Supernatural: A Fijian Experience

THE FORD 🧺 Every town has a place people pass without noticing. An old service station. A forgotten bridge. A lonely road that disappears into the trees. In our town, that place is The Ford . By day, it is just a coin laundry . Workers wash their uniforms there. Travellers dry their clothes there. Students sit scrolling their phones while machines hum and spin. Nothing remarkable. Nothing unusual. At least, that is what people tell themselves. But there are stories. Stories of a woman who appears among the washing machines before dawn. She is always alone. She is always folding clothes. And she is never there when anyone returns with another witness. Those who meet her often remember only fragments of the conversation. A warning. A strange phrase. A casual observation that makes no sense at the time. "Water remembers every face it touches." "Trees fall with a mind of their own." "Mud likes to keep what sinks into it." Most laugh and forget. Until later. U...

​ Deep within the Forgotten Swamp, rumours spread among local youngsters about a mysterious patch of  Green Vegetable Material (GVM)  said to make worries disappear and make anyone feel fearless. One moonlit night, four curious youngsters sneak into the swamp hoping to find it. What begins as an adventure quickly becomes something far more dangerous. The deeper they travel, the thicker the mist becomes. Strange voices whisper from the darkness. Unseen eyes watch from the reeds. And somewhere beyond the firelight, the Net-Net Swarm is waiting. Watching from the shadows is  Bunyip Vlogs , the ancient guardian of the billabong. A towering orange-haired swamp dweller known to locals as a scruffy wild man who runs a Dirty Soda and Coffee shop beside the water. What they don't know is that Bunyip is far older than anyone imagines. He is a keeper of stories. A protector of youngsters. A carrier of the Kerosene Lantern. Before the children wander too far, Bunyip intercepts them a...

​ It was snug autumn 🍂 morning,  Bunyip had woken up and was laying awake contemplating life in the Billabong. Mrs Vlog, still nested asleep 💤 beside him,  vlogs still warm and snuggly asleep.  Maeve, Bunyip’s faithful companion had woken him up because she need to use the outdoor latrine. Bunyip started the fire and made his favourite muddy coffee ☕️.  They contemplated what a dirty Soda would look like of taste like.  Bunyip, toasted a marshmallow, as he sipped his coffee. Maeve was happy to sit by a fire and listen to Bunyip’s plan for a Dirty Soda Shop and Cafe. She wanted to call it bones 🦴 and coffee ☕️.  Bunyip had other ideas. What about Soap? Bunyip research the process for Soap 🧼 making and hopes together it out there! NUMA NO ONI) "The Swamp Demon" 沼の鬼 (NUMA NO ONI) "The Swamp Demon" ———— \  Dedication \————- Thank you, Anthony, Frank, Penelope, Lyon and Hadassah,  Ratu Filimone and My Darling Ane for inspiring this piece   an...

​ In the ancient forests of Nakauvadra Range, where mist clings to the mountains and the roots of old trees twist like the bones of sleeping giants, there are stories spoken only in low voices after sunset. 🌲🌫️🪓 The old people say the legend began long before their grandfathers’ grandfathers were born. They say a foreign warrior came to Fiji from beyond the black horizon during the age of muskets and tribal wars. He was not a missionary, nor trader, nor chief. He arrived alone upon a damaged vessel after storms tore the sea apart. Some believed he was European. Others believed he was already a spirit when he arrived. The villagers could not speak his true name properly. They only knew he came from a cold land of endless forests where snow buried the earth and great elk wandered beneath dark trees older than memory. He carried: two thunder-pistols, a curved sea blade, and an ancient double-faced axe. The axe was older than the man himself. Its handle was carved from ancient ash wood,...