Stories and Paintings
The combination of the crowd’s rapturous cheering and the overpowering green glare of an overhead stage light had me momentarily stupified. Lifting my hand to shield my eyes, I found my way behind Budgie’s guitar amp and to the keyboard. I adjusted the microphone stand in front of me. On the keyboard’s electronic display,... Continue Reading →
With speed and precision that would impress any seasoned roadie, Rory and Budgie rushed back and forward between the garage and the stage in the backyard, moving in total six amplifiers, three guitars, two distortion pedals, two microphones, two microphone stands, one keyboard, one keyboard stand, a five-piece drum kit, four cymbals, one drum... Continue Reading →
Ten minutes passed in our small concrete fortress. The air was stuffy. Sweating my arse off under the afternoon sun had gifted me a noticeably stale aroma. Even Rory, usually anointed with a subtle touch of top-shelf aftershave, now had a whiff of old cheese about him. It added an extra unpleasantness to an... Continue Reading →
I assumed this whole British-mafia-boss-coming-to-murder-my-best-friend thing was one of LaShawn’s odd jokes. I don’t always get jokes. I stared at him, awaiting an explanation, but he just nodded, then went and crouched between two nearby bushes and looked about in the fallen leaves and dirt like he was trying to find a lost contact... Continue Reading →
I look forward to attending your 40th birthday celebration. Biscuits —The RSVP reply from Jimmy “Biscuits” O’Shea to Rory’s birthday invitation. Received 15th July 2019. © 2021 MILES VENISON ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Once I got back down the hill, I went inside for a drink. Rory was in the lounge room, struggling to pluck some Simon and Garfunkel on Budgie’s guitar. “How did you get back here so fast?” I said. He lifted his eyes from the fretboard. “What do you mean?” “I thought you were... Continue Reading →
I took a quick shower upstairs. The cool water pelting the top of my shorn head and streaming down my face refreshed me and melted away some of the stress and uncertainty of the last few days. I coughed up a yellow pellet of phlegm; it circled the drain and then disappeared. I felt... Continue Reading →
A persistent, muffled thumping roused me from sleep, and I rolled over, bleary-eyed, on my sweat-dampened pillow. Heavy footsteps plodded down the stairs. I sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed my eyes in the bright sunshine and intruding heat of the open window. Nearby cockatoos screeched. The thumping stopped. Last night’s... Continue Reading →
Rory’s parents’ house, Queensland, Australia, 19th November 2005. BANG! Another balloon popped, right behind me. I swear the little turds were doing it on purpose. I hate balloons popping. I don’t mind the noise; it’s the surprise I can’t stand. A swarm of ankle-biters ran outside, screeching and giggling, hyped up on fairy... Continue Reading →
A yank of the hand brake and a deft swivel of the steering wheel, and LaShawn brought his truck round to skidding halt on the dirt driveway beside Budgie’s house. He chuckled as he switched the engine off. Budgie—his last name is Finch, so we call him Budgie—had a four-acre property with a... Continue Reading →
