HE STANDS in front of the hall mirror, making a few final adjustments to his uniform and kit – a flattening of his collar, a hitch of his duty belt to settle the handgun into position on his right hip, a tug at the neck-hole of his ballistic vest to ease the pinch of kevlar against his collarbone. He shifts his scrutiny to the subtle strip of fuzz adorning his upper lip, and he has to force the word threadbare from his mind. It’s been only three and a half weeks, he reminds himself – not even a full month. He fingers the gingery down for a moment before turning away from the mirror.
“Spider,” Leah calls from the kitchen.
He almost responds with a quizzical what? – but he knows what. Moving down the hallway toward the front door, he glances into the kitchen, where Leah is standing at the sink, transferring the breakfast dishes from basin to right hand to left hand to dishwasher rack. She stands slightly stooped to make room for the curve of her belly against the cabinets, crooking her neck to peer over her shoulder and check him in her periphery. She puffs an unruly twist of yellow hair from her face.
“Running late,” he says. “I’ll do it later, babe – promise.”
“I’m serious, Nate – first thing when you get home from your shift, okay? Please don’t make me ask again.” She turns her head to look out the window above the sink. “I can’t stand
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I am a writer, editor, and educator (he/him) living in Vernon, BC with my wife and two daughters. I teach first- and second-year English courses at Okanagan College while working remotely as a Senior Editor / Content Creator for ELL publishing companies around the world. I am also the hockey “writer-at-large” for The American magazine, based in London, UK. My short story “Downturn” was included in The Journey Prize Stories 26, and I have published other works in Canada, the US, the UK, and Hong Kong. I completed an MFA in Creative Writing at UBC in 1999.