My private wolf and other stories

Abstract

My Private Wolf and other stories is a collection of 18 short stories, each touching on unexpected moments of kindness or compassion. Beginning with two young girls as they imagine the likely crimes of prisoners passing by their trampoline, the collection moves in unsentimental prose through towns and cities in Aotearoa, observing people as they step outside their own concerns and pay attention to one another.

A small-minded tradesman accommodates a neighbour’s request. A school boy apologises for causing accidental humiliation. An artist protects his family history from becoming easy anecdote. What prompts these considered responses? A cat manslaughter, a misheard song lyric, a painting that starts off as Jesus but turns into a hamburger.

In lives marked by striving, difficulty and failure, we see parents doing their best, strangers trying to help, children recognising vulnerability in others, spouses capable of forgiveness, and colleagues willing to intervene.

The stories are not morality tales; an act of compassion doesn’t necessarily transform, a moment of assistance doesn’t ward off disaster. In Horses, one child’s care for another creates a resting place as larger events unfold. In Traffic, a housecleaner’s actions provide a brief breather within a spiral of despair. In other stories, it is an act of cruelty or the desire for revenge which precipitates connection and understanding.

Along the way, questions arise. What happens when an attempt to be nice is rejected? When does kindness mask interference? To what extent do we deceive ourselves about our motivations? Is it only human beings who can give and receive empathy?

Through the lives of a range of men, women and children, I hope to create a subtle exploration of our efforts to look out for one another.