The Toxic Walrus

The Inuit Chief shuffles out of his kayak onto the ice. With the assistance of his tribesmen he hauls the dead walrus from the sea onto the ice floe. The walrus hunt has exhausted their bodies but filled their spirits. Women and children from the tribe gather around the dead mammal. Children run around laughing and playing while the women chatter about the layout of the ceremonial rugs and the men talk bravado and slap each other and recount tales of the hunt. Before the first cut is made on the walrus, the shaman leads a prayer ceremony and everyone is quiet. The ceremony consists of a cluster of fur-clad humans, kyaks, harpoons, rugs and dogs, and a fat, warm walrus, with long white tusks and a drab brown body.

The humpback whale rose to the surface alongside the fishing dory in which Wayne Wyatt was trolling for mackerel. As it had for twenty minutes, the whale spewed a jet of stale air from its blowhole and rolled on its side to reveal a squinty black eye that studied the irate fisherman with calm accusation.

The Oberoi Pangolin

Mohammed Sagar of Bangladesh was a recycler of aluminium cans. One morning, he was in the park by the river, searching for cans when he came across a strange beast digging in the dirt under a bush. It has a long nose and a back covered in shiny brown scales. While he had never seen, nor even known of a pangolin before, Mohammed knew opportunity when he saw it.

The Penguin's Graveyard

"Not long now ” growled Berny Ness as he stepped into the Antarctic air from the bridge of the icebreaker ship, the Polar Bare. The ship surged into the bitter wind, ripping through the thin ice as she pushed steadily toward the place marked on the navigation chart with a messy black cross. Berny shuffled next to the first mate, Conor, who leant against the bulkhead squinting into the white mist through binoculars.

Harrison Sorme was a sustainability consultant who claimed that he could offset the greenhouse emissions from anything. He was the kind of person who had the enthusiasm and the gift-of-the-gab to win himself into all manner of exciting projects. His success had been consistent and in only a few years of practice, he found himself with some prime projects. Unfortunately, he suffered the fate of many young consultants and found himself with not one, but two, John Nash clients.

The Oil Monsters

On the highway, the car went dead. The driver pulled over and looked up to see the strange lights. He checked on his wife and three children, they were all still with their eyes closed. His heart racing, he checked his wife's pulse of his wife. She was alive, just fast asleep. The vehicle shuddered as the light's outside grew more intense. Next thing, the lights changed and now his vehicle was in a chamber. He sat blinking, confused and then a figure appeared. Tall, distorted, not a man, a monster.

The Sun Fish

Joel, the 23 year old skipper of the tuna boat, ducked into the wheel house and pulled back the throttle. The noise of the main engine changed from a roar to a mumble, and the vessel slowed, then came to a halt with a whoosh of foam on the bow. It was broad daylight, sunny, and a medium sized swell in the cobalt blue sea rolled the boat gently. We were sixty miles East of the top of Frazer Island and halfway along a twenty kilometre main-line with about seven hundred hooks baited with squid.I was practicing coiling Jap Rope when the fish call came.I looked through the wheelhouse window and watched Joel take a packet of Champion Ruby tobacco from the ledge next to the wheel. Joel quickly skinned a thin rollie looking at the snood tugging at the main-line.

Disaster Zone

Tom sits in front of the TV news, nodding off, alone in a darkened room. TV Announcer: Despite five days of incessant bombing, Colonel Gadaffi's forces continue to wreak havoc on the civilian population in the East of Libya. One last nod of the head and finally, Tom is asleep. Old Mate's phone rings out twice before he wakes. It starts ringing again. He fumbles for the phone, knocking over the alarm clock that shows three am. He checks to see who is calling.

“This better be good,” said Old Mate.

The Old Man and The Sheep

Silver Mtawi slumped over the tiller of his little wooden sailing boat. Through half-closed eyes, the speckles of sunlight on the wave tops reminded him of lions sleeping on the river banks back home. The boat lolled around in the waves. In his uneasy sleep, he heard a lion bleating in the distance. As Silver dreamed of bleating lions, the wind picked up. The sails fluttered and filled, and the bleating of the lions grew closer.

Someone Else's Mistake

When you allow something to happen that is really stupid and no-one around you sees it, everyone thinks you're doing ok, you are left with a sour taste in your mouth. You say out-loud: "Honestly I shouldn't have let Jurien go in the lake alone with the scuba tank. It was a dumb idea. It's too dangerous". Standing on the jetty, staring at the murky water, you wish you could see bubbles rising, but you can't. You curse yourself.

Some People Don't Take Good Advice