short story

This is a story about every morning when her housemate woke her up. This is a story about when the cat got stuck in the storeroom for hours but didn't poo in it. It's a story about the time when they decided to have fish and chips because it was a warm afternoon, the first one since the last summer, and how they had to pay 40c for individual sauce packets because there was no sauce at home. It's about the way the wind blows on a forty degree day on the edge of a country town, has a bit of dirt in it too, and blows spiky gusts against bare legs. It's about when the first indie band she ever started listening to finally release a new album and everybody is anticipating it but she will never forget how special their first CD was on those lonely nights studying just to get out of that tiny town.

This story is about the quiet freshness in the mountains and how lovely he thought it was that of all the places in the world, deep in the mountains seemed like one of the places that might remain untouched for a long time yet. He remembers how at high school he was the only one to pick up rubbish from their spot on the lawn: now when he leaves food courts he has to put everybody's rubbish away and is uncomfortable with leaving it there even though the cleaning ladies are always loitering around ready to take it. It is about when he moved into a place with his girlfriend for the first time and it turned out one of their housemates were growing shrooms. They would never take drugs together because her father died recently. Their electricity bills were huge that winter.

She never had the courage to ask if she could use the milk or the bread and figured it was better just to use them when her housemate was out - she was annoying anyway - and use as much as she thought she could without being noticeable. This story is about the time when she passed people in the corridor and must have been pulling a face because after she walked by she heard them asking "what was that about" and she resolved to seem more happy when she walked in public places, even though the incident really made her more sad than she really was. This is all about the time when she couldn't decide to kiss him because she had just eaten something satay, even though they were sleeping so close together it he probably smelt it anyway.

This story finishes with the time they both thought how nothing really seemed to ever work out or matter and life was just a combination of small events in a too big world, that time they didn't know how to write about the weight that they felt every day inside so other people would feel it too, or whether that they even felt that weight and were just trying to make themselves feel as terrible as everybody else they knew.

Running Like A Stace

Last week I felt so utterly despondent and I knew some measures had to be taken. So, along with booking an appointment for the university counsellor, I decided to go for a run. Running seems easy enough, basically just one foot in front of the other in rapid succession. Anyone can do that. Let's be clear though, I am not a person who runs or is interested in keeping fit, so this was a strange new world for me. A world of sweat and stretching and trackpants.

Firstly, what to wear, and do I even have anything that is appropriate for such an activity? The answer is no, so my mum gave me some trackpants and old running shoes to keep. Thanks mum. Appreciate it. The next thing to organise is the route, and a quick check on wises.co.nz tells me I should go up Holy St. Easy, done. Next, should I bring my ipod, and if so, what should I listen to? This prompted me to make a running playlist, which can be found below. The main criteria were that the songs had to:

- have 'running' in the title
- remind me of being in motion
- be really energetic

Lastly, we need to think about stretches. My Dad always says that before you stretch you should warm up your muscles, so I usually jog on the spot for a few minutes. Then I hold each stretch for 10 seconds. Quads, hamstrings, calves, soleus, ankles, shoulders, arms, neck. All that is left is the act itself, so I set out (running).

The first part of the run is enjoyable, and my limbs move as if they are no longer a part of me; a marionette. Then it starts to set in, and my breath gets shorter and my legs protest and my ipod earphones keep falling out. I reach the end of the road and do some more stretches. I am a sweaty mess but I don't care because I figure that's what people who are running look like. I am running again, only my shins are aching and I am choking and I want to stop so I do. Now I am walking, but fast, and I am red in the face and my eyes are fixed on the space in front of me. I start to run again, I run and I run and I forget the world. I stop at my letter box, feeling defeated. I say hi to my flat mate who is in the kitchen. His name is Gary. Then I go upstairs to my balcony and do some stretches. I sit down with my legs crossed and close my eyes. I think of nothing but the wind on my face. I breathe in and out. I am living.

1. Run Run Run by The Velvet Underground
2. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi by Radiohead
3. Wicked Gil by Band Of Horses
4. Runaway by The National (crap song but can't argue with the title)
5. O Katrina! by The Black Lips
6. A.T.T.I.T.U.D by Die! Die! Die!
7. Set Out Running by Neko Case
8. Running Like A Man by Wet Wings
9. Last Night by The Strokes
10. You Are A Runner And I Am My Fathers Son by Wolf Parade
11. Running by Menomena
12. Bullets by Editors
13. Travel Is Dangerous by Mogwai
14. Keep The Car Running by Arcade Fire
15.Sec Walkin' by My Morning Jacket (for when I get tired and start walking)
16. The Modern Age by The Strokes
17. Shyness Will Get You Nowhere by Die! Die! Die!
18. Fall Of The Star High School Running Back by The Mountain Goats
19. The National Anthem by Radiohead