A. David MacKinnon - "The Past is a Foreign Country"

Carolyn, Edmund's first wife, is a secret eater. M&Ms behind the Kashi, skittles between the couch pillows, chips in the desk. Garry, her border-guard boyfriend, has had a long day, lies watching Guy Fieri in the basement. Her father, Kevin the poet, is in the kitchen washing the salad bowl, listening to a podcast. Evelyn, the daughter she had with Edmund, is doing sit-ups in her room, in expensive workout clothes. "I'm taking Melon out!" Carolyn half-shouts up the stairs and to the house. Melon is the Bull-mix dog with eyes like a bad facelift. She ducks into the night, warm March and too-heavy coat. Melon pulls and stretches the leash and Carolyn thinks about the neighbours. Gay. Christmas guilt. Rich. That shouting match. Never see them. She jogs across the street and wonders how many cars it would take to make the road as thin as paper, if you pick up a bit of the road when you walk on it. Melon goes on a lawn. Carolyn bags, gags, and hurries on her way. She gets to the Coffee Time, order already made in her head. She pretends to look out at a car, trying falsely to remember. "Uhh..two sour creams and a honey custard, I think," she knows. The donutier, like ringing through condoms or pornography, simply does the job without hint of expression. On the walk home she can feel the sugar like crystals in her blood, now able to think again about her family and the day. I hope Garry doesn't frost his tips. [Buy]

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