July - CHEESECAKE (Word limit: 100)

Positive Words Short Story Competition

By Latika M

The smart-phone. Her sworn frienemy.  An innocuous-looking super-slim device that had become the remote control to her life; governing her actions, draining her of social etiquette faster than she could drain its battery. Short, sharp pings would distract her at family functions and get-togethers, causing her to forgo her manners in favour of checking the number of likes her cheesecake photo had received on Facebook, or the number of re-tweets her latest outraged outburst on the state of Sydney's traffic had acquired or the number of followers she’d gained on Instagram – the LED illuminating her face and bringing to light her not-so-secret addiction.

June - OBSTACLE (Word limit: 100)

Positive Words Short Story Competition

By Latika M

The new age nannies.They gathered in the park in their dhotis, turbans and long silver beards. Neither the scorching summer heat nor the biting winter chill posed an obstacle to their get-togethers. These retired Punjabis  sat on the bench telling tales of their hometowns and counting the number of days before they could return to India, all the while keeping a mindful eye on their grandchildren who see-sawed and took turns on the swings nearby. The men were here on tourist visas, sponsored by their children who now had children of their own and preferred live-in babysitters to paying exorbitant day-care prices, and held no qualms about uprooting their parents.