Roger braked. The trailer swerved. Pat yelled at him to pull over and the brothers ran back along the road. The border collie lay on its side, panting through its teeth.
There wasn't a house for miles. Roger squinted, hands on his hips. It just came out of nowhere.
Pat muttered as he walked back to the SUV. When Tim saw his father get out his bag he started to cry. Penny tried to explain how it was wrong to let things suffer but the boy was inconsolable.
Pat filled the syringe: This should be you. Roger wiped his upper lip. Pat crouched. They didn't have anything to throw over it.
Pat drove the rest of the way. Everyone was quiet. Roger stared at the curving coast. Their mother always tried to make the boys come down and this was exactly why they didn't.
After their father died her invitations became more pleading. Roger refused.
He hated their house. Our house now: Pat focused on the road ahead.
The property was surrounded by an investment block. As the car and trailer bumped down the metal driveway the rows of pine trunks fell into line.
The black-stained A-frame stuck up in the clearing like a witch's hat. Summer had baked the grass yellow. The herb planters had seeded. The white sand beach ran behind the patches of scrub in a broken grin.
Penny flicked the spiders out of the curtains. She threw out the dead candles and stuffed the shawl back in the cupboard and unhooked the dreamcatcher from the ranch slider and threw it in the bin.
Pat got Tim to help him bring in their things. They'd brought everything they needed for the week: food and water and gas and toilet paper and candles. There was no phone and no signal but Laurie kept trying.
This story is from the January 2 - 12, 2024 edition of New Zealand Listener.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the January 2 - 12, 2024 edition of New Zealand Listener.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Spilt milk
Excess dietary calcium goes into toilets, not bones.
To the Max
The testosterone and torments of late adolescence are centre stage in this novel about finding your place in life.
A chemical killer
A new book outlines the life of a woman who may well have been New Zealand’s most prolific poisoner. What was it that led police to exhume the body of her husband from its watery grave?
Creating the WOW factor
Meg Williams, in charge of the biggest festival involving a bunch of people wearing wacky outfits, admits she's not very flamboyant in her own dressing.
Leaving it all on the park
After cancer treatment, Graeme Downes takes stock of a musical life leading The Verlaines and lecturing future generations of songwriters.
Wrong message
A UK journalist who came here to talk about Rwanda’s authoritarian regime found herself the victim of a social media hate campaign.
Busting a gut
IBD is escalating, seemingly thanks to the Western lifestyle, and New Zealand has one of the highest rates in the world.
The point of Peters
There's been much to admire about the NZ First leader's politics over the years, but where has it got him?
Don't call us ...
Finland's ingenuity galvanised the rapid global uptake of cellphones, so it's paradoxical the country's latest claim to fame should be the elevation of no-speakies to a new commercial opportunity.
He is here
In the week my brother died, there was a storm in the universe.
