by Terry Griggs
Would I? Didn’t they know that the uninvited guest at my christening had handed me an outsized crate of words as her gift and said, “Use it!” And to the best of my ability, I had, and would.
On we went, on and on, Nile driving, me monologuing, each in our element. After a while I switched on the radio to a C&W station and we sang along to the sorry laments, pouring our all into them, a little taken aback by our conviction. At one point Nile stopped the car and got out to shore up the muffler with his tie. I had a short nap and woke with his suit coat tucked around me. The farther south we travelled, the more the horizon opened up before us, wider and brighter, and I don’t believe I’d ever been happier. Although, I have to confess, that’s one thing I left unsaid.
Acknowledgements
A number of these stories have appeared in various literary magazines, including The Malahat Review, The New Quarterly, and The Walrus. Some subsequently resurfaced in The Journey Prize Anthology, Canadian Notes & Queries, and Best Canadian Stories. “Bigmouth” first appeared in a handsome series of Biblioasis limited editions.
The medical information cited in the story “In Other Words” with regard to Piero di Cosimo’s The Death of Procris, may be found in an article in The Guardian (“The fine art of medical diagnosis”), concerning the teaching and sleuthing methods of British surgeon and art critic Michael Baum.
Merci bien to the Ontario Arts Council’s Writers’ Reserve program.
Terry Griggs is the author of Quickening, which was nominated for a Governor General’s Award, The Lusty Man, Rogues’ Wedding, shortlisted for the Roger’s Writer’s Trust Fiction Prize, and Thought You Were Dead. Her popular children’s novels include the Cat’s Eye Corner series, and, most recently, Nieve (Biblioasis). In 2003, Terry Griggs was awarded the Marian Engel Award in recognition of a distinguished body of work, and in 2010 honoured with the installation of a Project Bookmark Canada plaque in Owen Sound. She lives in Stratford, Ontario.