THE MANLY by Chris Bell

Another in NZBC’s series of summer fiction, this is what has become known as a ‘short short’: a story of 500 words or less, short enough to read in one sitting.

Disclosure: Three NZBC bloggers, Director-General Rob O’Neill, Mark Broatch and Chris Bell, had their short-shorts published last year in Random House (NZ)’s anthology Home, which was co-edited by another NZBC blogger Stephen Stratford (cue: Theme from The Twilight Zone). The collection is available from New Zealand bookshops, ISBN: 1869417410.

This short short, THE MANLY, is previously unpublished and was inspired by the vintage advertisement shown — a product which, as far as we know, is sadly no longer available. Read on…