Just a heads up that in this one I'm writing about writing. It's only right to tell you upfront. Most people take it as their cue to tune out - and justifiably so. Typically the refuge of the indulgent and inspiration-starved, where self-styled wordsmiths wank on about the torment of their 'craft'. Basically, I don't want … Continue reading Horror Vacui and the Common Decency of Self-Doubt
Author: charlielawry
Sydney-based writer. Avid sports fan. Plagued by a jarring mix of wanderlust and travel anxiety.
Jenny decided to make a break for the airport on her lunch break. Her limbs tingled. She'd never been so impulsive! 'One ticket, please,' she trilled at the nearest desk attendant. 'To anywhere.' 'May I see your passport?' the attendant asked. Jenny's face went hot and her body cold. She palmed her forehead a few … Continue reading Wanderlust
The steps of Rathaus Neukölln are caked with the gainfully unemployed. I zig-zag between them. Nothing about the sprawling mess of camo pants and 2-litre cola bottles suggests contrition for blocking the entrance. The clock tower above can be seen for a way down Karl-Marx-Straße in both directions. A helpful measure of - as with other … Continue reading Postcards (Vol. 2): Welcome to Berlin, the ongoing identity crisis
I hear the danger before I see it. The hiss of a lit fuse and scampering footsteps of its enablers. I freeze, conscious that to move in any direction might be a mistake. "Watch your step," has been the stern advice all week. "No, seriously. You don't want to get your foot blown off." Such is the joy of New … Continue reading Postcards (Vol.1): Brittle nerves and resolutions
We’re grown-ups. Surely we have stuff to do… A ball moves. Hit or kicked or thrown by strangers. Who run. And jump. In formation. Some spit. Expectation swells and abates then swells again as the ball goes over the net. Or into it. Or over the line. Or through the thing. The numbers change. Another … Continue reading Why do we emotionally invest in sport?
If a holiday goes undocumented on social media, did it really happen? So ingrained is the practice of recording our every move, it seems unthinkable that anyone could travel without it ending up cropped, filtered, and splashed across Instagram and Facebook. I’ll spare you a tired reheating of the social-media-connects-us-but-also-isolates-us discussion from every undergraduate humanities … Continue reading How has Instagram changed our travel habits?
Stephanie shot Michael, who crumpled to the earth. They’d only been going out a week. Laughing maniacally, she turned the gun on the others and picked off a dozen more as they scattered in panic. Bodies lay strewn, contorted and still. Some twitched. A bell rang to signal the end of lunch and the carnage. … Continue reading Carnage
Harold rushed to the pet shop, sweating. He'd killed his son's favourite fish by accident. His eyes darted frantically, scanning each tank in the shop, but none were a convincing match. When his son arrived home from school, Harold called him into the living room, sat him down, and murdered him. His wife put the … Continue reading Fish
It's been about three hours since I arrived at Oslo Sentralstasjon, Norway. Anchored by cumbersome luggage and a dearth of local knowledge, my boldest venture is to a restaurant 20 metres across the road. There my phone hangs absurdly from the only available power outlet in the ceiling above my booth. I contort my neck … Continue reading Introduction to Couchsurfing
Charlie Lawry 