He only appears in my dreams now. The thief we call time has changed him in ways that unsettle me. His hands are rough from years of long, calloused work. His shoulders have broadened. His muscles are still carved with that same quiet strength I once obsessed over. But his eyes… those piercing blue eyes are exactly the same. They look straight through me, as if they still recognise every want I tried so hard to bury. I ha...

The sun was dipping low over the junior soccer fields when Valentine’s Day finally ended. Parents were packing up oranges and drink bottles. Kids were running off energy before heading home. Annie stood near the sideline, arms folded, trying to pretend the date on the calendar didn’t sting. Last Christmas had shattered her world. Her husband’s long affair had come to light, and the divorce papers arrived weeks later. Sinc...

It had been fifteen years since my last summer camp stay. The program ran every year, inviting kids aged four to eighteen for a month of camping, kayaking, abseiling, and just about every fun activity you could imagine. I was eighteen that final year. And while most memories had faded, the best parts still clung to me: the sunset bonfires on the beach, the surf, the girls. God, the senior girls were something else. A grou...

My suitcase thudded with each bump down the stairs, echoing in the quiet stairwell. "You could at least pretend to not have an attitude about this every time," Zeke muttered, walking ahead of me. Since Zeke and I got married fresh out of high school, he’d been quick to shut me down. He worked away fortnightly at the mines and was gone more often than not. My work was remote, only requiring a twice-a-year conference that a...