hat I wore when I wanted to disappearThere is a loneliness that does not announce itself. It settles over you like fog off Port Phillip Bay until one morning you realise you have been rehearsing…What a chipped nail on a first date revealsIt was a first date at a crowded café in Fitzroy. The barista had just called our names and we were navigating the tiny tables when I noticed it — a small but…The Dress I Bought for a Wedding I Wasn’t Invited ToI bought the dress on a Tuesday afternoon, between a pharmacy run and an appointment I had nearly forgotten. It was hanging beneath the bright lights of a…The Room That Remains After Someone LeavesA room changes when a person leaves it, even when the furniture stays exactly where it was. The bed remains unmade, the mug cools beside the sink, and a…Why I Save Screenshots of Conversations I’ll Never RereadI have a camera roll full of messages that I never open. They sit between photos of coffee, badly framed sunsets and screenshots of outfits I considered buying…Walking out in the right pair of bootsThe boots I walked out of a life in were scuffed at the toes, softened around the ankles and stained by rain that had followed me through three winters. They…How to Turn a Playlist from 2010 into a Love SceneA playlist from 2010 can hold an entire emotional weather system: the song played through cheap earbuds on the bus, the track shared after midnight, the chorus…The Courage Inside a Half-Written Journal LetterA half-written letter in a journal can look like a small failure: a greeting, a few urgent lines, then a sudden stop. Yet the unfinished page often preserves…The Coat I Wore Through Two Breakups and a PandemicI bought the coat on a bright Melbourne afternoon, the kind that tricks you into believing winter will be elegant. It was charcoal, slightly oversized, and…When a Hug Feels Like a QuestionSome embraces arrive with an answer already inside them. They say, without language, I’m here, I missed you, or you are safe with me. Others pause at the edge…