Third place in the 2026 Sargeson Prize

Third place in the 2026 Sargeson Prize

Alone, by Lorraine Carmody The woman is in her late thirties, maybe early forties, with a husband, and children too young to know. Nina is the woman’s night nurse. The agency person said Nina would be a good fit; that Nina was exactly who they were looking for. She arrives at the woman’s house at ten o’clock each night when it is dark and leaves the next morning as the sun is beginning to rise above the Port Hills. Some days when she drives home…