Short story: Winner of the Sargeson Prize seconday schools division

Short story: Winner of the Sargeson Prize seconday schools division

Piece of the Furniture Looking back, I would imagine the house sighed, a long, tired exhale, when the boxes were pulled out of hiding. As if it recognised the ritual and felt our whakapapa loosening from its bones, a farewell beginning before any goodbye was spoken. The tape screamed in slow strips, like skin peeling from a sunburn, leaving raw trails of departure behind. Mum said, “We’re just tidying things up,” but the air had the feeling of t…