Manny and Dusky’s Impossible Dream
A story by Barry Chant Manny was handsome, debonair, muscular and lithe. His golden hair shone in the sunlight and his eyes were like blue lakes in fields of russet marble. Dusky was attractive, companionable, shapely and bright. Her smile could shatter the most solemn frown and her voice ebbed and flowed like a melody. […]
Blue Chocolate
BLUE CHOCOLATE A story by Barry Chant ‘Have you heard about the resurgence of blue chocolate?’ whispered buxom Beverley Trad one winter morning to her slender brunette friend Sophie Wise. They were both in their twenties, enjoying the embracive warmth of Linger Inn, a popular café that served the best coffee in the university precinct. […]
Those Two Questions
It was a hot, dry, late summer’s day in Adelaide, South Australia, the driest State in the driest continent on earth. Our twelve year-old daughter Becky was a new student at a prestige College and we had promised to pick her up after school. We pulled up in our light blue Volkswagen Combi van. There […]
Taking up the Cross 21st Century Style
Large crowds were following Jesus. So He turned to His disciples and said, ‘Let us find an air-cooled auditorium where the people can sit down in comfort.’ And the disciples searched until they found a suitable venue. They hung large signs outside reading, ‘Salvation-Healing Crusade here this week. Hear Jesus of Nazareth. See signs, wonders […]
Snug as a Rug in a Bug
Terms of Use You are welcome to download this story for personal enjoyment. For distribution as handouts to classes or other groups, please include the acknowledgement at the end of the story. Barry Chant Snug as a rug in a bug It had been a bitterly cold night. I was weary and stiff. I wiped […]
Sabotaged by Satan?
One cool South Australian afternoon in 1990, my wife Vanessa and I were driving back to Adelaide from a trip to the popular ocean town of Victor Harbor. We were cruising nicely along the motorway, enjoying our relaxed time together. It was chilly outside but in the car it was warm and comfortable. We were […]
Trapped in the Outback
A true-life story of hope It’s a frightening thing to be lost in the Outback. I know because it happened to my family and me. The year was 1974. We were heading for a family holiday in the northern Flinders Ranges, a place of wild, steep, ragged hills, sharp-pointed grass and rambling, stony creek beds, […]
Mr Ack
When I was a child our Sunday School superintendent was a man named Mr Akroyd, a tall, dark, thinly- faced Baptist layman in his fifties. Looking back now, I can see that he didn’t have the faintest idea how to relate to children. He never used any gimmicks. He never pandered to our wants or […]
Marching to Zion
I still remember the first time I saw ‘Pop’ Justice. I was the new pastor at a small church which had been established about five years earlier. We used to meet in a hired hall on a busy road, where the noise of passing traffic was a constant growl in the background and the bare, […]
Hiding God’s Word
I am forever grateful for the people who taught me to memorise Scripture when I was a child. My mother died when I was ten years old. A few months later, to get me off his hands for a while, no doubt, my Dad sent me to a Scripture Union boys’ camp at Victor Harbor, […]