A medley of romantic stories to mark Valentine’s Day.

Shirley and Paul Bateman. See their story – Re:Stacks by Bon Iver

 

Fresh Feeling by The Eels.
Story by Sam Lawry.
We kissed where our parts of the bike path diverged, lingering and unwilling to let the moment pass. There have been more kisses, and conversations. I look forward to seeing him, a flash of silver hair, the wry curl of his lip, tanned arms. But I also like the feeling of leaving, of not knowing what may happen next...

 

All Or Nothing At All by Vince Jones.
Story by Nick Gadd.
A new relationship is a good time to open your ears to new sounds.I was working as an English teacher at a chewing gum factory, and Lynne had a job at a language school in Milan. We both had one-year contracts, and at the end of the year we’d have to decide where to go next…

 

Re:Stacks by  Bon Iver.
Story by Paul Bateman.
We married late in life, Shirley and me: I was 41; Shirley, 44. Before Shirley, I had loved and been loved, but I had never married. The same was true for her. When I met Shirley I was living in a bright and beautiful one bedroom apartment, by the beach in St Kilda. Years earlier, I had moved into the flat in a state of despair; my life was a mess.

 

Under The Milky Way by The Church.
Story by Darren Smokie Dawson.
I put on The Church, and as the opening chords of Under the Milky Way softly made their way through the speakers, I asked the woman with whom I was planning to spend the rest of my life to dance with me. “I like this,” she whispered. I was unsure whether she meant the music, the slow dancing, or my holding her close. But I did not ask and I did not care either way.

 

Do You Want To Know A Secret? by The Beatles
Story by Bea Jones

In  my  first  tentative  relationship  with  a  fellow  student  I  felt  I  had  found  my  soul  mate,  where  the  rampant  hormones  were  matched  by  our  mutual  passion  for  art; many  Sunday  afternoons  spent  wandering  the  back  streets  of  Wellington, sketch  book  in  hand. The  Beatles’ refrain  of  Closer, let  me  whisper  in  your  ear….. seemed  to  epitomise  that  all-engulfing  state  of  first  love. He was, for many  years, my  lover, friend  and  guide.