Matt Strempel

“Sent to a Farm.” by Matt Strempel

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #11

I turned off the bitumen and the tyres bit into the gravel with a familiar crunch. It had been a dry summer and the road to my grandparents’ place dusted my windshield with cream talc. I wondered if old man Patterson would be on the phone to my parents, complaining I was going too fast. But he'd have been dead ten years by now.A fortnight prior, Grandma had passed away and I was back at the family home to help in some way. Not in any administrative capacity—I’m famously challenged in matters of logistics and organisation—but my back’s still ...

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“Bum Note” by Matt Strempel

Submitted to Contest #9

Coffee cup in hand, James MacFarlane took his regular seat as the morning played out before him. His bench in the north-western corner of Hyde Park afforded him a princely view of the fountain glistening in the morning sun. Surrounded by the giant guardians of the parklands, the ancient fig trees, he observed the morning rituals of those still chained to the hamster wheel from which he had long-since escaped. He smiled as they scurried hither and thither to attend a meeting they were late for, submit a report overdue, attend a review with th...

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“Pinky Promise” by Matt Strempel

Submitted to Contest #8

“If you break a pinky promise, you’ll die within a year.”That’s what my neighbour, Geoffrey Collins used to say when we were kids. I’m looking at his old bedroom window from the base of the gum where his tyre swing used to be; where I’d call 'cooee!' to get him to come out and join me.There’s only the frayed top of the rope tied to the branch now. There was a persistent rumour it’s where Mr Collins hanged himself, but that’s bullshit. It was just Geoffrey’s swing.It was the shed where Geoffrey found his dad dangling.No one’s lived here ...

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“What You Should Take To A Deserted Island” by Matt Strempel

The pilot is tapping the fuel gauge. Never, in the history of air travel, whether actual or fictionalised in film, has that achieved anything other than to confirm the fuel tanks are, in fact, empty. “Does that ever work?” I ask Peter, the pilot charged with providing me with my 50th birthday present — a joy flight over the islands. “Say again?” “I said does that ever work?” I’m yelling into the headset mic, pointing at the instrument panel. “Have you ever tapped an empty fuel gauge and it sprang back up?” The pilot laughs nervously. “You ne...

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“Star Warrior” by Matt Strempel

Submitted to Contest #7

Dear, Harry (Little Bro).I’m about to head out on what might be my last mission. So the Commanders say, anyway. Not because my job is nearly done, but this one, they reckon, is more dangerous than all the previous missions combined.Too many unknowns: Unusually long hypersleep, an uncharted sector, limited intel on the enemy.They’ve suggested I should write my story down before I go. Something for you to read when you’re old enough.I haven’t got long, so I’ll keep it brief. Here goes:My name is Jack (Big Bro). 12 years old. Star Warrior.Mum j...

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