Snowbird Melting is my short story in Voices From the Valleys. I’ve included an excerpt below if you’d like to try it before you buy it!! AND, for my friends' information (you all seem to ask!), it is purely fiction but based on my initial take on Osoyoos as a community, my involvement with the Art Gallery, and, the many unique, wonderful people that populate this small town. The visual pictures painted with my words can only ripple the surface of the pure loveliness of the place!
This high-quality anthology for charity features entertaining short fiction, fascinating memoirs and articles, and thought-provoking poetry by 51 talented BC writers, fiction or real, from the ’50s to today. Cover to cover, you will visit the Interior of British Columbia, Canada from your armchair and read about challenging experiences in remote areas, encounters with BC’s wildlife; harrowing experiences with forest fires; pulse-pounding adventures; humorous people-watching stories; touching childhood memories; coming-of-age tales; stories about relationships and family bonds; and funny-only-in-hindsight true accounts.
All proceeds from book sales, after production expenses, go to Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders Canada (MSF). In this edition, all photos are in black and white. For the Canadian edition with colour photos, contact CobaltBooks.net or RedTuqueBooks.com.
Snowbird Melting
Fiction
Eileen Hopkins
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| Lakeshore Drive through Joy`s eyes and mine! Photography by Eileen Hopkins |
The sound of pigeons cooing and tapping their claws on the metal cladding outside her bedroom window woke her the next morning. My first morning as a snowbird—time to check out the lay of the land. Joy caught her breath. She was having a hard time breaking the habit of using Merle’s expressions as if they were her own. She ventured downstairs, thinking a run in the cool October air might inspire her, motivate her, do something, anything to get her into a happy retirement frame of mind. Walking with purpose, Joy rounded the corner of the parkade and rammed into the rather solid shoulder of a man bending over an overflowing garbage can. She took a quick step backward, grabbing for the wall to steady herself while he pulled himself up from his crouching position. Joy was staring into the weathered and rugged face of a very tall and handsome man.
“Might want to watch where you’re going on this fine sunny morning. We move a little slower out here in the sticks.”
“Sorry. I was ...” Joy fumbled for words like a junior high egghead who had just run into the high school football quarterback.
“Good morning, just the same.”
She smiled and held out her hand. “Joy Steward from Unit 2.”
“Joe. Caretaker and anything else you might need.”
Joe’s grey hair was pulled back into a ponytail. His black T-shirt looked like a faded rocker souvenir from the 1970s, and his cargo shorts were nondescript Walmart.
“Well, Joe the Caretaker, I am going for a run. Got any advice?”
Joe leaned against the cement pillar, thumbs hooked in his pockets. “Might want to watch out for rattlesnakes.”
Joy waved goodbye. Did he say rattlesnakes? Her eyes swept the cement floor of the empty parkade. Heading down Lakeshore Drive, she found her gaze constantly watching what might lay ahead on the path. Rattlesnakes. She shook her head in dismay. She needed to get out more, find a friend, find something to get her through this winter in the desert, something that didn’t involve rattlesnakes or men.
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| Main Street view - just another November stroll along the lake shore! How do you describe this without going over your word count!! Photography by Eileen Hopkins |
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| As seen along Joy`s run on Lakeshore Drive! Photography by Eileen Hopkins |
You know you want it!
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