The Opening Sky by Joan Thomas

Author:Joan Thomas [Thomas, Joan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 978-0-7710-8393-8
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
Published: 2014-08-18T16:00:00+00:00

And he was right, Wolseley was in Sylvie’s bones. The contours of the riverbank at Omand’s Creek crept into every picture she drew. The old houses seemed right to her – This is what houses are – the garages that were once stables, the chalk-scrawled sidewalks dappled with sunlight, tiny footprints where a squirrel had scampered across wet concrete. The neighbourhood was a map of memories, smudged with the colours of all the things she’s felt. The Halloween she went out as Princess Furball and a guy in a Cyclops mask pelted towards her and wrenched the pillowcase of candy out of her hands – it’s still here on this street, her outrage. Here, in this back lane, the wonder of finding a huge dead pine sawyer beetle (the one she varnished and kept as a scarab in a little round tin). Here’s the house she loves best, where the guts of a grand piano lean against the veranda like a huge harp. Here’s the Dumpster where one Mother’s Day morning she ditched her white patent leather shoes with the bows on the toes so she wouldn’t be forced to wear them to Nana Glasgow’s. There’s the path to the river, where she would crouch in the undergrowth in her secret den, hidden so deep she could believe she was lost. Here’s where she saw a run-over squirrel writhing in the street and tried to catch it in a plastic bag to take to the vet. Here’s where she was riding her bike when the sun glittered on the leaves of a lilac hedge and she understood about her mother: She doesn’t like the kind of kid I am. Here’s the park where they all faked epileptic seizures, thrashing around in the weeds, and wouldn’t stop until they made Emily cry.

There’s the gargoyle crouching on the Callaghans’ veranda roof, a wicked face scaring wickedness away.

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