!” by Mark Nero

Submitted to Contest #115

Hi, Facebook friends!This is my last post for a while. If not forever…I’m in a beautiful town in central Italy but I’m not going to tell its name, because I don’t want to be found. Actually, I’m saying goodbye to the old me… The cynical me… The don’t believe anything or feel anything me.3 days earlier…After a breakup with my girlfriend, I decided to head to Italy to clear my mind and regather myself. I was born in Sydney and my parents are Italian, but I always thought that this was the birthplace of my soul. Especially the region of Abruzzo...

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“Road to somewhere…” by Mark Nero

Where am I? Where am I going? For many, these are existential questions but for me, I literally don’t know where I am or where I’m going. Other than being in an old ’57 Chevy convertible, with the roof down, cruising down route 66 and listening to Elvis. It was quite warm and judging by the position of the sun in the sky, it was around noon. I was covered by a thin layer of dust and sweat and tried to remember where I drove from. In the distance, I saw some heat haze, which created an oasis effect but there was also a metallic structure...

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“Past the pasta” by Mark Nero

Submitted to Contest #101

The day started with the sound of the most annoying sound in the world, which was the sound of my buzzing alarm clock. I could have had the radio come on instead of the jarring buzz, but I needed that edge to shake me from my slumber. I threw off the bed-covers, moaned loudly and immediately felt the chill of my cold, unheated studio apartment in Marrickville. A densely populated - smog and traffic choked suburb near Sydney, but at least it was under the flight path (Queue sarcasm). I shouldn’t complain too much though, as things could hav...

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