The Journey Prize Stories 31 by Carleigh Baker & Catherine Hernandez & Joshua Whitehead

Author:Carleigh Baker & Catherine Hernandez & Joshua Whitehead
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
Published: 2019-09-23T16:00:00+00:00

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You. You walked in here wearing your yellow sweater with a tin of lemon squares in one hand and yesterday’s Globe and Mail under your arm. Together we ate the bars dusted with icing sugar, two each. Now fine crumbs cover my blankets and I will feel them scratch at my back when I sleep. You’re bold, but your small hands still curl around the bedcovers when you ask questions. In your face, I recognize many you will never know, spirits now. I see your great-aunt’s fine long hair, your great-grandmother’s strength. You should be in school, but you are here. Your mother will be angry.

The facts are these: In 1905, I was born in a small village on the banks of the Xi River in Guandxi Province. My mother worked in the rice paddies. My father died when I was very small. Five of us lived in a one-room shack by the river. Mother, Grandfather, Older Sister, the baby, and me. We were poor, but so was everyone. We managed. At fifteen, I came to Canada and fished on the West Coast. I worked hard on the ocean and came to know it. You might call me successful. I never saw my family again.

So, now you know, little swallow. Not everything, enough. Soon I will be one of those people who drinks thickened orange juice with a spoon. I have seen trays of these in the dining room, lined up like glasses of Jell-O. At least I’m on the ground floor, where bingo night is every Thursday and we’re allowed walks. Still, we must be realistic; my time is limited. I feel weaker every day. But you, you know the story of the day the fish spoke. It’s yours to keep or yours to tell. Like the call of a brass gong, each of your words rings clear. And the sound you make echoes into the distance, beyond everything I know.

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