Paul Swadel

Cradle

Eade is a fourteen year old girl who has spent her entire life on the spaceship Cradle. Eade and her dad are on the return journey to Earth when an explosion cripples the craft and seriously injures her father. As the clock counts down to self-destruction Cradle’s computer, System, assumes control of the ship and refuses to perform the life saving medical procedure that her father desperately needs. Whilst trying to outwit System to save her dad, Eade discovers the shocking truth of her existence and must face her uncertain future armed with the knowledge that her life in space is not as it seems.

When a City Falls

2010 on the Canterbury Plains and all is well. Lambs, blue skies and daffodils. In Cathedral Square choir boys sing to their God. Punts push new season's tourists along the Avon. They photograph the 'Garden city'; the 'most English city outside of England'. We get hit with a 7.1 earthquake. We stand up, wave our fists at the heavens and compliment ourselves on our ability to recover. And then we get hit even harder. Now the city has fallen. Many are dead. Many injured. Many narrowly escape. A fragile people reappear in the following days. We have learnt from the first earthquake and once again a response is growing. Once again adrenaline is taking over. Now the whole country is rallying for Christchurch. It's the energy of the people that's unprecedented. Communities are rising from the sand. People are holding tight to each other. A year later and the quakes keep rolling. Now the Canterbury earthquakes are the most ever quakes recorded in a series. And we're still counting....

The French Doors

A man installs a set of French doors during a renovation. What he doesn't know is that the doors harbour a secret. A dark secret...