13th of February – Season 3 TWO WEEKS AGO A cup of coffee. That's all it was supposed to be. That had been the idea when Savana sat down at the booth of Kieck's Kitchen. But then he walked in. Savana had been surprised considering that back on Fuel, he and Jim Kieck were not friends. Neither was Savana. When he'd sat down at her table, she'd asked the most basic question: "What do you want?" "He wants us to play lovers."...

7th of February – Season 3 Penny Potgieter stared at the mirror with tears welling in her eyes. The doctors had only recently taken her bandages off, having told her, thankfully, that she would not be losing her eyesight. Of course, she'd figured this out a week ago when she'd taken the bandages off prematurely so that she could watch a travesty unfold before her burnt eyes on last week's episode of Monday Night Fuel. Pen...

31st of January – Season 3 Terrance Moodley had woken up early, having taken a shower and had breakfast before his wife had woken up. He'd just finished brushing his teeth when Angela walked into the bathroom. "Hey, you're up early." "Winners wake up early, Angie." Angela looked at her husband almost worried as she had no idea what he was going to do today. However, she did know what he had to do. "What's on the schedule...

28th of January– Season 3 When Leonardo Mustafa arrived at the Fuel Speedway, he'd made a point to wear a disguise. He'd heard the stories of what happened when Bru Constantin had arrived here a year ago and Tendai Mathemba a year before him. Leo was not interested in interacting with any F-X racers including fellow Auto 1 racer, Solo Magubane. Leo was a member of Team Caltex and a former Auto 1 champion hailing from Egyp...

Will Mitchell leaned against the lockers and stared at Neil Parker. The older boy lay on the floor, his head surrounded by blood. Was Neil dead? Or just unconscious? Will dropped the baseball bat he had used to attack the bully. It hit the floor with a loud thud. Mr. Krauss, a math teacher, came out of his classroom. Within seconds, he was shrieking for help. Miss Allan, a gym teacher, joined him. She taught first aid so...

Penny Lambert sat in the darkest corner of the bar, nursing a glass of Orange juice. She checked her watch... again! Still only ten o'clock. She had never felt so lonely and miserable. In fact, the whole week had been miserable. Only one week before, she had spent Christmas day with her family. Her husband and two young children had a wonderful day whilst she had tried, quite successfully, not to show the emptiness and gu...

At first I barely felt the bullet pierce the low-slung cocktail dress and enter my heart. It seemed impossible to consider death real, despite the warning minutes earlier from the mysterious lady with the black eye shadow alongside me. I always thought I'd have more time. Guess everyone does. My demise only registered when I caught sight of the spatter of red – my red – peppering his shirt as he tucked the gun away, butto...

24th of January – Season 3 MONDAY MORNING Mandla Xulu felt strange sitting in the lobby outside Moodswing’s office. Even though the Club President was nothing like the Deputy Mayor, Mandla felt exactly how he usually felt sitting outside his father's office, listening to his PA, Sindiwe typing away on her desktop as the dread of the conversation set in. Mandla realized that what he was dreading wasn’t the conversation wit...

I sat at the back of the hall, as far away from the blare and screech of the music as possible. Did they still call this tuneless, booming stuff music? Gone were the days when you could hear the words and whistle the tune. No way to shut out the laughter and screams of the arm-waving, drink-stoked partygoers on the dance floor. Not that I blamed their exuberance. Hell, it was New Year’s Eve. On how many such nights over t...

17th of January –Season 3 EARLY MONDAY MORNING Blackcat Mathunzi had never been much of a teacher, but unfortunately for him, practicing this ancient form of African Occultism came with a price. It was a disclaimer of sorts: Everything you have learnt must be passed on to another; a worthy successor who will become more wiser and far more powerful. Blackcat admittedly never liked this part of the practise. Why couldn’t he...

So, you know what it's like. I’m the prodigal son, back for the first time since September, and I’m buzzing. It’s a strange sort of feeling. It's Christmas and the mood is in the air and it's crisp and alive and pulling you in. Streets that used to be dull and everyday, you haven’t seen for months, and suddenly they have a special air to them, familiarity mixed with newness and anticipation. It's your first night back and...

12th of December – Season 3 Toney had never liked the rain so when she saw that it had seized up last night, she was very happy. She would have hated for the pay-per-view to be postponed. But alas, the show would go on. But if the show would go on, then it meant she would need to get a story. And this time, she wasn't interested in backstabbing or fighting with her fellow F-X reporters over an article. This left her with...

The whistle had just been blown and the students were trooping in. Ray Anderson, the Deputy Head, was standing at the doors as they filed past him, uniformly attired in their regulation blazer, matching trousers, sensible shoes and red tie. The tie and the blazer were adorned with the establishment’s crest, with something in Latin written underneath. Hair was neatly parted and not too long, or short. Mr Anderson smiled at...

6th of December –Season 3 Jim looked at his watch nervously. It was nearing 8 o'clock and he still had one customer to take care of before he could leave for Fuel. While he knew it was common restaurant courtesy to serve any customers still in the building after closing hours, surely this was pushing it. She'd been here for two hours already! The woman sitting by her lonesome in the eating area was gorgeous with dark choc...

I’m leaning against the bar when she walks in. I’ve just got home for Christmas and am in the function room, upstairs at this pub in town, where there are supposed to be some bands on. She spots me, tosses her blonde hair back, and gives me a strange look. It’s a look that says you’ve been away and now you’re back. You’ve stayed away too long. I’m pleased you’re back. But I’ve managed quite nicely without you, thank you v...