Tom laughed indulgently when his friend Frank apologized for having only a quick pint. “Bette and I are going dancing tonight. You and Myrna should join us.” “No way,” Tom said. “It’s been so long since I went dancing with Myrna that she doesn’t even bother to ask any more. If I weakened now, we’d … Continue reading
Author Archives: Melodie Corrigall
Wolf Country
Annoyed by his companion’s smug smile, Arnold glanced furtively out the car window at the hostile white landscape. Everything pointed to a disastrous weekend. When he had decided to stage their last outing at the cottage, he’d failed to consider winter’s potential tyranny. In the city—his arena—the elements were kept under control. In his haste … Continue reading
Camp Intruder
Diane bolts up in bed, awakened by the sound of the cabin door creaking open. Twisting to free herself from her tangled sleeping bag, she listens, heart thumping, to hesitant footsteps on the other side of the flimsy wall. As close as a touch, she hears feet shuffling across the small adjoining room and chokes back … Continue reading
Jeremy Irons
“Jeremy Irons,” a voice squealed. I looked up to see a woman, a few years younger than me, face aglow, her long black coat flapping open, gripping a tenuously burdened tray. “Mind if I join you?” she said indicating the other tables at the small diner were all occupied. What could I say? Unable to … Continue reading
The Red Car
Stanley was struggling to get the front door key out of the lock, a sagging bag of groceries at his side, when his wife Moira, sporting her designer sunglasses, confronted him. Her steely accusation, “I saw your car today,” stopped him in his tracks. “You were in Burnaby?” he asked clutching his sagging bag of … Continue reading
High Noon
Before her husband’s outburst, Jessica had considered confessing about the missed call. She prided herself on her honesty whatever the damage. The only subject she scuttled around—a perilous country of land mines—was Will’s father, the cause of the outburst. If Will knew what she’d done, he’d neither understand nor forgive her. As it was, he … Continue reading
Chariot of Fire
Hurtling along the Trans Canada Highway into the dusk, perched upright in my orange Toyota,
I’m a charioteer in my Chariot of Fire, blissfully ignorant of what may be around the bend.
I am potent.
Extra octane surges through my pulsating veins. Today, I challenge the Universe: hand to hand
combat, best out of three. Continue reading
Rosebud
Shivering in the cold night air, my arthritic fingers reluctant participants in my struggle, I scrounged in my purse desperate to find the scrap of paper with the hotel address that had eluded me on my first ten searches. If I didn’t find it, and soon, I’d be sleeping beside some homeless guy in a … Continue reading
For the Love of a Leg
Charles or the leg, which was it to be? Charles was difficult to live with, often a negative naysayer. The leg, on the other hand, was an easy partner, and offered comfort in difficult times. It was there for her when she returned home on the boil following a rancid work meeting, there when Charles … Continue reading
And Think Of England
Cocooned under what felt like silken covers, her eyes shut, Sandra noted how alarmingly quiet her apartment was. Usually on waking she heard water coursing through her neighbor’s pipes or footsteps patrolling the apartment above. When she hesitantly opened her eyes, she was confronted with an alien setting. Was it a dream? She closed her … Continue reading