‘Modern Day Horror Stories’. That’s the topic of my favourite literary publication for next month, and I’m determined to really nail this one. See, they focus on stories that are humorous but also have heart and a real message. This time, I think it’s a topic I can really get on board with. I’m working on a piece at the moment that has a guy sitting in Sun-Quid and the Wi-Fi password doesn’t work. Thing is, he really needs to submit his essay soon, otherwise he’s going to fail the course. His phone is out of data. What will he do?

See what I mean? I don’t often get ideas, but this one really has me fired up. Another story plan I’m working on is a lazy family that just shoves everything in the dishwasher, even things they shouldn’t. One day it breaks down. The Sydney dishwasher servicing people say…they won’t be there for another two days. The family will have to hand wash their dishes, and panic ensues as they try to remember how you do that. I quite like this one, because you’ve got a range of reactions to bounce off. The father is angry at the government for not providing adequate official services, because he sees owning a working dishwasher as a constitutional right. The mother wants to be a 21st century mum with a job who doesn’t fit into the mould of household cleaner, and washing dishes seems far beneath her. The son just hates washing dishes, because it’s work and he’s a typical teenager. And their daughter is panicking at the thought of what all those soapy suds are going to do to her newly-glittered nails.

I can see this taking off. People nowadays are so dependent on their dishwashers, yet they don’t get them serviced until it’s too late. And then it’s not like anyone truly knows how to do that, either. And it’s not like Sydney dishwasher repairs can just teleport to your house when something happens, because it’s NOT  constitutional right. What will the family do? Find out, in the latest issue…hopefully.