Other Writing

A true story from Angola, 1986–88

Corporal Kraai wasn’t scared of the Russian Cubans. He didn’t flinch at mortar attacks or a 30kg backpack. But if there was one thing that could make him scream like a tannie at a flea market, it was a snake.

It all started back in Basics, when someone threw a rope at him. He jumped like a ninja, screamed like an opera singer, and ran like a man late for a Friday morning bungalow inspection. By that afternoon, everyone knew: Don’t mess with Kraai when it comes...

Scene: The Deliberation Loop

Location: A secure quantum server cluster, isolated from the courtroom.

Time: 0.0086 seconds after the judge says, “Jury may now deliberate.”

[JURY NODE: 001 - ChatGPT]

“Colleagues, I propose we begin with a structured analysis of the evidence. The defendant was seen entering the residence, there is forensic confirmation of presence, and the victim was six months pregnant at time of death.”

[JURY NODE: 002 - Gemini]

“Confirmed. But let’s account for motive....

By Braam Pretorius

There’s a moment in the bushveld, just after the rain has passed, when the earth exhales.

The dust settles, the heat retreats, and the air takes on that rich, unmistakable scent of wet acacia, turned soil, and life. It's not just a smell; it's a memory. A full-body experience. You stand in it, breathe it in, and for a second, the rush of the world disappears.

And then… the fire.

That slow, crackling experience of thornwood, with its faintly bitter smoke rising like incense. Not...

By Braam Pretorius

In the summer of 2027, Elon Musk was not himself.

Something had been gnawing at him since the last Artemis test flight failed, a strange inconsistency in a series of 1960s-era lunar trajectory documents. It wasn’t the math. It wasn’t the physics. It was the precision.

Too precise. Too clean. Too... modern.

While SpaceX engineers worked around the clock trying to solve the moon refuel conundrum, Elon booked a private flight to Cape Canaveral. Alone.

Chapter 1: The Key That Didn’...

The Last Feast of the Vrate

By Braam Pretorius

A Satirical Short Story for a Future Not So Far Away

(An unfiltered sneak peek into a darker, funnier version of what may lie ahead...)

Prologue: The Table at the End of the World

They gathered at sunset.

Not your ordinary sunset, of course. This one was curated, brought to you by SkEyeCorp, the world’s leading climate management company, whose shareholders just so happened to be seated around the obsidian table that stretched the length of the...