The Echo and Creative Mullum’s Short Story Competition is off to a great start with submissions so far in both the over and under 18-year-old categories.
Local legend, Marika Bryant, was so fast off the block to enter the competition that we have reproduced her short story ‘Time Out Of Sorts’.
Time Out Of Sorts
By Marika Bryant
I put my hand out. I don’t like doing that, asking for a hand-out. Need it this time, not just folly. Would anyone stop?
Standing on the side of the road, so many things rattling around in my brain. Time out to think? Ha. I’m thinking of all the times I didn’t stop for those obviously in need: nobody chooses to be on the road alone. Or do they?
How did I get into this position, of needing a lift from any random person who might display kindness. Did I, in a similar situation? Do I actually deserve a lift? From anyone? Questions and more questions.
Getting hotter now and I don’t have a hat. Perhaps I should move to the shady spot, a bit further up the road. Will they see me? Do I look like a risk?
A car speeds past. No luck with Mr Speedy. Another car approaches closely behind, they slow down. They check me out. They drive past me. I am crestfallen. What did they see in me that caused them to keep on going and not stop? My clothes? My pretend smile? Do I look like a talker? Or a stalker? I was a walker, but it just got too hot. Had to stop and recombobulate. Now I am rambling. Wish I had some water, it’s mighty thirsty standing here. No phone, no bag, no sign. What was I thinking when I stormed out of the house? Nothing. I was thinking nothing. Only reacting.
OK, I see another ute ahead, a worker en route to the next job. The ute is overloaded with gear, I can see it from here. Chockers, mate! Dog (brown, of course) with its tongue lolling and ears flapping in the wind. Please stop. You have a dog. You are a kind person. I promise I won’t talk, unless you are in need of a conversation. There is room next to you. I can see it from here.
Oh my. Will I be here until nightfall? Surely I pose no threat? What does constitute a threat? Dirty clothes? No shoes? That look on my face that might be read out of context? Pleeease stop, I can explain…
Gees it’s hot!!! Go on, move on up the road, under that tree. At least if nobody stops your brain won’t be so fried. Now I am really talking to myself. First sign of madness? I blame it on the gruelling heat.
Vulnerable. Not a nice feeling. That person I passed the other day, with their hand out – did they feel vulnerable? Of course they did. Fool. What goes around comes around. How many times have I used that ‘cliched’ expression? There is comfort in cliche. You know it, you say it, and everyone knows your intention. Move away, nothing to see here. Doing it again, prattle-rattle, stop it… but my mind wanders, along with my tired legs, up the road, under the tree and even a rock to sit on.
Caught between a rock and a hard place. STOP IT!!!
I ponder the meaning of life. After all, I have plenty of time on my hands. Then I remember the movie, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The meaning of life is forty-two. I am forty-two! What a coincidence. Only remember that part about the movie. Must watch it again. Wonder if it is on iView????
A car slows down. An elderly woman is behind the wheel. Yes. Hallelujah. She stops the car and lets me in. She tells me I look familiar. I am intrigued, and I ask her, ‘how so?’ She informs me, with a wry smile on her dial, that I passed her on the way out of Mullumbimby, just the other day, when she was hitchhiking. She never forgets a face.
Get writing this festive season
Everyone is invited to submit a story of up to 500-1,500 words with the hook ‘Hitchhiker’.
The story hook is a writing ignition device to ensure that stories submitted are new and that they have a unique thematic emblem. The hook can be buried in a sentence, far off in the distance, it could be the name of a band playing at a pub, or it could be the mainstay of your story!
We have an adult category and a youth category for 18 and under with first prize for the adults of $1,000, and $500 for the youth category.
There will be a host of other prizes for finalists who will be invited, if selected, to present their story in a live storytelling performance at our very first Mullum Moth hosted by Mandy Nolan and Creative Mullum, on 1 April, 2026.
Stories will be judged by author Alan Close, Echo big boss Simon Haslam, and comedian and writer, Mandy Nolan, and is open to anyone in the Northern Rivers. Each writer is able to submit up to, but no more than, two entries.
Stories can be submitted by visiting www.creativemullum.org.au/writerscomp and entries are open now and close on 28 February, 2026. So, if you want a project for the Christmas break – step away from the ham, and get those creative juices flowing!
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
