Help Yourself
Help Yourself was the winner of the Random House of Canada Award for Student Writing, Creative Writing Program, University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies.
Carrie takes her husband’s hand and steps off the boat onto the limestone wall of the canal. Most people think it’s beautiful, her hometown, particularly in the summer. But Carrie’s throat begins to tighten as they cross the bridge and head toward the road that leads into the town.
She allows herself to breath. Soft, shallow, short breathes at first, then deeper. Mouth closed. She ends each one deliberately. She is testing, gauging, like she is putting her toe in the water or letting the first layer of hot coffee touch her lips, before deciding to drink.
Vigil Night
Vigil Night was published in the Antigonish Review.
Bobby watched as Lynnette laid out the long underwear she usually wore for cross-country skiing. The first and third Tuesdays of every month the Sisters of the Holy Rosary held a vigil in the market square behind city hall. They stood: nuns, priests, laymen, professors, sometimes soldiers and always students, everyone holding candles and having a group-think for peace. Lynnette has not missed once since she read about it two years ago.
It’s funny that she’s a supporter of this peace thing because she sure doesn’t subscribe to it at home. But then she wouldn’t be the first person who said one thing and did another.