Tag: short-stories

Swamped

On By vequinoxIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

excerpt

these images oen came to his mind when he walked
the seawall along the Dundarave to 22nd Street. When he reached
the dock, he would go to the end, lean over the wooden structure,
and gaze at the sea bottom, at the sea life around the big wooden piles
full of barnacles, on which the small fish fed, at the crabs visible from
above where he stood. He remembered all the times he and his
brother would chase and try to outsmart the small crabs on the rocks
of his homeland, and how they would get soaked by the waves crashing
against the same rocks where they hunted the crabs and sea snails
their mother could turn into tasty meals that he devoured eagerly
every single time.
The sea’s familiar aroma filled his lungs. He looked around at all
the people standing and admiring the skyline of the University of
British Columbia across the bay or gazing out at the open sea toward
Vancouver Island, which was clearly visible in today’s sunshine. His
ears picked out a strongly accented voice behind him saying something
about the size of the university campus across the water and
the number of students that went there, and then a similar voice answering
him. The people talking were Iranians. He knew the accent.
Having an accent himself, he had learned to discern the accents of
others during his twenty years in Canada. He leaned over the wood
fence again and looked down into the water. It had a fascination that
attracted his eyes every time. He couldn’t imagine himself living in
the interior, in a place far from the sea. The restless, changeable sea
with its serene, glassy surface or its rough waves when the winds ran
amok. It was too important to him.
Eteocles Armenakis from Crete, had worked for a while for CP
Rail when he first came to Canada. The other yard men, his co-workers,
couldn’t handle the name Eteocles, so they had renamed him
Eteo. This prompted Eteocles to file for an official name change, and
he became Eteo Armen, simplifying both his first and last names.
Eteo raised his body up from the edge of the dock and felt the
tears filling his eyes. The images of those early days would remain
forever in his memory. They would always bring tears to his eyes. He
started walking back toward Ambleside Park.
His phone rang. It was Herbert.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08WP3LMPX

Arrows

On By vequinoxIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Excerpt

I gripped the lifelines, my habit soaked and
pasted to my body. He shook his head and curled his mouth as he
placed his bare feet on the steps.
Bartolomé glared when I came up to the quarterdeck. He and the
helmsman were fighting with the long tiller to steer the Isabella who
was surfing a wave downwind with increasing speed. He was too
busy to pay me attention.
I could see he was thinking hard, for he had seen men break their
bones when propelled by the long tiller as the waves jerked the
rudder.
The pilot concentrated on the movements of the needle in the
compass set in a wooden box fixed onto the binnacle. A sailor tried
to record the time and course while another minded the sandglass.
Every man there had a duty to perform; all others were tucked away
in the relative safety of the ship’s innards. Bartolomé chewed his
inner cheek, as he always did when considering his options.
The visibility was nil, no other ships were in sight. Every vessel
was on its own now, each full of men fighting for their lives and
praying, the galleons surely better off than the Isabella. They didn’t
have the wretched high castles fore and aft, taking all the wind and
making the vessel ungovernable.
Bartolomé growled, covering his eyes with one hand and
lowering his head without releasing his grip on the tiller. I saw his
lips move silently amid the roar of wind and sea. He could attune his
senses to the mood of the wind, feeling it on his nape, sniffing it out
of the air, hearing it on the sails and rigging.
Bartolomé knew I was adamant about staying on deck; nothing
short of an angel or God’s thunderous voice would send me down.
He aimed a sullen glare in my direction and yelled to the sailor
minding the sandglass to pass me a coil of line. I caught it in the air
and fumbled, keeping an eye out for waves until I found the end of
it. Bartolomé motioned me to bring it around my waist. I managed a
knot above my Franciscan cord and tied myself to the rail as the
others were to the binnacle, but he sighed, nodded to the pilot, let go
of the tiller and came to tie the knot to his liking.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0981073522

The Circle

On By vequinoxIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

excerpt

He leans closer again and kisses her cheek. She glows all over, being there,
next to him, and he stops pestering her about her indiscretion.
Their drinks are served and Talal turns closer to Hakim and asks, “You like
Helena?”
“Of course, Helena is beautiful.”
“I know she’s a beautiful girl, Hakim.”
They spend a couple of hours at the club. Peter and Rose feel tired and decide
to go home. Talal is dancing with Helena. Jennifer has had two drinks and feels a
bit tipsy, however Hakim gets her up to dance for the last time before they all go
home. She holds him tightly as they dance. Feeling his firmness on her leg, she
lifts her head and looks at him, smiling. There are so many people crowded
around them; however, she gets gutsy and puts her hand on his pants, slowly
rubbing him as they dance. Talal catches them as he turns his head, and he
flashes a smile at Hakim. Hakim smiles back at Talal.
Hakim asks Jennifer, “Are you ready to go now, my love?”
Later on, outside the Double Cherry Club, they all say goodnight to Anthony.
They say farewell to each other and walk to their separate cars.
Hakim and Jennifer take a short ride around L.A., enjoying the cool
September night. She is still a little dizzy when they arrive at his apartment. He
helps her walk to the elevator, and she leans on him with the security a child
needs from an adult. They go to bed; Jennifer, as she promised earlier in the day,
is all over him. Hakim enjoys the attention and they make passionate love.
The scare of AIDS fromsome twenty years earlier has somehow been put aside,
although a cure still hasn’t been found. Science has produced so many different
types of drugs during the past ten years that AIDS is now treatable and many of the
afflicted lead fairly normal lives.On the other hand, the younger generation tends to
abstain from sleeping around as did in the years before the AIDS, and most practice
safe sex.Most young people prefer to have just one girlfriend or boyfriend after their
high-school years and later on, many end up marrying.
As the night passes slowly Hakim and Jennifer fall asleep.
Hakim wakes up first as the light comes through the curtains of the east
window; it is a clear day and the sun brightens up the room. He looks at his
phone, it’s ten o’clock. He gets up, takes a quick shower, brushes his teeth, and
stretches. Hakim looks at Jennifer as she sleeps. He remembers the last drink and
smiles at the thought of last night. Her back is uncovered as the comforter is
pushed to the side. He marvels at the sensuous way she is spread on the bed in
front of him and finds himself excited. He slips into the bed and pulls the covers
over them; cuddles close and embraces her. She feels him behind her and moves
her torso against his body.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006PY87YQ