In 2009, my husband and I left Mayne Island to attend a magazine launch in Victoria so that I could read 'Because She Believed In Me'. This is a short story about that adventure.
Magazine Launch (installment 4)
I read
the clock on the dashboard. 7:30. “We’re too early.”
“Wow. I wonder how that happened?”
I knew he was mocking me—and I
wasn’t amused, but I didn’t want to start a fight. “Maybe we should turn around
and—”
“No, I don’t think so.” I followed
him into the building. Plank floor. Pump organ. Stripped banners. The place
looked like a Second World War dance-hall Two twenty-something women stood in
the corner by the organ talking. Their clothes had a funky style with accents
of vintage. Byron nudged me toward them. They stopped talking; one of them
smiled at me.
“Hello, I’m Leanne Dyck.” I waited
for them to recognize my name. When they didn’t, I explained, “I’m one of the
authors who’ll be reading their stories tonight.”
“Oh, it doesn’t start until 8
o’clock.”
“Yes, I know. Do you mind if we wait
here?”
They shared a look. “No, we don’t
mind. But you’d probably be more comfortable waiting at one of the local pubs.”
They aimed us in the right direction; and we left.
We stood on the sidewalk, looked
across the street at a pub. It was the first one we’d found. A long line of
people blocked the door.
“Let’s try somewhere else,” Byron
said.
Pub after pub, it was the same
story—door blocked by too many waiting people.
“We could just push our way in,” I
said.
Byron looked at me like I’d suddenly
grown two heads. “Let’s check out the shops,” he said and led me into a music
store. Black walls. Red lights. Devil heads. Everyone dressed in leather. Byron
was drawn to crates of L.P.s in the middle of the store. In a corner, I found a
small display of clothing. Hey, those look like the black leather high tops
I used to own. I wonder how much they—I knelt to inspect them more closely.
Someone touched me. I jumped, turned—Byron.
“It’s all heavy metal,” he
whispered. We left.
We couldn’t drink; we could shop; we
were running out of options.
“Let’s
check out the neighbourhood,” Byron said.
This Summer my husband and I are transforming our front and back yard from an abandoned jungle to...a...well...I'll show you instead of tell you. Today here's my back yard.
I spent three days weeding this section of my back yard.
Then my husband, Byron, used a tapper to level out the yard.
When we're done, I'll use this section of the back yard to do Tai Chi. After several years I'm still very much a beginner. But I really enjoy this mindful exercise. (And for a dyslexic, the sequencing is especially challenging.) In the meantime, in between time, we continue to work...
