Albertland short story winner: Save our Chip Shop This story was written for the Wellsford Library Reimagine Albertland short story writing competition. It took first place in the adult category. Save our Chip Shop When Luke became mayor of Albertland – Where the future goes forward, his dogmatic mission was to gain the recognition his techie city rightfully deserved. For years, Auckland was the big smoke, but the Great Pandemic of 2020 generated a boom for outliers and Albertland’s population grew like a virus on Viagra. The city’s eminent leader was only a little kid during the historic lockdowns, when many parents were home all day, every day. Luke’s dad was a complete bastard and when he lost his job, he was either catatonic on the couch or cuffing Luke’s ears with the back of his hand. Luke and his terrified little sister, Aurora stayed out of the house and out of their dad’s reach. When they asked about their mum, their father mumbled ‘the silly bitch’ and they did not ask again.