D.A. Cairns
Bio
Heavy metal lover and cricket tragic, D.A. Cairns lives on the south coast of News South Wales. He works as a freelance writer, has had over 90 short stories published, and has authored six novels to date.
Stories (26)
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Brilliant Betty
Betty stood calmly observing the comings and goings of her friends and others as they ambled from clump to clump, biting and chewing the green grass. Marvelous! Thought Betty to herself. That’s all they do. All day. Apart from swishing flies with their tails and dropping the occasional cow ‘bomb’ on the ground, they just walk around eating grass all day.
By D.A. Cairns4 years ago in Families
Top End Angel
There was a barrage of crocodile jokes when I started sharing the news I was moving to Darwin. I didn’t know anything about Darwin, apart from Cyclone Tracy and a vague awareness of the bombing of Darwin by the Japanese. I knew it was the capital of the Northern Territory, and that it was our smallest capital city, smaller by half than my hometown of Wollongong. I also knew I wouldn’t be encountering crocodiles roaming the streets of suburban Darwin, any more than I met kangaroos bounding free, left, right and centre in the suburbs of Sydney and Wollongong. I also knew Darwin was a hot place.
By D.A. Cairns5 years ago in Humans
Grown up Stuff
Madison turned in along a dirt road off the interstate, skidding on the lose surface. As she motored towards the old barn, she saw Chris’ car and her stomach tightened. Propelled by the adrenaline rush to drive right up to the decrepit abandoned building, parked in a whirl of dust and exited the Camry without bothering to kill the engine or shut the door.
By D.A. Cairns5 years ago in Humans
Not Funny at All
Strong hands took hold of Jacob’s internal organs and kneaded them like dough as the world vanished and time stood still. The hoped for response had not even formed on his wife’s lips let alone been spoken to fill the empty glass of uncertainty. Janelle and he stared at each other briefly, then began to call their son’s name as their eyes frantically explored the surroundings. The internal assault on Jacob intensified; accompanied with cotton mouthed fear.
By D.A. Cairns5 years ago in Families
A Sympathetic Interlocutor
Decorated was the word that first came to mind when he noticed her cheeks. Breaking eye contact only very briefly because he wanted to hold her gaze as long as possible, the strange patterns on her cheeks caught his attention. They might have been scars, burn scars or, had they been located somewhere else on her body, the kind of scars left after a surgical attempt to remove tattoos. The thought intrigued him and suspended the moment of greeting in time.
By D.A. Cairns5 years ago in Humans
relationDips: crabs
It may be hard to fathom at the outset how a post about relationships would involve crabs other than the obvious allusion to sexually transmitted parasites, aka pubic lice. Let's therefore have a close inspection of the crab as one of God's creatures.
By D.A. Cairns5 years ago in Humans
Where the Dead Drink
Eddie doesn’t know how long he’s been sitting on this hard metal bench. His arse is numb, so it’s been a while, but time is meaningless. He has a vague memory of something other than the sullen suspension in which he now draws breath. A long deep drag on a cigarette. An absent scratch of his neck. There’s a scar there, but he can’t remember how he got it. As he exhales, a puff of hot wind carries the carcinogenic smoke into the air and away from him. Eddie stares at it, notices its lingering thickness before it dissipates.
By D.A. Cairns5 years ago in Humans
