Eriko Jane
Stories (15/0)
Liability
You know there's a body somewhere inside the moment you open the door. Your nose adjusts to a lot of smells, but not this. I pinched some crumpled lavender from a jacket pocket and stuffed it under my makeshift mask, wiping some under my nose. This house had already been raided so I slipped straight past the kitchen. It wasn't food I was looking for. I avoided eye contact with the family photos on the walls and made my way upstairs. The creaking timber sent shivers up my spine. It always did. The first door on the right was already ajar, revealing a small, bloodied body on the single bed. I pulled my eyes away, but not before seeing the pierced shirt where the child's parents had put the knife. I made no judgments. I put down my backpack and rifled through the wardrobe. I took a spare fitted sheet and a small jacket. In the drawers I found more children's clothes: shirts, tights, pants, underwear. I took everything but the underwear. I moved on to the master bedroom. It had been stripped of almost everything useful. I found no clothes or sheets, just a small envelope containing cash under the mattress which I left. There was a large mirror in the room that I refused to acknowledge. I hesitated before nudging open the en suite door to find the main source of the odour. Two bloated bodies lay in freezing, red water, legs intertwined. There would have been a romantic element to the scene if it wasn't so repulsive. Still, I wondered if I'd ever feel as much as this pair felt in their final moments. I turned to check the cupboards for anything my predecessors may have left me when I saw two necklaces with heart-shaped lockets to the left of the sink. I instinctively went to open one but retracted my hand. I've become accustomed to tragedy but seeing the beautiful faces that once accompanied those decaying bodies could very well defeat me. I grabbed my bag and left. It wasn't a good haul, but I seldom expected good hauls anymore. I knew my livelihood would have to be amended soon.
By Eriko Jane3 years ago in Fiction
Threads
I was six years old when my sister received a little craft book for her birthday. It was a painfully 90's, bedazzled book on how to make friendship bracelets. I may have had thumbs for finger at that age but, as with all of my sister's interests, I considered bracelet-making my new hobby. I spent months working out how to do the simple knots, consistently cutting the string too short at the start because I couldn't fathom how much the bracelet would shrink as I knotted it 500 times (it's okay, they still make great bookmarks). I was just mastering the simplest bracelets while my sister was tackling the most complex ones at the end of the book. I don't know that I looked up to my older sister necessarily, I just didn't know why I couldn't do anything she could do. And so I persisted.
By Eriko Jane3 years ago in Humans
euphoria / melancholia
Most of what I choose to listen to can be generally described as "heavy". Whether it's rock or electronic, I struggle to be engaged by songs that don't hit hard. For whatever reason though, when a certain mood strikes, I find myself listening to Lana Del Rey for an entire day. I've realised that when it comes to soothing music, there are certain types of sad that render me powerless. From The Beatles to Enya, I've decided to categorise the different versions of sad that I turn to when I want to feel my softer emotions.
By Eriko Jane3 years ago in Beat
Androgyny
The 80's will long be remembered as one of the most radical eras of fashion, from glam rock to Madonna, extreme was the new normal. It was also the decade for disregarding social norms before we had phrases like "gender non-conforming". While the androgynous fashion of the 80's inspired many to play with unconventional styles, we seem to have moved away from the widespread embrace of androgyny itself.
By Eriko Jane3 years ago in Styled
Forty Days of Ignorance
It wasn't meant to be civilised. For forty days that statement rolled around in my brain. My mission was specifically to investigate the inhabitability of Wylke-27. So far outside of Directorate jurisdiction, and with no previously recorded visits, could it be that the unarguably humanoid population were the result of evolution independent to that on Earth? The likelihood of that... well, I was an ecologist not a biologist or mathematician, but I knew well enough that the likelihood was minute.
By Eriko Jane3 years ago in Futurism
Beyond "Going for a Run"
At some point in our adulthood, many of us are faced with the uncomfortable reality that our depression is here to stay. Maybe it's seasonal, triggered by external factors, or ongoing, but it's clear that it's not leaving any time soon. For those who live alongside depression long term, here are some tips from personal experience that I hope can enrich your life.
By Eriko Jane3 years ago in Psyche
4 Underrated Australian TV Shows
Australia has been making its mark on cinema for decades. From Crocodile Dundee to Moulin Rouge to Animal Kingdom, no one can dispute Australia's place in the film industry. Television though? The mind wanders vaguely to... Neighbours? Australia has a well of creative television talent if you know where to look. Luckily, you have me as a guide.
By Eriko Jane3 years ago in Geeks
Four Grisly Films from the East
So you like your brutal action movies, the critically acclaimed ones like Fight Club and The Departed. But Hollywood keeps pushing out garbage that just doesn't hit the right mark. You're sick of wading through adventure films starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and a dozen Fast and Furious sequels (also starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson now?). You've heard people recommend movies like Seven Samurai and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon but they sound a bit old and tedious, reading subtitles just doesn't appeal to you. While I will always advocate for reading subtitles, I've chosen four films to recommend that can be enjoyed for the visual spectacle that they are. This is my endorsement:
By Eriko Jane3 years ago in Geeks
Why "nice" is irrelevant
(Trigger warning: sexual assault) Petra's out with friends. Sarah spots her work friend Tom who's out with his mates. Suddenly Petra's friends and his friends are all hanging out. For at least an hour Frank's been questioning Petra about her interests and experiences. He's been polite, he insisted on buying her a drink, he apologised for being forward before telling her she's so attractive. As he gets more drunk he reveals that he's damaged from a crazy ex who broke up with him, but that he's over her now. Whenever she states her opinion he says something to the effect of "Yeah, you're so right". As everyone starts to get tired and go home, and Frank inevitably asks her if she wants to stay with him, a knot in her chest warns her to decline.
By Eriko Jane3 years ago in Humans
No it's pronounced "kon-nichiwa"
My mother is Japanese, my father is Caucasian. There are thousands like me living in Australia and other Western countries. I've been told countless times that half-Asians are so beautiful, or that they are jealous of my exotic appearance. They say I'm lucky to have learned a second language growing up, or that I must have eaten the best food growing up.
By Eriko Jane3 years ago in Wander