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15

From the archives: Picnic

POSTED ON August 7, 2012 BY Maria Schamis Turner

For the rest of the summer, we will be highlighting pieces from the carte blanche archives.

Here is Picnic by Sarah Gilbert from Issue 11.

The city was a marshmallow of sticky smog and I wanted out. I carried bags loaded with beach towels and sandwiches down the front steps while George checked the oil of the old car. I had to step around a couple of languid coffee drinkers who’d spilled out of the café on the corner and made themselves comfortable on our stairs. Everyone was in my way. In the night, I got up to get a drink of water and as I stood naked by the sink, the fridge in the kitchen next-door opened, illuminating our neighbour, François, pudgy in his underwear. I’d ducked away from the window but he’d looked up and waved. That made it hard to pretend I hadn’t seen him, but I tried. I seemed to be the only one around here who needed privacy.

“Shree-eeet!” Marcus rode up, tooting the whistle he kept on a cord around his neck. My mood worsened. He wore a stretchy cycling outfit, and when he unclipped his shoes from the pedals, he click-clacked when he walked. “Gonna be a cooker,” he said. “Where you kids off to?”

Click here to read the rest of the story.

Sarah Gilbert has written for Matrix, Le Bathyscaphe, Taddle Creek and carte blanche and was a finalist for the carte blanche Quebec prize. She writes a blog of stories about her neighbourhood at mileendings.blogspot.com.